NECRO'S DOMAIN 4 - STREETS OF VENICE

Level by Lee Dunning

Authorized walkthrough by Phil Lambeth

Begin in a wide alley and run forward to the intersection. Turn right and go past the opening to your left and continue until you reach a closed door at the end of the alley. Open it and draw your pistols. Step inside and kill the SAS firing at you from your left. Go over to the SE corner and pick up the LASER SIGHT, then throw the floor lever near the north wall for a cut scene showing double doors opening elsewhere while a rat scurries past them. Reverse roll, exit this room and follow the alley back to the opening you bypassed earlier. Enter and hop down onto a ledge facing a water-filled room. Turn left and run to the other end of the ledge. Make a mental note of the star receptacle in the wall, although you won't have occasion to return here until much later in the level.

Exit this area and follow the wide alley back to the intersection. Turn right when you get there and face the doorway you just opened. Run inside the next room and don't stop to admire the scenery, as an SAS is firing down on you from a high ledge ahead. Run diagonally across the room to your left and get on the motorbike you find parked there. When the headlights come on you'll see a closed door dead ahead, and well as a closed door immediately to your left. Turn right and drive out of this room back into the wide alley. When you reach the intersection, turn right and follow until you reach a wall. Crash through it and ride along the considerably narrower passage into the next room. Two wild dogs are waiting inside, but they perish immediately when they attempt to engage you on the motorbike.

Dismount after the dogs are dead and throw the floor lever near the south wall. There's nothing else to do in here, so get back on the motorbike and ride back into the alley. When you reach the intersection, turn left and return to the room where you found the motorbike. The door near the SW corner is open now, so park the motorbike nearby where the SAS can't reach you with his gunfire, and run into the passage. The first thing you see when you turn left is a swinging blue ball, and the second thing you notice is a closed door at the far end of the passage. There are several blue balls in this area (five to be exact), some swinging and some stationary. You need to shoot them all with your pistols by jumping up and down while raining bullets until they shatter. The swinging ones are the most difficult, but you can do it if you're patient.

When all five are history, that closed door you saw at the beginning will open (actually, I started at the back, and the door was open after I'd shot four of them, eliminating the need to shoot the first and most difficult one), so go inside the passage and activate the jump switch at the far end. Return to the motorbike and ride it across the room to the now-open door in the north wall. Drive inside to get beyond the range of the SAS's gunfire and dismount. Climb or jump the blocks ahead until you can pull up into an upper passage. Run through the south opening and engage that pesky SAS on the outdoor ledge. When he's dead, continue counterclockwise around the ledge until you reach the opening in the SE corner.

Draw your pistols again and engage another SAS in the next room. He drops a nice little toy, the REVOLVER, when he dies. Pick it up and shoot the jar in the SE corner for some revolver ammo. You can shoot the other jar if you like, but doing so will release some very unusual locusts. You have to see them to believe them. Hit the crouch key to minimize your loss of health, and they'll soon dissipate. Go to the dark SW corner of the room and activate the jump switch to open some double doors allowing access to an outside area.

Leave this room, retrace your steps along the outside ledge and hop down the block steps to your waiting motorbike. Back it up and drive it around the central tower. The door in the north wall is now open, so drive through and turn left. The open double doors allow you to drive into the Streets of Venice, laced with waterways. You can explore this area on the motorbike (within certain limits) or on foot. I found it faster to get around on foot, so drive straight ahead along the walkway and make left turns (followed by more surreal locusts at one point) until you reach a closed door. Dismount here and dive into the nearby water. Swim straight down and pick up the CROWBAR in the corner.

Continue swimming along the floor of the canal and turn right when you reach the intersection. Locate the nearby hole in the floor and swim down into it and along the passage for SECRET #1. Pick up the UZIS, flip turn and swim back out for air. Pull out here and start running back north and continue around to the right to your starting point. Now it's time to start opening doors, and you want to get a general sense of the tasks awaiting you. From the open double doors, start making a counterclockwise trek along the walkways. You'll first come to an opening on the your right, leading to an empty room. You'll eventually bring your motorbike here, but not until much later. Next you'll come to a closed door on your right, with a gap underneath that you can't crawl through. That's linked to the motorbike room, so you'll save that for later.

Soon thereafter you'll come to a bare courtyard. There's an opening in the east wall. Go inside and activate the jumpswitch high up on the wall in the next room. This opens a door elsewhere, so continue your trek. You next come to an area where the canal goes all the way to the wall. This would have brought your motorbike ride to an abrupt halt, which is why I suggested you explore on foot. Take a running jump west across the water and pick up the shotgun ammo in the corner. Continue past another courtyard with a closed door and what looks like a picture window in the nearby wall.

You'll next come to a closed set of double doors, directly opposite the entrance to this vast area. Next is another courtyard with a closed door. This one has an invisible barrier that keeps you from getting close to it. Your next stop is a larger courtyard with a closed door and a moveable block. Both are for later, so keep moving. Finally, you come to a courtyard where you find your motorbike, so you know you've made a complete circuit around this area. The door in the south wall is now open, so go inside and activate the jump switch. Reverse roll and head back in the opposite direction, i.e., clockwise along the canals. Pass by the moveable block and the door that's still closed. Continue past the next closed and the closed double doors after that.

When you reach the next courtyard, you find a new room with an opening in the far wall and a hole in the ground. Hop down into the hole, run forward and throw the floor lever. Reverse roll and climb out of the hole. Exit to the canals and make your way back to your right. You'll reach a courtyard with an open door, just around the corner from the closed double doors. Go inside and activate the high jump switch. Reverse roll, exit to the canals and continue backtracking to your right. When you reach the courtyard with the moveable block, you'll find that the nearby door is now open.

Pull the block back twice, then go around to the left side and push it west all the way into the next room until it comes to rest against the wall, right underneath another jump switch. The block has magically become quasi-climbable, which means you can jump up and grab the side, but when you attempt to pull up to the top you fall back to the ground. What you need to do is stand with your nose against the wall on either side of the block, and side flip onto the top. You probably won't land directly beneath the jump switch, so take little side steps until you can jump straight up and activate the switch. The closed double door creak open as your reward.

Run off either side of the block to the ground and return to the canal area. Continue in a counterclockwise direction until you reach the motorbike. Get on it and drive back the way you came, also in a counterclockwise direction (watch that tight right turn), until you reach the entrance. Make a hairpin turn to the left there and drive west until you reach the open double doors. Drive inside and run over two SAS, and you'll see the door ahead open automatically. Dismount and pick up two stashes of revolver ammo, one of them having been dropped by an SAS. You can desecrate the nearby corpse by moving it (as well as the other corpses you'll encounter inside), but nothing is hidden underneath the body.

Run through the open doorway, and a long flyby takes you through the area ahead. After camera control is restored, run inside and turn left. Go all the way to the SE corner without fear of the inoperable sentry gun. Pull up the trapdoor and hop down into the trench for some grenade gun ammo at your feet. Run forward and you'll hear the chimes of SECRET #2. Pick up the large medi-pack, reverse roll and run forward to pull up out of the hole. Now head toward the north end of this outdoor area. There are two fully functioning sentry guns protecting a helicopter and an artifact that's essential for you to have. With a rebel yell in your throat, run forward kamikaze-style between the two sentry guns as they begin to open fire. However, when you reach the ledge in front of the helicopter, they stop firing.

Draw the revolver and combine it with the laser sight. Take aim, not at the red gasoline can but at the brown container behind it. To do so you'll probably have to side step to the left until you're directly in front of the helicopter's colorful logo. (Don't sidestep any further or the sentry gun to your left will spew you with flames.) If you've positioned yourself properly, the container will explode and set the helicopter aflame. The sentry guns will also start firing again, so reverse roll and get away from there. The helicopter will soon blow up, taking the sentry guns and wall with it. You can now shatter the empty gasoline can if you like. Enter the north passage and pick up the NITROUS OXIDE FEEDER, then reverse roll and run south. Turn right past the block where the sentry gun was posted, and enter the west opening.

The trap door above is released automatically, so pull up into the upper room and throw the floor lever to open the large double doors outside. Go back down and retrieve your motorbike. Drive it through the west doorway and turn left toward the open double doors. Drive inside, line up the motorbike with the left side of the ramp west and dismount. Stand to the right side of the motorbike, bring up the Nitrous Oxide Feeder in your inventory, and push enter to use it. Lara will insert the canister and then get on the motorbike. Drive forward at full speed and use the sprint key to give yourself some extra power. You'll drive up the ramp, cross the gap and crash through the wall on the other side.

Drive around to the right and continue until you reach a dead end. Dismount and pull up into the upper passage. The door ahead opens as you run forward, as closes just as abruptly when you enter the next area. Turn to your left and take a standing jump NW to the next block. The camera angle becomes fixed at this point, so you need to be careful. Walk forward to the NE corner and turn slightly to your right. Take a standing jump and grab to the next higher block. Pull up, turn right and walk to the east edge. Take a running jump to a still higher block, walk forward to the east edge and take a standing jump and grab to the higher block that's against the east wall. Pull up and turn left. Walk forward to the north edge and take a standing jump and grab to the last and highest block. Camera control is restored here, so pull up and take a running jump and grab to the north ledge. Pull up, turn left and run to the other end of the ledge and throw the floor lever.

The entire area becomes quietly flooded, so jump in and swim across to the other side. Pull up onto the south ledge and run into the opening at the SW corner. Follow the passage to another room, and hop the ledges to another floor lever near the north wall. Throw it to open a door in the previous room. If you jump to the central cement structure, you can look down and see some uzi ammo and a small medi-pack. However, if you're foolish enough to drop down after it, you'll find that there's no way back out. If you want a nifty short cut back to the flooded room, however, just safety drop from the outer edge of the central structure and run to the opening in the south wall. Run inside and you'll be sucked into a vortex that brings you instantly near the surface. Swim to the north side and pull up onto the ledge. Go around to the other side of the floor lever and throw it again to drain the room. Run to the other end of the ledge and take a standing jump to the highest block, then another standing jump south to the next block, and safety drop from there to the floor.

Exit through the now-open north doorway and run around the structure to the north wall. Throw the floor lever to open the door in front of you. Go inside and use your crowbar to pry the LIBRARY KEY off the wall, then throw the floor lever inside for a flyby showing the exit doors opening (giving you a nice view of the motorbike) and a quartet of SAS blocking your way to freedom. Reverse roll and run across this room through the doorway into the next room. Continue across to the SE corner and enter the passage that leads to the motorbike. Get on it and drive back along the passage until you turn the corner and encounter those SAS. Run over all four of them--thump, thump, thump, thump--my, isn't this fun--and continue down the ramp and through the open double doors to the area where you conquered the helicopter.

Exit this area via the arched east doorway and return to the canals. Drive on the left side of the water and continue east until you reach that opening on your left. Drive inside and allow the motorbike to crash through the brittle floor at the far end. Dismount (you won't need the motorbike any more) and run up the ramp for SECRET #3. There's a small medi-pack floating in midair that you can't pick up, but you don't need it anyway. Stop to grab the revolver ammo lying on the block and continue up the ramp. The door at the top opens as you approach, so go outside and take a running jump west over the water. Turn left and run to the intersection, then turn left again and head back to the east double doors where you entered the canal area.

Take a running jump in mid-stride to clear the wall ahead, then continue running forward to exit the room and return to the beginning intersection. Take a left, then turn left into the opening near the north wall. Follow the passage to the flooded room and turn left to locate that star receptacle you noted much earlier. Save your game here, because what happens next isn't reliable. Insert the Library Key to cause a change in the pool behind you. If you turn around to find a series of sloped pillars extending to the water's surface, that's not what you want to see. Reload and try again. When you see a series of floating platforms leading across the water, that's the desired result. (On several occasions there was no change at all after placing the Library Key. If that should happen to you, try exiting the game altogether before making another attempt.)

Take standing jumps across the bridge of undulating platforms. When you reach the last one, step forward and pull up onto the north ledge. As you run forward you trigger an extended flyby where Von Croy is seen making his escape while you stand there helpless. Just before camera control is restored, a couple of skeletons are released. Since you have plenty of ammo, simply use your combined revolver and laser sight to shatter the skeletons' heads and completely disorient them. Run to the north wall and pull up. Run up the oddly immaterial stairs while Lara's theme music plays. Enter the library of scrolls, turn right for the builder's expression of thanks, and continue into the main reading room. Approach the scroll stand in the center of the room for a concluding flyby as the level ends.