BLACK
PALACE
Level by René Brooymans (Piega)
Authorized
walkthrough written by Phil Lambeth
Lara begins by sliding down three long ramps, each one connected at a
right angle to the next, and finally coming to rest at the top of a flight of
stairs. Turn right and run down the stairs into a large room with a pool and a
spouting fountain on each side. Dead ahead, to the north, is another room up
some stairs that are cut in a half circle, with a closed door at the end.
Beside the torch pots on either side of the door are four wooden boxes; shoot
the upper one on your left for some shotgun ammo,
and the lower one on your right for a small medi-pack.
Return to the lower room with the pools. Dive into the west pool and
locate the underwater opening in the east wall. Swim in and down, following the
tunnel until you reach a water-filled room with a central supporting column.
Turn right and open the door. Swim inside and follow the tunnel until you reach
the crossbow resting on a pedestal. Flip
turn and swim back into the previous room. The face-panel door
directly ahead is now open, so swim across the room and navigate the
tunnel until you reach an air hole where you can pull up into a small room.
Shoot the box with the ornate cover and pick up some crossbow arrows. Then jump back into the water and resume your
swim along the tunnel to the west. Turn left and emerge in another submerged
room.
Open the south door and make your way through the tunnel until you reach
an underwater cavern. There's a large irregular block against the south wall
(straight ahead as you enter). On the sandy floor in front of this block is a shotgun that you can pick up for SECRET #1. Exit through the opening in the SW
wall and return to the previous underwater room. Swim straight through
(stopping for air along the way) until you reach the first underwater room.
Turn right and swim through the west opening and up, until you return to your
starting point in the west pool.
Climb out and go to the walkway separating the two pools. You'll find
two more wooden boxes between the columns on either side of the walkway. The
one to the west is empty, but the one to the east contains some more shotgun ammo. Now look across the pool to the
east and you'll see a ladder on the column to your left. Jump into the water
and swim to the other side. Pull up on the north side near the ladder column
and turn to face it from the edge. Take an angled standing jump and grab the
ladder, then climb up through the hole at the top and pull up into the upper
story.
Turn around and run across the second story floor until you reach the
image of the scarab on the floor, in front of those tell-tale black holes that
you've seen before if you've played many of these levels. Use the Mechanical Scarab With Key that you picked up
near the end of Catacomb Towers (or, if you've thus far denied yourself the
pleasure of playing that level, be sure to use the savegame
provided with the Black Palace download) to trigger the spikes along the
pathway connecting the east and west wings. Now that you can cross safely, run
to the other side after picking up your device (you'll need it again shortly).
You'll lose camera control, but it's a fairly easy matter to negotiate your way
to the far west side and locate the jump switch in the central column.
As you activate the jump switch and drop down into the pool below,
you'll see a cut scene of the door in the north room opening and releasing a
harpy. Climb quickly out of the water and deal with the harpy, then go up the stairs into the north room
and through the open door. You'll soon come to another scarab image on the
floor, a signal for you to get out your wind-up toy to trigger some more
spikes. After doing its job, the doggone thing scurries and comes to rest under
an opening ahead that's too low for you to crawl through. Not to worry; just to
the left of the opening is an upper crawl space that's wide enough to
accommodate you. Jump up, grab and pull up into the opening, then lower Lara
down into the opening to the right so she can retrieve her device. Jump back up
and pull into the crawl space, then crawl straight ahead and lower Lara down
the other side. Reverse roll, step out into the corridor and turn left.
Locate the jump switch in the dimly-lit wall to your right and activate
it. You'll see a door opening beyond a small slit in front of you, but it's
likewise too narrow for Lara to squeeze through. So backtrack until you're in
the corridor near the end of the spike trap. Around the bend you'll find that a
back door to the next area has been opened. Go on through the opening; but be
careful, as you'll lose camera control again and it's a long way down to the
hard pavement below.
You'll find yourself on a crooked and narrow walkway spanning the room
below. Carefully walk across to the other side. Ahead you'll note a see-through
grate that allows a glimpse at another room with a pool down below. On either
side, near the NE and NW corners, are columns with a
climbing surface on the far side. Climb up the NE column. Pull up and activate
the reach-in switch in the corner ahead to lower a block and open a hatchway
below, near the base of the NW column, allowing access to a lower room.
(There's a similar reach-in switch at the upper NW corner that opens the
companion hatchway near the base of the opposite NE column, leading to the same
lower room. You'll need to activate that
switch now or later to gain access to Secret #4 described below.)
Climb back down the column and hop down into the nearby open hole.
You'll find yourself in a room that you'd be well advised to scout out first,
as you'll need to make some decisions about the order in which best to proceed.
The first thing you notice is a central structure with receptacles for four
beetles you don't yet have. On the east wall is a receptacle for a Pharos device to the right of an open doorway. Near the NE
corner is a coffin. When you step up to it the camera angle shifts to show an
awakened skeleton trying to sneak up
behind you. Deal with it, then open the coffin and take some flares from within. As you continue your
exploration of this room, you'll see face-panels in the north and west walls
that you can open with your crowbar. But hold off on doing that for the time
being. Go to the SW stairway and
retrieve the crossbow arrows if you didn't see them on the way down.
Now that you have the lay of the land down here in the room with the
beetle-receptor structure, climb back up to the upper level and get back onto
that crooked and narrow walkway. On the largest part of the walkway, facing
north, walk over to the right side where you will find several flat edges.
Locate the one that's relatively free of moss (the ones on either side will be
decidedly greener) and turn with your back to it so you're facing generally to
the NW. You should also be directly facing the large palm frond on the other
side of the walkway. Now hop back and attempt to grab the edge, and keep the
action key depressed so that you land safely in a little alcove below. Take a
standing jump forward and turn right to enter a cleverly-hidden passageway
inside the walkway structure. Turn left and pick up the LASER SIGHT for SECRET
#2.
Exit the passageway, turn left and return to the spot where you dropped
down from above. Turn around, hop back and grab the edge, and safety drop to
the floor, losing a little health in the process.
You find yourself in a torch-lit room where you could engage in some
productive activity at this point if you insisted, but that would require a
major rewrite of this walkthrough. Since this level is very nonlinear, and
since it doesn't really matter in what order you do things, and since you won't
lose any time following the path laid out in this walkthrough, let's get back
to the room with the beetle-receptor structure and begin from there.
Locate the doorway up the stairs in the north wall and head that way.
Light a flare if it gets too dark to see. At the end of the hallway you'll note
a wooden chest in the left corner, and a doorway to the right that's marked on
the floor with the tell-tale holes of a spike trap. Shoot the chest to trigger
and disarm the spikes so you can go through safely. Walk gingerly between the
two columns ahead and be wary of the next opening, as it has the same tell-tale
holes in the doorway ceiling. Crawl through the opening so Lara won't be
skewered by the long spikes.
There are no more spike traps ahead, so run
down the corridor and make a horseshoe turn to the left and up the stairs, then
turn left and run down the upper corridor until you return to the room with the
beetle-receptor structure. Now that you're suitably oriented, turn right around
and go back through the open door in the east wall. Turn left, then right and
go back down the stairs. Use your crowbar to open the face-panel door ahead.
Enter, turn right and draw weapons to eliminate the skeleton
ahead. Continue down the corridor and turn left into the alcove. Vault up and
lower Lara through the crawl space to the room on the other side.
When you turn around and look about this new room, your first reaction
will be akin to that of the proverbial kid in the candy store. You'll see those
three beetles displayed prominently on the north, east and south walls, and
you'll say to yourself: Aha! three-fourths of my quest
is over in one fell swoop. No such luck. As you step forward with crowbar in
hand, intending to pry loose the beetles and add them to your inventory, you
find to your dismay that a block will rise up as you step onto any of the
platforms surrounding the beetles, denying access to your quarry. How
frustrating!
However, all is not lost. Go over to the raised central platform, step
out to its westerly edge, jump up and grab the ledge above and pull up into the
crawl space. Make a horseshoe turn around to the right until you reach the
opening at the other end. Turn around, lower Lara down
the other side and safety drop to the floor. Hop back once, turn left and
locate another crawl space above you. Crawl through and lower Lara down the
other side, and voila! You're facing BLACK BEETLE
#1 in the north wall. Pry it loose with your crowbar, reverse roll
and step back into the lower room with the two remaining beetles. The block
behind you will rise again as you vacate the area.
(Forget about the other two beetles you're leaving behind, as they're just
decoys.)
Back in the room with the beetle-receptor structure, go to the west wall
and use the crowbar to open the face-panel door. Go inside. At the end of the
short tunnel is a barred opening overlooking a deep room.
Use the west ladder face in the middle of the tunnel to climb up into a higher
tunnel. Decisions, decisions. What to do next? If you
turn around, jump over the hole and look across the room to the east, you'll
see an illuminated beetle on the far wall, with no apparent way to get there.
Step out onto the balcony and turn to the right. Locate the wooden box with the
ornate cover in the wall alcove and shoot it. Then take a running jump over to
the alcove and pick up the ORNATE HANDLE.
Return to the balcony and run to the other side. From either side of the
column, at the balcony's edge, you can reach the balcony in the north wall with
a running jump.
Go into the opening between the two columns and shoot the coffin to your
left for some shotgun ammo. Hop down
into the lower tunnel and take a standing jump up the slope. Run down the
stairs to the west and turn left at the bend. Turn left again at the opening,
and you'll find yourself high above a very deep room with nowhere to go
(because the door in the structure ahead is presently closed). Make a mental
note of your position for later and retrace your steps back to the balcony. You
look wistfully at the beetle in the wall above the balcony in the east wall;
but it's still too far away to reach, so take a running jump back to the
balcony against the west wall. (You'll also note another wooden box with an
ornate cover in an alcove near the SE corner; but it's even further away, so
forget it for now.)
Go inside the opening and jump over the ladder hole. Then jump straight
up and grab the monkey bars in the ceiling. As you monkey swing forward, you
can see an illuminated beetle through the narrow slit in the structure ahead,
and you can even go all the way to the wall, release and grab the opening if
you like. However, it's too narrow to be used as a crawl space, so all you
could do at that point would be to let go, die and reload. Instead, monkey
swing west into the open area and follow the tracks to your right (and not to
your left). When you reach the corner, turn left and drop
down to a ledge when you can go no further. Jump up from there and
activate the overhead jump switch, opening a face-panel door at the end of the
left leg of the monkey bars.
Turn around and walk carefully (it's a long way down) to the east end of
the ledge you're standing on. Jump up and grab the monkey bars. Go back the way
you came, taking a quick right and returning to your starting point. Take a
little dogleg to the left and keep on following the tracks clockwise around the
central structure. You'll lose camera control briefly as you near your goal.
When you run out of tracks, release and drop to the ledge in front of the
now-open face-panel door. You'll find that your reward for all that hard labor is access to another set of monkey bars. Take a
running (not a standing) jump and grab to the bars overhead, then swing around
until you run out of tracks again.
Release and drop to the ledge below. Repeat this procedure twice more,
and you'll finally turn right and swing into an alcove that's presently
blocked. Carefully face the closed door squarely and release. Immediately grab
the edge of the alcove and use the ladder to climb down to a block that affords
protection from the skeleton that's
prowling about below. Make short work of it from your vantage point, then take a
running jump and grab to the higher block to the north. Pull up and pick up
some shotgun ammo. Hop down to the floor
and explore a bit, but be careful not to fall into the trenches at the NW and
SE corners, as there are nasty spike traps down below.
Locate the tall block against the south wall and use the ladder on the
west face to climb up to the top. Activate the reach-in switch in the wall, and
you'll hear the rustle of harpy wings as a cut scene shows the door opening in
the alcove above the tall ladder. Kill the harpy,
climb back down to the floor and run around to the other side of the central
structure (again avoiding the spike-trap trench in your path). Climb up onto
the block and scale the ladder until you reach the alcove. Step forward and a
cut scene will show you the top of Lara's head from high above.
Climb up the steep shaft, using the ladder in the east wall. (Bypass for
now the obvious back flip to the alcove in the west
wall.) Pull up at the top and you'll see a slit of an opening ahead of you that
should look familiar. Can it be. . .you think to
yourself as you slowly turn around. Yes! There's the BLACK BEETLE #2, yours for the taking. On your way back down
the ladder, take that back flip into the alcove near the bottom, and you'll
find that when you pried loose the beetle you opened the exit door in this
alcove. Climb up onto the block and take a running jump and grab to the opening
across the way.
Pull up, run forward and into the tunnel you explored earlier from the
other side, and run through the corridor and up the stairs. Slide down the
slope and return to the balcony in the north wall of the next room. Standing to the left of the pillar to your right, take an angled running
jump to the balcony in the west wall. Go into the opening, jump over the
ladder shaft, then hop back to grab the edge and climb down the ladder to the
lower level. Reverse roll and return to the room with the beetle-receptor
structure. You have two in your inventory and can place them now if you like,
but it's more satisfying to wait until you have all four.
Now go over to the face-panel door in the north wall and open it with
your crowbar. Go inside, zigzag to the right and locate the water hole. Dive
into the underwater cavern and find the opening down near the NE corner. Swim
through a short wood-lined tunnel and emerge in the bowels of what appears to
be a sunken vessel. You'll see two openings, one directly opposite the one you
just emerged from, and the other below you in the center
of the flooring. Take the north opening opposite you first. Follow the tunnel
and emerge in a small pool in the center of a
subterranean room. You'll see a closed door in an alcove up on the north bank;
and since there's nothing else to do in here right now, return to the sunken
vessel and swim through the hole in the bottom.
Continue through the tunnel and swim up the shaft until you emerge in a
torch-lit room. Run to the other side and open the coffin for some flares and uzi ammo,
then vault up onto the central platform and pull the chain once. A cut scene
shows that closed door you saw in the alcove. Jump back into the water and
return to the sunken vessel. You'll find a new opening in the east wall. Enter
it and swim along the fairly long tunnel until you reach an air hole through
which you pull up into another room directly above the one you visited just
now. Although the chain looks like a mere extension of the one you pulled
earlier, go ahead and vault up onto the central platform and give it one yank.
Eureka! A cut scene shows the door opening in the underground chamber you
visited a short while ago.
Jump back into the water, follow the tunnel until you reach the sunken
vessel, and turn right to swim through the north opening. When you reach the
pool, pull up and hop to the now-open doorway near the NE corner. Go inside and
activate the reach-in switch. A flyby takes you back to the opening in the
south end of the sunken vessel, followed by a mild earthquake.
Jump into the pool and return to the sunken vessel. This time swim up, and you'll find that a grate
previously blocking your way has been removed. Pull up into the dark tunnel and
run forward to the end. Turn right and pull up into the higher tunnel. Ahead is
a closed door, so just make a mental note of your location for later. Retrace
your steps and jump back into the water. You'll find that the opening at the
bottom of the sunken vessel is now blocked by a grate. However, the grate
formerly blocking the opening in the west wall has been removed, so swim inside
and look immediately to the right for a slightly higher tunnel. Follow it until
you reach the air hole. Pull up into the small room and vault up into the west
opening. A flyby takes you through the next large area that's distinguished by
a central structure topped with a futuristic purple coil.
Dive into the water and swim to the other end. You can pull up onto the
west ledge and take a running jump over to the central structure, but you can't
now access the higher level where the purple coil spins endlessly. Instead,
locate the underwater door on the west face of the central structure. Open it
and swim inside and up until you reach a long tunnel that seems to wind around
forever. You lose camera control briefly as you swim down a particularly long
segment, but that's a signal that you're more than halfway home. Swim up the
shaft at the end and replenish Lara's air-starved lungs.
Vault up onto the central structure and pull the chain once. A cut scene
shows a door opening down below. Use the hole in the floor at the north end of
the room for a short cut back down to the water, and pull up onto the ledge at
the east end. Vault up into the doorway and jump into the water hole on the
other side. Swim back to the sunken vessel and surface at the open hatchway in
the ceiling. Pull up and run down the familiar tunnel. Turn right at the end
and pull up into the higher tunnel. The door ahead is now open, so go through
the opening and turn left to face the purple coil. Step out onto the balcony,
turn left and draw weapons to eliminate the harpy.
The next logical order of business at this point is to jump across to
the suspended structure to the west. However, before doing so take a little
detour for another secret. Turn left toward the SE corner of the pool room,
from whence came the harpy, and take a running jump and grab to a pillar you
can scarcely see in the dark. Pull up and turn left to enter the opening in the
corner. When you reach the far edge, turn around and hop back to grab the top
of the ladder; as you do so you'll see the spike trap directly below, so you
know not to go down that way. Pull back up and turn around. Notice the jump
switch high up on the east wall. Take a running jump and grab to it. (If you
miss and land in the lower alcove, just pick up the large
medi-pack, turn around and take a running
jump back to the first alcove, and try again.)
When you activate the jump switch you'll fall down to the slope and
slide to the floor (don't try to back flip off the slope). The instant you
stop, take a side flip to the left to avoid the spikes. Then turn back toward
the spikes and time a standing jump over them into the corner. Turn left carefully and time another standing jump over a
second spike trap. Then pull up north and pick up the large medi-pack
(if you didn't do so earlier) and take a running jump west to the opening above
the ladder. Step back out onto the pillar in the corner of the pool room, turn
to the right and take a running jump and grab back to the balcony. Walk forward
to the north edge and take a running jump to the other pillar in the NE corner.
Pull up and turn to the right, where you'll see the doorway you opened just now
with the jump switch. Turn around and safety drop into
the room below and run up the stairs to the north. Zigzag around to the left
and continue until you reach a partially submerged room with a flowing fountain
in its center.
There's a coffin in an underwater alcove to the south. Standing
thigh-deep in the water on the submerged stairs, combine the crossbow and the
laser sight and shoot the coffin. Then look up and you'll see a similar coffin
perched on the ledge near the right corner. Shoot it as well, then swim over
and pull up onto the landing to your left. Take an angled running jump SW to
the ledge and pick up the grenade gun ammo
for SECRET #3 (even though the secret
did not register for the author of this walkthrough). Jump back into the water,
pick up the GRENADE GUN in the south
alcove and open the underwater door in the west wall. Swim through the tunnel
beyond that brings you back to the pool room. Surface for air, then return to
the tunnel and locate the door just inside and up to the right that you can
open for some crossbow arrows at the end
of a short tunnel.
Now you need to get back to where you were when you were distracted by
the harpy. Swim to the east end of the pool room and pull up. Repeat the steps
you took not long ago by vaulting up into the doorway ahead, jumping into the
water hole on the other side, and swimming back to the sunken vessel to surface
at the open hatchway in the ceiling. Pull up and run down the two levels of
tunnels until you return to the upper balcony.
Take a running jump and grab to the suspended structure to the west.
Walk to the far end, turn around, hop back and grab the edge. Release and
immediately grab the jump switch directly below to raise a block on the east
side of the central structure.
Swim to the west side of the pool, pull up onto the ledge, turn around
and take a running jump to the central structure. Run to the other side, climb
up onto the raised block and keep on climbing until you reach the platform with
the purple coil (which won't harm Lara, by the way). Pick up the PHAROS KNOT and jump back into the water. Swim
over to the east ledge, pull up and exit this area.
Jump into the small water hole and swim back to
the sunken vessel. Turn right and swim through the opening in the south wall.
Cross the underwater cavern, locate the air hole in the ceiling on the other
side and pull up into the zigzag corridor. Return to the room with the
beetle-receptor structure and place the Pharos Knot
in its receptacle to the right of the open door in the east wall. This causes a
block to rise to your right, allowing access to a beetle embedded in the wall
above you, but we'll save that one for last.
Run through the doorway in the east wall (to the left of the Pharos Knot receptacle), go down the stairs and make a
hairpin turn to the right past the open face-panel door you opened earlier, and
past the grated window to your left overlooking the secret area. Go through the
opening into a reddish area you encountered earlier, but coming from the other
direction (after you obtained the second secret and the laser sight).
Remember the spike trap ahead. Light a flare after you pass between the
two columns and stop just before you reach the next opening. Crouch down and
crawl under the spikes you triggered earlier. You've already neutralized the
spike trap in the next doorway ahead, so run through the opening without fear,
turn left and emerge in the torch-lit underground area you dropped down to
earlier from the crooked, narrow bridge structure.
Now let's do some exploring. At the top of the half-circle steps in the
east wall is a device which serves as the receptacle for an artifact
that requires two pieces, and you only have one piece right now. Head over to
the west side of this room. Climb up onto the reddish block. Take
a standing jump ahead to the sloped green block, then turn right and take
another standing jump to the threshold of an opening. Turn left and run into
the cave-like area. Jump up onto the block ahead. Turn left and take a running
jump and grab to the crevice in the south wall. Shimmy left and around the
corner, and pull up onto the block in the SE corner. Turn to the left and take
a running jump and grab north across the room. Shimmy to the left as necessary
to reach the flat surface where Lara can pull up. Run forward and climb up to
the next higher level. You can see a beetle perched atop a pillar that's too
high to climb. However, there's a ladder in the east wall. Jump up and grab the
right-hand segment, and then (without climbing up any higher) shift to the left
and back flip onto the column. Turn left and use your crowbar to pry loose the BLACK BEETLE #3.
Jump back to the ladder, shift right and climb all the way to the top.
Pull up, run down the short tunnel and turn around when you reach the edge of
the hole in the NE corner. Hop back, grab the edge, climb down the ladder until
Lara is dangling, then release to the landing below. Activate the nearby
reach-in switch (if you have been following this walkthrough precisely, then
this is the companion switch that you didn't use when you were in this
area earlier), then use the ladder at the end of the west ledge to climb down
to the area with the irregular bridge that you navigated earlier. Run over
toward the east end, climb down the hole next to the column, and head north
down the stairs.
Before entering the room with the beetle-receptor structure, turn left
on the middle step and hug the west wall. Jump up to activate the ingeniously
hidden jump switch, allowing access to a new area down below. Turn to the left,
hop back and grab the edge of the opening and use the ladder to climb down to
the basement level. Turn left and run down the corridor until you reach a crawl
space. Crawl inside for SECRET #4 and
some goodies: a small medi-pack
and some uzi ammo. There's also a box to shoot for the UZIS. Crawl back through the opening and climb up
to the former room.
Go the block you raised earlier in the SE corner. Climb up onto it and
turn to the alcove slightly above you. Take an angled standing jump and grab to
it, pull up and draw light weapons. Crouch down and shoot the box with ornate
cover for a large medi-pack.
Then take a running jump slightly NE to the ledge ahead. Walk forward to claim
the BLACK BEETLE #4.
Hop back three times, grab the edge of the
ledge and safety drop to the room below. Reverse roll and run forward to the
central structure. Place each of your four Black Beetles in the proper
receptacles and watch the device open up. After placing the last one, step
forward and pick up the HATHOR EFFIGY
from the pedestal.
Now go through the doorway in the east wall and run along the corridor,
down the stairs, around to the right and under the spike trap, and finally
emerge in the torch-lit room. Run down the stairs and head left over to the
east wall. Combine the Ornate Handle with the Hathor
Effigy to form the PORTAL GUARDIAN. Use
it in the pole-shaped device at the top of the half-circle steps, and a brief
flyby shows doors opening in the structure behind you.
Reverse roll and stop long enough to shoot the nearby coffin for some uzi ammo. Then vault up into the structure and pick
up the small medi-pack.
Immediately a yellow coil shoots out to encircle Lara, and you hear the
flapping of a harpy's wings. Step outside and kill the harpy, but be careful not to let your weapons lock
on the two simulacra stationed inside similar yellow coils on either side of
the south stairway leading to a new opening, as shooting them will cause you to
lose health.
Go up the south stairs and into the opening. At the end of the arched
hallway, turn right and drop down into the hole. Run forward, and when you come
to the wide red stairs the camera angle will shift and show a horde of real beetles spewing out of wall holes on either side.
While avoiding the beetles as best you can, light a flare and welcome yourself
to a delightful little maze.
Your long-range goal is to locate and pull two chains in separate areas
of the maze, but the first order of business is to locate a water hole so you
can get rid of those pesky beetles. Plan to use up plenty of flares along the
way, because it's mighty dark inside that maze. This walkthrough would be much
too detailed and tedious if every twist and turn were spelled out here. Maybe
some enterprising gamer will lay out a serviceable map and post it here as an
appendix. However, here are the essential highlights to get you through the
maze: The water hole is located near the NW corner, beyond a slit you can see
through from the other side (you'll have to jump over a flaming pot and endure
being aflame for about a second in order to reach the water hole), and the
small rooms with the chains are found near the NE and SW corners. (The first
one, in fact, is very near the entrance to the maze, off to the right as you
enter facing west.) Along the way you'll need to jump over some smoldering pots
that are sitting in alcoves. Some of these will burst into flames as you jump
over them, which of course prevents you from backtracking in that direction
should you get lost.
When you get to the water hole and drown the beetles, a swim down the
long and winding tunnel brings you to a small room where you'll find a
structure with a closed door and no goodies anywhere in sight. But wait! Don't
those designs on the end blocks of the ledge against the east wall look
familiar? Dust off that winding toy you've been carrying and use it in one of
those scarab designs. Sure enough, you'll see the thing scamper under the small
opening to the similar design on the other side. See bug alert below. At
the same time, the door to the structure will open. Go inside and jump into the
water hole. Swim through the tunnel until you reach a room with a central
fountain. Continue west around the fountain and pull up to your left on the
other side. Pick up the large medi-pack
near your feet, then turn around and shoot the coffin on the block on the far
side of the room. Pull up onto the block and pick up the revolver for SECRET
#5.
[NOTE: rjb has graciously provided the
following alert as to a possible bug in the game: It seemed at first that if
you collected all the secrets, you couldn’t finish the game properly because
most ladders suddenly became unclimbable, the
"picture" became entirely unstable in places (not the
"earthquake" kind of unstable), monkey swings were "unclingable", spikes were automatically raised, and
the "guardian" enemies at the end all appeared at once, but then
would be activated one at a time. At first I came to the same conclusion,
because if you miss out the last secret, all is well.
I then investigated a bit more and found that the actual problem appears
to be caused by the mechanical scarab, not the 5th and final secret itself. As
you approach the 5th secret area, you use the scarab for the 3rd and last time,
so you might be tempted not to pick it up again. If you don’t--if you leave it
"running"--then all the problems detailed above occur. If you don’t
pick it up and you then collect the 5th secret nearby, then when you reach the
"lava pool" room where you need to jump about and climb a bit, you’ll
find you can’t do the climbing, nor cling to the monkey swing that follows,
etc.]
Jump back into the water and swim to the room where you left the
mechanical scarab. If you're tired of carrying it around you can just leave it where
it is; but just for fun, you can send it back to the other side and watch it
blow up. In view of the bug alert noted above, it may be best just to pick
it up. Jump into the water hole in the SW corner and return to the maze
area. You'll find that the pot that was flaming
earlier is now just smoking, so you can jump over it safely. Now go locate and
pull the two chains. The exit door, that's opened when the second chain is
pulled, is located near the SW corner. Aren't you glad that's over?
From the exit, run forward along the shallow trench and open the coffin
at the other end for some crossbow arrows and
revolver ammo. Then enter the next room
to the north through either door. Walk up to the edge of the flaming oil and
take a running jump to the sloped embankment to your right. Keep the jump key
depressed as Lara bounces first to the central slope and off that to the ornate
block ahead. Grab the edge, pull up facing north and get your bearings.
The next move looks like it could be complicated, but it isn't. Simply
take a running jump and grab to the ladder column ahead and shimmy around two
corners to the other side. Without climbing up or down, back flip into the
opening. Turn around and jump straight up to grab the monkey bars. Swing out
and follow the tracks as they wind to the left twice until you reach the wall.
Release and immediately grab the ladder. Shift to the right and, with Lara's
hands on the third rung down, back flip to the column. Turn to the right and
you'll see an obvious spike trap on the top of the next column. Take a standing
(not a running) jump and grab to the column, then shimmy around two corners and
drop down on the other side.
Turn around and face the scene of your next conflict. Run straight ahead
and step onto the central platform where the green coil is spiraling and pick
up the MUSIC SCROLL. Then draw weapons
and hop back to deal with the Demigod
who's raining fire down on you from atop the platform hovering over the green
coil. Then locate the block near the south wall and climb up onto it facing
south. Take a running jump and grab to the ladder and climb up to the
second-story balcony level. Vault up into the west window sill and jump
straight up to grab the monkey bars. Follow the tracks around to the right and
drop down into a similar balcony in the west wall. Hop down, turn right to face
the green coil and take a running jump and grab to the platform where the
Demigod was stationed. Pull up, and you'll alert a second Demigod in the balcony in the north wall. Draw
weapons and dispose of him, then take a running jump and grab to the edge of
the balcony where he was.
Pull up and use the ladder to climb up to the third story or roof level.
Go through the left opening ahead (as the right opening leads to a closed door)
and wind your way through the corridor until you emerge on the roof of the west
balcony. Take a hairpin turn to the right and pick up the large medi-pack in the
alcove. Then vault up onto the roof and walk out as far as you can go toward
the right or SE corner. You'll alert a third Demigod
who starts taking potshots at you from the second-story balcony level to your
right. Unfortunately, he's out of the effective range of your weapons. Note
that up on the wall, just above the roof of the same (south) balcony, is a
blue-tinged receptacle for an artifact you don't yet have.
Turn around and go back into the tunnel, and return to the roof of the
north balcony. Climb down the ladder, reverse roll and take a running jump and
grab to the central platform above the green coil. Pull up, draw weapons and
shoot the Demigod in the south balcony. You now need to get to that balcony,
but it's too far away to reach with a running jump and grab. So
safety drop to the floor and use the block and ladder near the south wall to
get back to the second-story balcony level. Locate and pick up the HORSEMAN'S GEM dropped by the third Demigod when
you killed him. Use the monkey bars to reach the west balcony, but before you
get very far you'll find that a fourth Demigod
is already there and taking advantage of your helpless condition. The safest
thing to do is turn around and drop back down into the south balcony and deal
with him from there. When the coast is again clear, monkey
swing over to the west balcony. From there, take a running jump and grab
to the central platform. Pull up and turn left. Take a running jump and grab to
the north balcony. Pull up, run forward and use the ladder to climb back up to
the third-story roof level.
Go through the left opening ahead and return to the roof of the west
balcony. Hop off the south edge to the walkway below, and follow it to the roof
of the south balcony. Take a standing jump up to a flat portion of the roof and
turn to the right. Take a standing jump over the slope that's too steep to walk
on, and make your way to the wall. Insert the Horseman's Gem in the receptacle,
and you'll see a cut scene of a door opening. Very carefully, turn around and
walk back toward the lower walkway. Slide down to the flat surface (being
careful not to slide the wrong way, toward the front of the balcony, where Lara
will fall to her death) and hop down to the walkway.
A fifth Demigod is now prowling
about on the roof of the west balcony, so eliminate him from where you are.
Then run along the walkway and pull up onto the roof of the west balcony. Go
through the corridor and return to the roof of the north balcony. Make a
hairpin turn to the left, being mindful of the ladder shaft, go through the
opening to the right and run along the corridor. Turn left at the stairs and
run up through the opening as Lara's ending theme music starts playing.
Continue up the stairs, winding around to the right, until you reach a well-lit
landing. Step forward toward what looks like a ladder in the distance, and
you'll hit the exit trigger that brings this delightful adventure to an abrupt
end.
* * * * * * * *
NOTE: The following helpful footnotes have been provided by rjb.
1. The name "Black Palace" doesn’t appear in the title, nor on
the statistics screen, if you carry on from "C.T."; it only appears if you use René’s savegame
- but then you don’t have the items you picked up in "C.T." to take
forward.
2. It might be good to mention the crowbar that has been passed across
between the 2 levels as well as the mechanical scarab. You don’t usually start
a game with the crowbar; it's normally an essential item to find.
3. The Shotgun in secret area #1 sometimes disappears into the sandy
floor because of the water’s undulating and the uneven floor, so it can be
easily missed.
4. In the large room just past the 2nd (mechanical beetle) spike trap,
where you find secret #2 hidden below, (a) you can go back up to the
"upper grassy walkway" again (no need to go to the ground): J&C
up from the extreme LH side of very close to the square that you landed on,
when you first jumped down to find secret area #2; and (b) you can reach the
floor from the high walkway w/o any energy loss by a R&J (with cling) to
the slope in the far RH corner near the entrance (facing the entrance to this
room & looking to the right), then once you're clinging to the edge of the
slope, by shimmying to the right, not quite around the corner, you can drop to
the top of a slope and slide down.
5. In the area around the "sunken wooden
ship" section, if you pull the 2 rope-pulls in the wrong order (?) (not certain of this, but did encounter the next bit and had
to reload), or if you visit the door that they open first, while it is still
closed, then the door may not open.
6. I think I'm correct in saying: it isn't the prying of beetle #2 loose
that opens the door below; you need to step onto the sloping pressure pad by
the hole that's "smaller than a CSP" - if some don't do that, the
door may not open and they won't know why.
7. In the place with the jumpswitch (J&C lever) that opens up secret
area #3, if you drop to the slope where there are some spikes below, you can
(instead of jumping left), immediately (!) backflip-somersault
to land at or near the top of the ladder, when you can quickly hoist up out of
danger--this gives a quicker exit from this room also. (You can time a run
directly across the spikes also, rather than doing a SJ.) [Secret #3 did
register for me, although it was my secret #4 as I went a different way first.]
8. Re the intensely irritating "beetle maze": [Editorial
aside: In one fell swoop, I felt René spoiled his excellent game at this point,
unfortunately. A maze, darkness, beetles you can only escape with difficulty
& after much experimentation, plus a quite unclear objective: what do the
rope-pulls do? How do we find out in this darkness, with these constantly
harrowing beetles, with little indication of anything changing? Should we be
aiming for that water we can glimpse across a lighted pedestal or for somewhere
else?
All in all I feel, as a somewhat seasoned adventurer, it is a far too
irritating situation to be at all pleasurable. Just my opinion, of course! Now
I’ll get off my high horse!]
Regarding it, anyway: If you run & jump down the stairs, over where
the beetles first appear, and lighting the first of several flares as you do
that, then turn right, around the corner at the bottom of the stairs, towards
the first & nearer rope-pull (it takes some time to realise
that there are 2 of them, of course), pull it quickly, then roll & run off
down the fairly short passage opposite, then take a running leap over the
smoking pedestal you come to & turn left into the new passage, then the
beetles very usefully seem to become blocked, held up in some way, provided you
don't go back to that first rope-pull at any time during your exploration (and
it probably helps if you run everywhere in this maze rather than walk around nonchalently [what, with those beetles around
somewhere??!].
9. A (partial) route through the maze. (Unfortunately, this may not work
completely, as it was done after the door that is opened by the 2 rope-pulls
was, well, opened, and some of the pots/pedestals that are initially aflame are
extinguished during the course of the maze, and some that are smoking are lit
up as you travel around. But hopefully it will be of some help.)
A. Escaping the beetles. Save at the top of the stairs, just
after the door has closed behind you from the passage from the large room where
you placed the portal guardian. (Call this SAVE 1, as you may need to return to
this, when you become hopelessly lost or nibbled to death by the beetles, or
both!) Run down the stairs, jumping over the beetles as they start to emerge
from the side walls, lighting your flare as you do so. You’re going to quickly(!) turn round the RH corner at the bottom of the
stairs, until you reach the first of two rope-pulls you need to use, to open a
door elsewhere in the maze. Pull the chain as quickly as you can, then roll and
run forward down the (new) passage that is then in front of you. You soon come
to a smoking pedestal/pot in a gap in the wall, slightly to your left ahead of
you. Take a running jump over this and immediately go to your left along the
passage at the other side of the pedestal. If you can succeed in doing all this
"at the run", without stopping, then when you’ve gone around the next
2 (RH) corners, you should be free of the beetles, as they seem to become
"stuck", somehow. (Well, here’s hoping, anyway!) [Don't go back to
that first rope-pull, nor to the stairs, or your good
work will be undone!]
B. Finding the 2nd rope-pull. Past the smoking pot/pedestal, the
next 2 corners are a hairpin turn back to the right, when you come immediately
to a junction. (SAVE 2 at this point.) Turn left here and head towards the
reddish "pharaoh’s head" on the end wall. (The way to the 5th secret
of the game is just by that pharaoh's head, so is worth noting.) Don't go
anything like as far as that for now, though. In fact, take the first turn you
come to on your left. Going forward, you come immediately to some steps on your
right that seem to lead up to a pair of doors, but these doors are one of the
many decoys that the author has put into the game - they aren't doors at all,
but instead are just wall panels. (There were several others in the very first
pool room in this game that we came to at the bottom of the first slides. Many
designers use them for doors; this author is trying to fool you!) [Detour: at
the end of this passage, past the lighted pedestal/pot at the left, you can
just see the 2nd rope-pull. (Don't catch on fire!) Now, how
to reach it?] Opposite the start of the steps to the pretend-doors that
are on your right, turn left and go a short distance
to what is hopefully a smoking pot at the right. Jump over this, turn left along
another short passage, then turn right round the next corner, by another
(burning?) pot on your left, to reach the 2nd rope-pull.
C. You now have the choice of finding the water--near that
"pharaoh’s head"--(jumping over the lighted pot you find there as
quickly as possible into the water, to quench poor Lara) to go to the 5th
secret area, and then when you return, of going to the room whose door the
rope-pulls have opened, up those shallow steps; or of going directly to the
room. (Unfortunately, because this partial "maze-through" has been
done after the rope-pulls have been used, I can no longer be certain which
routes continue to be viable at this point. Perhaps someone else can come along
and finish this off?)
10. In the water tunnel on the way back from the 5th secret area, there
is a narrow section of wall very close to the air hole where you surface again
where you can swim through the wall section and you find yourself several
sections further back in the tunnel. (Unfortunate if you’re running out of air
at that point!)
11. The guardians at the end are not "out of range of all weapons
when far away", as we can use the EX XB bolts with the crossbow’s laser
sight & zoom - but you must make sure that nothing ‘nearer’ (eg., central platforms between Lara and your target) take
the brunt of the EX XB bolts.
12. You can directly reach the balcony that the 3rd guardian, who drops
the horseman’s gem, occupied, either by running on top of the L-shaped
monkey-swing "bridge" and doing a slightly diagonal J&C down to
the right, down to the ledge of the balcony itself by the start of the
monkey-swing; or you can use the monkey-swing in reverse when you reach it, by
going back the opposite way from that which you used to reach the
"roof" in the first place; at no stage do you have to return to the
floor.