THE RESCUE

Level 7: Djoser's Ziggurat

Level by Pascal Ducey (MagPlus)

Walkthrough written by Ted Simpson (Tombaholic)

4 secrets (30 - 33)

Note: This walkthrough is somewhat less detailed than the previous ones in the following respects. Firstly, it does not map out every move, assuming a certain basic ability on the part of the player. Secondly, it may omit the mention of some minor enemies like bats and scorpions. Finally, and most importantly, it does not point out every pickup, so the player needs to explore on her/his own for these. Following the walkthrough word-for-word will result in missing some items. What is included is solutions to the major puzzles and the locations of all 4 secrets. So, the real intent of the walkthrough is to help the player get "un-stuck" if need be during the course of independently exploring the level.

 

Ride the motorbike down the ramp and make the jump across the deep chasm. [As you come out, take a left and then make an immediate hairpin turn to the right and down the ramp as the machine guns blast away at you. Stop near the bottom of the ramp and line up the motorbike with the narrow causeway ahead if necessary. The jump isn't difficult, but you have to be going straight and not careening out of control.]

RAISING THE FIRST ELEVATOR FLOOR

Begin by [getting off the motorbike and onto the causeway, where you run off the north edge to drop off onto] the raised pillar in the western pit. Drop down and get the BLACK BEETLE from the south side of the pillar. Climb the newly raised block in the SE corner of this pit [after picking up the nearby large medpak] and pull the switch above (a cut scene shows a block rising in the next room, giving access to a button). Go to the west side of the pillar [avoiding the beetle swarm as best you can] and jump up. At this point, Lara can jump to the opening in the west wall of the pit and explore the other two pits for some pick-ups and encounter a couple of enemies (exiting eventually by a ladder on the pillar in the western pit). [There's a demon hound and some grenade gun ammo in the first pit. Watch out for the deep spike trap near the other end. With Lara's back to the west edge of the spike pit, hop back and grab the edge. Use the ladder to climb down. When Lara's hands reach the lowest rung, just above the tip of the spikes, back flip into the tunnel. Turn around and run to the other end, and climb up into the second pit. Deal with the skeleton, then pick up the flares and the revolver ammo. Go back into the tunnel linking the two pits, take a standing jump and grab to the ladder, and climb back up. Locate the ladder on the west side of the pillar and climb to the top.  Jump to the causeway and go east.]

Push the button on the wall in the next room [above the block you raised earlier] to open a door down the ramp to the north [in the east wall, just past the pit]. Enter it and blast a red-clad skeleton in the passageway and continue to a room with a fire pit and two other openings. Lara needs to back up into each opening in turn until a spike ball is released, then SPRINT out and to the side to avoid the trap. [Try taking two steps back into the opening at an angle. Then hop back once and prepare to sprint forward immediately.] Then return to the top of each passage and pull a lever to open the sphinx door.

Inside the now-open door, let Lara begin to slide down the slope, then jump over the spikes to the landing opposite (or slide, jump and grab the monkey bars and swing over). Pull the chain and return to the room with the three deep pits [past the motorbike, along the causeway and opposite the pillar to which you ran off earlier]. An opening has appeared in the south wall. Make a running jump/grab to it and pull the overhead lever inside. Jump back over to the central walkway and find the left gate on the north wall raised. Use the revolver with telescopic sight to shoot the brass sphere inside the alcove. [Get on the slope between the highest and the lowest points of the causeway to give you the best vantage point.] The gate on the right opens. Position Lara so she can making a running jump/grab to this opening and push the lever inside. [Don't face the opening squarely, but sidestep to the right to reach higher ground and take a slightly angled running jump and grab to the right side of the opening, which I only made after many, many tries.] The elevator floor in the next room rises [and getting back across to the causeway is a piece of cake].

OPENING THE IRON DOOR

Ride the motorbike down the ramp to find a large deep pit. First, Lara can get a secret. Standing at the edge of the pit, line Lara up with the opening below in the opposite (east) wall (use the binoculars with night vision [hit CTRL] if you can't see it). Do one standing jump backwards, then run and jump over the pit. Hold the "jump" key down and at the last moment, hit the "action" (Ctrl) key so Lara will land inside the opening. The next part is tricky - light a flare so you can see. Slowly walk up until Lara just steps on the floor where the terra cotta tiles begin. IMMEDIATELY do standing jumps backward to the opening, holding the "action" key as if to grab the edge when Lara drops out of the opening. At the last instant (just as Lara is about to grab) release the action key so she lands flush to the wall. The spike ball should just miss her. Now climb back up and follow the passage to its end, jump and open the overhead trap door [facing east and standing at the back edge of the block] and climb into the room above. Shoot the demon hounds and pick up Secret #30, a large medpak.

Exit by the hole in the floor and Lara will find herself facing a closed iron door. Return to the motorbike on the other side of the pit [by jumping to the left slope, sliding back and grabbing the edge, and shimmying all the way to the right and around the corner so Lara can pull up.  Shoot the nearby vases for a small medpak, then get on the motorbike] and ride it over the ramp on the right-hand (south side) of the pit, then back over the ramp on the north side of the pit, so that the motorbike passes over the little raised platform under the fresco. This opens the iron door, so ride back to the other side of the pit and down through the newly opened door.

SOLVING THE FLAME-BLOWER PUZZLE

The next task is to turn off the flame blowers in the tunnel so Lara can ride through. Note the symbols on the floor along the north side of the room, which correspond to symbols on the raised dais with the chains. Here's one solution: Using the column that runs along the NORTHERN side of the raised platform, first pull the chain by the symbol which looks like a ladder. This raises a block with the corresponding symbol on the floor. Next, pull the chain by the crescent moon symbol. Finally pull the last chain in this column (with the third symbol). Now use the blocks to get to the block in the NW corner. Pull the lever. Return to the raised platform and pull the SAME chains in the OPPOSITE ORDER (i.e., the chain with the ladder symbol will be the last of the three this time). The flame blowers will now be extinguished. If you make a mistake, the whole thing can be re-set by going through the gate on the right in the north wall and pulling the chain inside.

CLEARING THE TOXIC WATER

Now, ride the motorbike through the tunnel and push the button at the end to open the door. Rev the bike up so you can get some momentum going to make the jump ahead. Once on the other side, get off the bike and jump to the platform under the door you just entered through. On the east side is a ladder. Climb down [until Lara's feet are two rungs above the surface of the toxic fluid] and over to the left until Lara can back flip into an opening. Blast the skeleton and head around the corner. Use the monkey bars to swing over the fire pit [slide a bit before jumping and grabbing]. Run past the flame blowers and pull the lever at the end of the corridor. Between the 2 flame blowers is a trap door in the ceiling. [Face west in the middle of the back edge of the green tile, then jump straight up when the flames recede and grab.] Open it and climb to the room above and shoot the SAS guard. Push the lever to open a door back in the room outside.  [Grab the nearby small medpak.]

Back outside, jump to the landing by the door on the north wall [near the NW corner]. Climb down the ladder on its north side and back flip to the opening. Stepping on the first beetle tile opens the door above. Pull the lever at the end of the short passage [after crawling under the darts], then return to the ladder. Climb [up as far as Lara will go] and back flip to the opening above. Landing on the beetle tile clears the water below.

WATER TUNNELS

Jump in the water below and enter the opening at the base of the north wall. In the next room swim right and into the next opening. Make a left and follow this to a place where Lara can get air. From here, continue on making two left turns and following the tunnel [making two rights and a left] until you find a overhead switch to pull. If you want the next secret, continue to explore these tunnels, heading toward the back (east) until finding an opening to climb out. [Deal with four scorpions.] Pull the lever in the dark SE corner (this is the first of three switches which will lead to the secret).

Exit the underwater tunnels to the large room W with the pillars and swim north through another small opening leading to a room with some stairs. Swim straight ahead and up through the opening in the north wall where Lara can get some air. Pull the nearby overhead switch to open a door elsewhere. Swim back out toward the stairs. Before exiting, find the switch high in an alcove in the SW corner of the room and pull it (this is the second switch to gain access to the second secret). Swim back out to the room with the ornate columns and up through an opening in the ceiling. Follow the passage to its end and climb out. Activate the reach-in switch on the west wall. A fire wraith appears. Return by the tunnel (which is now dry) to the room with the ornate columns and swim back N into the room with the stairs. Climb out and shoot 2 SAS.

Find the switch high on the wall in the NE corner and pull it to open the iron door in the room where you left the motorbike. Now find the wall switch in the SE corner of the room and pull it to drop a rope over the center of the room. Using the rope, swing up to the alcoves on the east and west walls and push the levers. [Start by taking a standing jump up the slope on the west side to reach a sloped but stable surface. Turn, face the rope and take a running jump and grab to it. Mind the beetles that'll follow you everywhere but up the rope until you reach the raised block.] A block has been raised by the north wall, giving access to the opening you swam through earlier. Inside, climb up the chute to claim Secret #31 [shotguns shells and a large medpak in a crawl space]. Return to the underwater room with the ornate columns and swim up to the opening in the ceiling. Follow the passage back and go through the open iron door to get the motorbike [parked off to the right].

Lara now has to carefully maneuver the bike over the platforms until she can jump through the iron door. As she does, the sphinx door ahead opens. [A walkthrough isn't of much help in this situation. However, the route is obvious, and navigating it successfully isn't overly taxing.]

ROOM WITH 3 AUTOMATIC GUNS

Jump the bike into the next room and immediately turn and head left as an automatic gun fires at you. Follow the course all the way around, past two more automatic guns until you pass a block with an SAS guard. Get off the bike and take care of the guard. [Grab the small medpak on the block he was standing on.] Go around the corner [continuing in a clockwise direction] to find the first automatic gun facing safely away from you. Destroy it [with the revolver combined with the lasersight to shoot out the rear canister] and proceed around the course again on foot, taking out the other two guns. [Don't forget to jump over the channels that the motorbike handled with ease on the way over.]

Now find 3 switches (along the north, south, and west sides the central structure). Pulling them drops a rope near the ladder on the west wall of the room. Jump to the ladder, positioning Lara in the center [if you don't hit the ladder dead center when you jump, shift all the way to the right, back flip to the floor and start over], and climb up near the top. Back flip and twist to grab the rope behind. Swing over [to the right] and land on the catwalk with the lever. As you approach the lever, the skeleton will awaken, so dispose of it first. Push the lever to open the gate on the east side of the central structure. Now, if you like, explore the other catwalks on the north and south side for some pickups. [You can jump to the slopes and shimmy over to the catwalks for some grenade gun ammo, flares (spooking a bat in the process), a large medpak (awakening another skeleton), some uzi ammo and an empty ledge with another bat, all of which is tedious and time-consuming and requiring another trip down to the floor and back to the ladder, all of which may convince you that it's just not worth the extra effort.  If so, safety drop to the floor from here and run around to the east side of the central structure to locate the open door.]

INSIDE THE CENTRAL STRUCTURE WITH ELEVATORS

Go through the open gate to find yourself in an elevator mechanism. Use the revolver with telescopic sight to shoot the brass sphere hanging from the ceiling high above [with Lara's back against the north wall] and raise the elevator. Climb out and shoot two demon hounds. In the next room (with the raised platform [where you find some uzi ammo and shotgun ammo]) find the hole in the floor [near the NW corner]. Drop and grab the east edge of the hole, then drop and grab again and pull up into a corridor. Shoot another demon hound. Around the corner, activate the reach-in switch to open a door above. Find the BLACK BEETLE on the nearby wall and take it. Notice the torch on the beetle tile near the sphinx door. You can't take it with you yet, so exit the way you came in. [At the end of the passage, jump straight ahead and grab.] Note the sound of a door opening as you climb out of the hole. 

Back above, head around the corner to the room in the SW corner, shooting two demon hounds waiting there. Above on the east wall is the newly opened alcove. Take the TOWER KEY from the pedestal there. Now return through the central room to the room at the east side, Drop into the hole in the floor and follow the passage to retrieve the TORCH. Holding the torch, jump back up S to the higher level. Find the flame near where you found the KEY [through the west door] and light your torch. Lara must now light three lamps - one near where you entered from the elevator [just inside the south door], one near where the BEETLE was found, and one in an alcove in the north wall of the central room [just above the spike pit hole near the NW corner].

The door in the eastern room will now open. Outside, push the lever on the catwalk to open the gate to another elevator back near where you found the KEY [to the right as you enter the west door]. Push the button to raise the elevator. Climb out and explore the small network of passages for several pickups [shotgun ammo, revolver ammo, uzi ammo and a couple of scorpions]. Notice a higher passage leading off to the west. Before going there, you'll need to shoot the brass sphere located in a dark corner of one of the passages [locate the closed iron door, have Lara turn away from it and make a zig to the right to find the dark corner where the sphere hangs up and to the right]. This opens an underwater door in a nearby fountain.

Now follow the higher passage [through the opening in the west wall] to the fountain and shoot the SAS guard waiting there. Jump in the water [pick up the small medpak at the opening] and swim through the tunnel. Climb out into a small room with some sandstone blocks. Lara will have to move the blocks in a way to clear the NE corner, where a lever is located. Pull the lever and swim back to the area with the series of passageways. In the SW corner [to the right of the closed iron door], a block has been raised to access an alcove above. Climb up and take the DJOSER PILLAR, as the iron door below swings open.

ATOP THE TOWER

Exit via the iron door and to find yourself outside. Cross to the opening opposite and use the TOWER KEY in the lock, which opens a nearby gate and retracts the spikes at the begining of the level. Head through the gate and turn left immediately as an automatic gun starts firing. Head directly east along the wall to the end. [Stop long enough to pick up the shotgun ammo,] then head south along the next wall. At the end, make a run into the room where you began the level. Crawl through the small opening [to the south] and drop on the other side. Blast a skeleton lurking there. Around the corner, target the automatic gun through the opening in the [north] wall and destroy it.

Head back to the other courtyard and pull a lever on the wall near where the automatic gun stood. Look through the opening in the wall to see a new opening near the pillar [if you don't go look, the opening doesn't appear, at least it didn't for me]. You can also destroy the other gun now from the nearby SW corner. Once more, crawl back through to the outer courtyard and find the open well near the pillar. Get the second DJOSER PILLAR at the bottom and return to the inner courtyard. Now go down into the tunnel where you first drove the motorbike [there's some shotgun ammo up on the sidewalk in the NE corner]. At the dead end [in the left corner], pull the block on the left out until Lara can get through the opening. On the other side, jump and pull the switch on the wall to your left to reveal the passage that brings you to the third secret of this level.

Return to the courtyard and back through the gate [to your right] to the tower rooftop. Safety drop down through the small opening near the iron grille. In the room below, find the receptacle for the first DJOSER PILLAR on the north wall. Placing the PILLAR opens the nearby iron door, leading back to the roof. The third and final BLACK BEETLE is found In the SW corner of the room [hidden by a pyramid-shaped block]. Now, head down the ramp and retrieve Lara's motorbike [parked near the NE corner of the outer court]. On the way, step back into the shaft of the first elevator [on the east side of the central structure] to find a crawlspace leading to Secret #32 [with some shotgun ammo and a medpak].

Now, ride the motorbike all the way to the rooftop [using the ramp to jump the toxic fluid to the opening in the south wall. Make a quick left, then a series of right turns up the ramps until you reach the rooftop.] Turn right and head through the next opening. Ride down and over the ramp, jumping and clearing a pool, to land on the other side. [Don't stop at the central pillar, as you won't be able to get enough momentum from down there to cross the gap. From the top of the ramp, swerve to the right or left to avoid the pillar and keep gunning it to clear the pool with considerable room to spare.] Place the second DJOSER PILLAR in the receptacle to open the exit door. [Shoot the vase on the block to your left for some revolver ammo.] Before leaving the level, ride the motorbike back to the rooftop, using the side tunnel. [At the top of the first ramp, jerk to the right as the bike falls down a short distance to avoid getting stuck in the narrow tunnel below. At the next intersection, take a left to return to the rooftop. When you get there, you can shoot the vase behind the large pillar N for some shotgun ammo.  This also awakens a demon hound and a skeleton.] Outside, drop down through the small hole again to the room below. A sphinx door on the south wall is now open and inside awaits Secret #33 [flares, grenade gun ammo and a small medpak]. To finish the level, [use the blocks to climb back onto the rooftop, then] ride the motorbike back over the jump and exit through the open iron door. [Get off the motorbike, save your game and vault up into the tunnel past the open iron door and run forward to end the level.]