THE TOMB NEAR THE LOST VALLEY

Level by Leandro Dubost

Unauthorized walkthrough by Phil Lambeth

Lara begins with her back against a closed door. Run forward through the tunnel into a familiar area. Familiar, that is, if you've played TR1, and I'd venture to say that most of us have. You find yourself in an underground cavern with several options. First, note the nearby raised tile for later. Then step forward to the water's edge and look to your right. Have you ever seen a floating medi-pack before? Try as you might to pick it up, you'll find the task impossible. Pull out of the water, since there's nothing else to do in here, and go to the south opening. By this time you should be able to see the two wolves that have been alerted far below. Use the rocks to get down closer to them, then draw your pistols and kill them before stepping down to the cavern floor.

Before exploring the south opening, jump into the water and locate the opening in the west rock face. There's a closed door at the other end, so make a mental note of it for later. Pull out of the water and go over to the south opening. Vault up inside and go forward through an opening into another underground area. Turn to your right and continue to a slope leading down into still another area. Ready your pistols and kill the cute little spider that greets you. Continue left down the ramp toward two torches mounted on the wall, and kill two more spiders. Continue forward though the tunnel and pick up the TORCH at the end.

You now need to find a place to light the torch. Reverse roll and retrace your steps back to the underground pool. You can see the flickering light of a torch over on the north wall, so take a running jump over the water to the nearby ledge. Then, being very careful not to fall in the water (or Lara will become separated forever from her torch), walk around as far as you can go and take a standing jump to the ledge in front of the lighted wall torch. Use it to light the torch you're carrying, which gives you enough ambient light to make the jumps back across so much easier.

Now, return via the rocky steps to the north opening above and step forward to the raised tile you noted earlier. Without actually stepping onto it, get up close and hit the action key to light your torch (and also set the tile ablaze). A cut scene shows a door opening down below next to the lighted wall torch, so go back down there and follow the tunnel to an underground room with three facing passages, all with closed doors barring further progress. (You don't appear to need the torch any more, so leave it here if you wish.)

Locate the switch in the west wall near the SW corner and immediately reverse roll while drawing your pistols. Try to jump over the huge spider that's trying to inject you with venom, and run around the room while taking pot shots at it. When it's finally dead, go through the south doorway that you opened, and you'll shortly come to a major intersection. Continue forward down the south passage. Turn left and pick up the large medi-pack from the ledge to your left. Don't try to throw the wall lever to your right, but instead draw your pistols before stepping up to it and allow the breakaway tile to drop you down into a lair where three wolves await. After killing them all, go up the ramp on either side and pull out the moveable block. Push it to one side and go into the revealed passage. Run up the stairs until you come to an opening, then take a standing jump to the first gray rippled block. Climb up to the next one and draw your pistols to deal with the small spider that comes out onto the stairway to greet you. Keep those pistols poised, as two more spiders lie in wait in the room ahead. Throw the wall switch for a cut scene showing the first of three doors opening in a north passage below, then use the nearby hole as a shortcut back to the major intersection.

Go into the west passage and follow its turns until you reach a block where you can pick up some flares and the shotgun. Then hop down and push in the nearby moveable block two times. Turn to your left and push the adjacent block once to reveal a passage. Turn to your right and hop over the breakaway tile to the wall switch. Throw it for a cut scene of the second door opening in a north passage below. Reverse roll and run over the tile (it doesn't matter now if you cause it to crumble). Return to the four-way intersection and enter the east passage.

Throw the wall switch to change the position of a pillar in the room below. Go to the east opening and drop down to the next room. Enter the north doorway and follow up the stairs to an opening overlooking the same room. Stand on the pillar and turn to your right. Take a standing jump and grab to the alcove. Pull up and climb the blocks until you reach a passage with a pink ceiling. Follow the passage to the end, then turn around and hang-drop to the block as you hear the sound of a door opening. Hang-drop to the ledge below. Don't drop off the west side (which leads through the doorway that just opened to the area where you threw the wall switch described at the beginning of this paragraph). Instead, hang-drop off the east side to an alcove overlooking the pillar you moved earlier by throwing the wall switch.

Take a running jump to the top of the pillar and turn around. Take another running jump into the SW alcove and draw your shotgun to deal with the baby spider that comes out to greet you. Go inside the gray ripple tunnel and throw the wall switch at the end to change the position of the other pillar in the room below. Return to the edge of the alcove and take an angled standing jump back down to the top of the previous pillar. Face east and take a running jump to the top of the pillar you just moved, then turn to your right and take a running jump into the SE opening. Go inside and throw the wall switch; a cut scene shows the third and final door opening in a north passage elsewhere.

Take an angled running jump back to the top of the previous pillar (because of the spikes underneath the opening), drop to the ground and use the ramp at the west wall to pull back into the opening above. Go through the passage and return to the four-way intersection. Turn right and go through the north passage to the larger room with the wall torches and stone statues. Continue across the room and enter the north passage on the other side. The three doors you saw in the cut scenes have been removed, so turn right into a spooky area guarded by dart guns.

Crawl or jump over the three bays of dart guns and stop on the first step. Turn to your right and pull up into the alcove to the right or left of the statue. There's a hidden crawlspace right behind it, so go inside for SECRET #1. Draw your shotgun to deal with a bunch of baby spiders and a very angry momma spider. Then pick up the nearby flares and go behind the column in the spiders' den for a large medi-pack, and tarry for the UZIS and two stashes of uzi ammo in the NE corner.

Return to the stairs via the crawlspace and go up through the open doorway. A closed door bars your further progress, so you need to find a way to open it. Go back down the stairs, jump over the first bay of dart guns and go into the second alcove to your left behind the statue and locate the wall switch. Throw it to open a nearby door. It's not the door at the top of the stairs, so you need to look around some more. Aha, it's in the alcove directly across from the secret area. Pull up there, run past the statue and drop down into a fiery room. Shoot the welcoming committee of two wolves, then stand in front of the flaming gauntlet ahead.

Getting up is easy enough. Wait until both flame blowers at floor level go out, then take a running jump past them to the next level. In quick succession, take two standing jumps forward to reach the bay of wall switches. Throw the one on the right and leave the other two alone, as they'll simply ignite the floor beneath you. Turn around, and from the middle part of the ledge wait for the flame blowers to subside, then hop, skip and jump down to safety. Vault up into the south opening and return to the stairs in the next room. Turn left, go up the stairs and through the opening, and this time you'll find the door has been opened.

In the next room you'll find a couple of members of the "We're #1" gang. Kill them and note the skeleton perched on the throne against the east wall. Take the SCION from the central pedestal, and a brief earthquake closes off the north passage and opens the door leading to the west passage. Go on down and shoot the baddy who's waiting for you in the familiar room below. Then watch out as a boulder comes crashing down onto the central wooden floor panel.

Remember that closed underwater door near the beginning of this level? Well, it's open now, so enter the dark west passage and follow the tunnel back to the lake area where you left your torch. Jump into the water, swim down to your right and into the opening, and continue until you can surface and pull up onto a west ledge and run forward into a tunnel. Continue until you reach a waterfall channel and turn left. Run down the channel to trigger a boulder trap, and dart into the opening to your left before you're pulverized. Don't tarry to watch, for as the boulders lose their momentum they'll follow you into this passage.

Jump into the pool and locate the opening in the south wall. Swim inside and you'll soon hit the exit trigger.