ORC2018 - THE ANCIENT HOURGLASS

Level by LoreRaider

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth, aided by Doggett D. McDog's video walk

After a flyby during a sand storm, Lara alights from a camel and slides down into a fountain area. Shoot the jars in the N alcove and hop inside to pick up IRANIAN COINS. Get down and pull the cage back two times. Face W and hop up to grab the cage. Keep the action key depressed, release the jump key momentarily and press it again. Lara will jump higher and activate the jumpswitch to lower a block up where the camel is waiting.

Jump from the top of the cage SE into the higher opening (keep the jump key depressed). Hop down S and drag the skeleton away from the IRON KEY. Hop back immediately after picking it up to avoid the scimitar spikes. Note two closed gates and jump back up NW to slide back into the previous area. Run W past the fountain and insert the Iron Key in the receptacle to the right of the Star of David symbol. The door opens to a small open-air bazaar.

Stand in front of the nice young lady and offer her the Iranian Coins. In return she leaves the DAGGER OF TIME (better known as the crowbar). Go back E toward the entrance, turn right and stand left in front of the column. Jump up to grab the crack and shimmy right around the corner. Keep the action key depressed and tap the down area key to make Lara turn around and jump to grab the pole. Use the up arrow key to make Lara swing around on the pole and use the jump key to launch her onto the SW column. Pick up the uzi ammo and take a running jump N to grab the crack in the next column. Shimmy right around the corner and use the same moves earlier described to turn, jump to the pole and swing to the NE ledge.

Pick up the uzi ammo and pull down the wall switch to raise a block down below in the opposite corner. Get on the raised block and pry the STUCKED KEBAB off the wall. Hop down, enter the W room and offer the Stucked Kebab to the fellow kneeling in front of a basket. He toots on a flute, the top pops off the basket and a rope rises into the sky. Use the action key to make Lara get on the rope, climb up and turn your back to the nice young lady in the balcony. Press the up arrow key and Lara will jump forward off the rope and grab the SW corner ledge. Pull up and press the star button to open doors below and allow two Persian assassins to enter. Deal with them and go into the rather ornate S room where they came from.

Pick up what I'll call ALADDIN'S LAMP (it doesn't show up anywhere in your inventory) and light it on the wall sconce across the room.  Use it to light the other wall sconce and open the gate between them. Drop the lamp and enter a pushpiece puzzle room. Push the N piece onto the marked NW tile, the W piece onto the adjacent marked tile, and the SE piece onto the marked E tile. Blocks rise to lift all three pieces. Press 2 on your keyboard for onscreen information regarding what you're to do next. The mirrors affixed to the pieces must be aligned in a certain manner, so go to the NW block and pull the wall switch down and up three times.  Turn left and pull the switch on the S block down one time. Turn left again and pull the wall switch on the E block down and up two times.  Light beams connect the three mirrors and a cut scene shows a gate opening near the beginning area.

Exit this room and loop around right to go E back to the fountain room. Get up onto the cage and jump SE into the hole created by the lowered block. The opened gate is up S on the other side of the scimitar spikes. Hop up there and follow to an underground lake. Go back a bit and hop up into the NW alcove for harpoons.  Face S and jump up to grab the vegetation on the ceiling. Monkey swing toward the palm tree. When you can go no further, tap the jump key and Lara will turn around to grab the vegetation on the facing wall. Climb up a bit until Lara's feet get set, then shift right around corners until you're over a jumpswitch. Release and activate the jumpswitch to open a gate in the lake. 

Jump in the water and swim in S. Follow past an opening to your left and go to the NW corner. Look right for the tiniest of openings and squeeze inside for SECRET #1. Pick up harpoons and 2 x uzi ammo. Swim back out and locate that S opening you bypassed earlier. Grab the harpoons at the opening and turn right into the alcove. Pull down the ceiling switch to open a door and activate spinning blade traps in the corridor ahead.  The blades pause briefly at intervals, so time your way past them to the opened S doorway.  Grab the harpoons at the opening and note the onscreen offer of assistance.

Draw your harpoon gun and dispatch the snake waiting for you in the next room. Note the four-colored platform on the floor. Swim over only the green and purple tiles to open the NE doors. Enter and fight your way past the collision to find two giant cigar cutters.  Swim through them to a corridor with three coordinated hammers. Time your way past them and through a triangular opening into an underwater cavern defended by two snakes. Swim into the alcove in the S wall and pick up the harpoons before pulling the underwater lever to trigger what appears to be a giant guess-what-shell-it's-under game behind you. It doesn't really matter. Use one harpoon to shatter all three shells and pick up the revealed ORNATE KEY.

Swim up to the ceiling and find a patch of vegetation hiding an underwater lever. Pull it to lower a block below you and to your left. Swim down there and pick up the UZIS and 2 x uzi ammo for SECRET #2. Swim to the SW corner and push the button (yes, you can do it underwater) to open the door to your left. Enter and follow to a new underwater room. Shoot the snake and approach the raised platform in the W wall. Turn left there and see the triangular opening. Swim inside and around to find an underwater lever that lowers a different platform. Swim out and down to the NE corner past a closed gate. Look left for the lowered platform and swim down for the PERSIAN SCIMITAR. Go to that closed gate and place the Persian Scimitar on top of the existing one in the receptacle to open the gate.

Swim inside (no snakes this time) and grab the ANCIENT HOURGLASS to lower the platform in the previous room and raise two gates. Return W and continue into the W alcove where the platform lowered. Squeeze through the narrow opening to find yourself in familiar territory. Turn right through the opening and right again. Note the onscreen admonition to save your game here. Wade out of the lake to trigger a series of cut scenes through previously explored territory in nighttime settings.

Exit NE, follow and turn left at the scimitar spikes into the W opening. Continue S past a closed door and save your game in front of the timed wall switch. You've got a little more than 30 seconds to back flip with a roll, run back to the scimitar spikes and turn left again, jump up NW into the room with the cage (positioning yourself properly is the hardest part of this timed run, so you may wish to save again in a different slot), run through the W rooms and turn left, go S past the fountain and through the timed gateway.  Shoot the four Stars of David nestled within Crescents that have lowered in the corners of this room. A cut scene shows a door opening to reveal a helix.

Go back the way you came, and in the room with the cage jump up SE into that hole near the camel. Go to the scimitar spikes and turn right into the W opening.  Follow to the opened door near the timed wall switch and enter. As you approach the helix it disappears and a winged demigod materializes.  Dispatch it, only to see it replaced by a hammergod who thankfully is not immortal. When it dies the E door opens and a platform rises in the doorway. Get on the raised platform, turn around and jump up to grab the ceiling. Tap the jump key to make Lara turn around and grab the vegetation on the E wall. Climb up and Lara will transfer to the ceiling. Hit the roll key and Lara will turn around in place. Repeat until Lara is transferred to the higher ceiling. Follow the green ceiling path to the jumpswitch in the N or S wall and release to activate it.

Get back on the raised platform and repeat everything described in the previous paragraph until you've activated the jumpswitch in the opposite wall. The helix re-appears, so jump into it to end the level.