SEARCH FOR THE GOLDEN ELEPHANT - PART 3 (Demo)

Level by Lara_Fox_Croft

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth, with the help of Doggett TV's video walk

Level 1: TRAINING STAGE

The opening flyby takes you through the training course. Lara has a stick-figured Darth Vader-like appearance as she prepares for her timed run through a floating islands environment. There are rewards for completing the run within specified time limits, so you may wish to follow this walkthrough to get the feel of the course, then repeat it for a speedrun that may qualify you for one of the three trophies and the goodies that accompany them. If you stand around idle for more than a few seconds, you'll find that Lara bends over in a most unladylike manner as if she were shooting the moon at someone.

Be mindful of the fact that in this game your jumping ability is restricted (according to the builder, the technical explanation is that a running jump covers two sectors rather than the three sectors most of us are accustomed to).

Begin by running into the floating question mark to trigger an onscreen message. As you run forward the overhead timer starts. If you finish the course in 5:12 or less you get a gold trophy; in 5:28 or less a silver trophy; and in 5:38 or less a bronze trophy.

There's no compass in this level, so I'll provide directions as well as I can. Run to the end of this ledge and jump left twice, using the floating block, to reach the next ledge, perpendicular to the first one. (The good news is that you can't fall to your death if you miss.) Don't attempt to climb over all the barriers ahead, or you'll never finish. (Try it and you'll see what I mean.) Pull up onto the first block (on the right side) and take a running jump slightly to your left to land on top of the next block. Take a running jump slightly to your right to land on the lower corner of the slope. Jump off immediately to grab the next ledge (or, if you're lucky, you'll land on the ledge).

Pull up if necessary and run to the left of the phantom boxes. Pull up onto the block and run to your right into the floating question mark for more information. Run across the pipe to the next section and jump up to grab the golden wall. You can perhaps gain a second or two if you immediately shimmy to your right and around the first corner without waiting for Lara's feet to get "set." However, Lara won't clear the second corner in this manner, so at some point between the two corners you'll have to change from shimmy mode to shift mode. When you reach the end of the golden wall, drop down and reverse roll.

Loop around left, stand precisely at the apex of the slight slope and jump up to grab the pipe. Shimmy right to the next section and release. Run off slightly to your right onto the block below. Jump forward over the gap and enter a crawl space. Crawl forward into a fixed camera, up a slight incline and jump out (jump and up arrow keys) at the end. Run into the floating question mark for additional information and continue past what looks like a barbed wire fence, hopping blocks until you reach the corner. Jump up left and pick up the MINE DETECTOR. Use it now.

I don't know if this was intended, or if it is perhaps considered cheating by the builder or anyone else, but instead of going back the way you came you can run off the edge of this block to return immediately to the spot where you jumped out of the crawl space. Run forward a few steps and turn left into the opening between the red barbed wire. The dark tiles in the area ahead (displayed when you use the Mine Detector) are mine-trapped, so jump over the first one and run around the others. Step into the conical structure at the end to be transported to a new area of the course.

Don't run forward (try it to see what happens; a nearby floating question mark explains what's going on) but crawl in a counterclockwise direction (see those bad guys ahead?), keeping to your left at all times until you reach another conical structure that transports you to a platform with a bad guy at the other end. Run into the nearby floating question mark for instructions on what to do next. Run over the yellow tiles to another clear section, and this time walk through the yellow tiles right up to the bad guy (without actually touching him). Press the action key to give him a good wallop.

After a dizzying cut scene you find yourself on a platform shared by four presently static bad guys. Run into the nearby floating question mark to find out what you need to do. Sneak up behind the nearest bad guy and punch him into pieces (literally). Repeat for the other three bad guys (if you prefer, you can approach them from the front), and then a fifth bad guy comes to life and charges toward you. Stand your ground and punch his lights out when he gets close.

After the cut scene, locate the conical structure and jump the two blocks to get there. You'll be transported to a platform with a floating question mark that tells you how to boost your health when necessary (by using "standby mode," where Lara assumes that shoot-the-moon posture). Go ahead and do that now, and when Lara straightens up there's a conical structure nearby. Run through it to face another floating question mark, which instructs you to pick up the lone ammo box. Do so and bring it up in your inventory, select "separate" and voila! You have the pistols. Now go to the other side of the platform and pick up unlimited ammo for your pistols.

Draw your pistols and step into the nearby conical structure. Be prepared to do battle with about a half dozen red flying targets as you emerge on the next platform. As you lock onto them and start firing, their declining health bar shows up in the top right hand corner of your screen. When all have been defeated, you'll either be congratulated upon the trophy you've earned (together with a "special gift"), or you'll be asked whether you wish to try again (press Y) or go on to the next level (press N).

Level 2: THE BASE

Doggett TV's video walk picks up here.

After the brief FMV in the cell block, pick up the bowl of gruel you're straddling for some quick nourishment and a health boost. If you earned a trophy in the training session, your inventory will also reflect a code for the upcoming bonus area. You have no weapons, of course. The marked section of the wall next to the cot can be kicked in, so do that. Crawl into the vacant cell next door and pick up a piece of gauze. Grab the matches from the sink and note the onscreen message. Get up onto the vending machine in the corner (run up to it and press the jump key) and mount the ladder. Hang from the crawl space, release for an instant, grab again and pull inside by using the crouch and up arrow keys.

When you reach the opening, lower Lara down the other side and shimmy around two corners to the other side. Pull up and crawl over a grate to an intersection.  Turn right and crawl a long distance to another intersection. Turn right again, and when you reach the opening, jump out (jump and up arrow keys) and land right on top of a bad guy, knocking him out. Ignore the stench of the latrine (indicated by the flies) and pick up SECURITY CARD LEVEL 1. Open the door and step out into the now-vacant control room you saw in the FMV.

Go to the W wall (you do have the compass in this level) and take the ANTISEPTIC ALCOHOL from the open mounted box. Step to your left and open the cabinet to get the BINOCULARS. Exit NE to the cell block, turn right and enter Level 1 as the door opens upon your approach. Note the onscreen message as you enter and turn right. Walk up behind the guard and give him a wallop. The S elevator doors open as you step up to them. Enter and push the button on your right to operate it. Step out onto the next level above, walk up behind the guard and do your thing.

Reverse roll, loop around left and approach the Level 1 door to make it open. The onscreen message indicates that you need something important to be found in the storage bin, so enter from its open end and pick up the LASER SIGHT and an AMMO BOX. Go to the latter in your inventory, select "separate" to bring up a weapon akin to the revolver, then approach the next pile for five rounds of ammo. You should now combine the weapon with the laser sight. Exit the storage bin and this room via the SE door by which you entered. Turn right, and when you reach the intersection continue forward. If you qualified for a gift in the training level you can use it to open the door in the N wall and enter the bonus area.

But first, go to the W wall and turn left into the alcove to find an ANTISEPTIC ALCOHOL in the open mounted box. You can combine it with the gauze you found earlier for later use. Now go back and enter the bonus area. Pick up an ANTISEPTIC OINTMENT near the door and another gauze near the NE corner. Open the cabinet doors for a weapon akin to the shotgun. Exit N to the next room, loop right around the corner and shoot the grate in the W wall. There's another grate further down in the crawl space that won't shatter, so return to the storage bin if you like to top off your ammo supply (five is your maximum at any given time).

Go back to the S elevator and punch the button to go back down. When the doors open, run straight forward N and look for the onscreen message. The way ahead is blocked by a laser barrier, so use your binoculars with the light switch (action key) to find the  device hanging from the ceiling that you need to shoot. Do so and pass through the left side of the deactivated laser barrier. Turn left and pull down the switch on the wall to your right. The door opens, so walk quietly into the next room, veering to the left side of the bench, and disable the bad guy whose back is turned to you.

Go beyond him N into the latrine and grab the matches from the sink. In the shower stall area you can pick up the WET SECURITY CARD LEVEL 2. Go into the SW private stall and step up onto the toilet to grab a roll of TOILET PAPER from the shelf. Go to the E side of the room for a piece of gauze. Return to the latrine and in the SE corner you can shoot an opening at floor level in the E wall (it takes two rounds of ammunition to create an opening you can crawl through). Crawl inside for SECRET #1 and pick up a gauze and a colorful toy called PATRICK THE STAR AS LARA.

Exit S, turn right in the hallway, light a match and see a ladder and a wooden barrier. Shoot the latter and crawl inside for revolver ammo. Don't bother wasting a round on the grate ahead. Exit the crawl space and climb the ladder. Pull up into the opening (another crawl space) for a gauze.  Climb back down and return through the deactivated laser passage. Turn right through the automatic Level 1 door, dry off the Level 2 Security Card by combining it with the toilet paper, and turn right past the Level 2 door. Search the shelves, starting from your left, for a BANANA that doesn't show up in your inventory, a TIMER and an Antiseptic Alcohol.

Exit, turn left through the Level 1 door and go right to the elevator. Go back to the upper floor and turn right and then left past the Level 1 door. Loop around left past the storage bin and past the Level 2 door. Search the cabinet for C4, exit and re-load your revolver from the stash in the storage bin if necessary, and return to the intersection. Turn right and go to the N wall, then left to see something bright red on the W wall. Combine the C4 and the Timer and place it there. You've got about 10 seconds to get as far away as you can before the place blows up.

Go back there and avoid the areas where the floor is stlll burning. Slide flip over the debris to the W wall. Treat it as a ladder and climb up to the ledge. Go around to your right past the wall switch and search the cabinet for an Antiseptic Alcohol. Go back and pull down the wall switch for an FMV featuring a very cold Lara trudging outside in the snow.

Pull down the wall switch you're facing to open the doors, and get inside out of the cold. Don't immediately pull down the next wall switch, but walk forward toward the guard and clobber him from behind. Pull down the wall switch near where the guard was standing for a cut scene of a building that houses motor vehicles. Go back the way you came and loop around left when you reach the previous wall switch (don't pull it yet). Run down the ramp and crawl into the motor pool.

Walk forward and wallop the guard. Run forward and hop into the truck you saw in the cut scene. Pick up the Antiseptic Ointment and hop back to the floor. Go around toward the W wall. The guard there is facing you, preventing you from sneaking up from behind, so just shoot him. Return to where the first guard was standing and pull the wooden pallets (you can't push them) N until they're even with the door of the truck. Climb up and from the NE corner stand jump to grab the ladder. Climb the ladder to the catwalk for SECRET #2 and pick up an Antiseptic Alcohol, gauze and another toy similar to the one you picked up earlier.

Get down and go to the NW corner of the motor pool, where you'll find revolver ammo in the pile. You should now have five pieces of gauze and five Antiseptic Alcohols in your inventory, and you will have noticed that they can be combined. However, I found no use for them in this demo, so they may be intended for use in the full game. Return to the motor pool entrance (which is now closed) and climb the nearby ladder. Pull up onto the catwalk and walk up behind the guard you can see around the corner.  Clobber him and step into the elevator lift. Push the button and ride up to a higher floor.

The nearby cabinet contains a piece of gauze. Exit S and follow the circular passage past a closed door to a dead end room. Go to the N wall and turn right to find a cabinet containing an Antiseptic Alcohol. Now go to those hammer and sickle pieces and pull each one to the other end of its respective track so they face each other. You hear a sound, indicating that something has just happened. Shoot both of the S fuse boxes to expose two wall switches, then go to the middle of the E wall, turn right into the narrow alcove and pull down the wall switch there (cut scene of a door opening).

A depreciating health bar appears onscreen, so quickly exit to the circular hallway and go around to the open N door. Enter the room and pull down the NE wall switch to turn on a fan and halt your declining health. Search the nearby cabinet for a PIECE OF PAPER that tells you about the proper orientation of the hammer and sickle pieces. Search the SE corner pile for shotgun ammo, then go back to the previous dead end room and approach the S wall switches.

Pull the switch on the right up and down, then up and down again (a total of four pulls). A cut scene shows the hammer and sickle pieces rotating after each pull. Do the same thing for the switch on the left (four pulls). The door to the right of the fuse boxes/switches should now be open. Enter the next room and search the corner cabinet for a PIECE OF PAPER WITH CODE. There's nothing else in this room, so exit to the circular hallway and go all the way around to the elevator lift. Push the button to descend to a lower level of the motor pool.

Get down to floor level and find your way to the truck where you picked up the Antiseptic Ointment earlier. Find the W opening with the flashing light at the end and shoot the grate at floor level to your right as you enter. Crawl into the opening, shoot the grate ahead and crawl past the steam blowers to flip out on the other side. Turn to your left and place the Piece of Paper With Code in the receptacle to eliminate the hazards in the W room ahead. Enter, turn right and light a match as you enter the next room. Search the cabinet on your right for a piece of gauze.

Open the NW door and follow the passage to a dead end room. Open the door in the S wall and pull down the wall switch inside to your right. Go back the way you came, through all previously opened openings and E into a new area. Pull down the wall switch to the left of the closed doors to conclude this demo.