THE HALL OF THE ADEPT

Level by David Troska (Trocinth)

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth

Installation note: Be sure to use the revised coastal wads when you build the level.

After a brief flyby, you begin in a cinderblock-enclosed passage. Step forward past the jackal head column and a covered walkway into an outdoor courtyard. Note the closed gate ahead that leads to the Hall of the Adept, requiring not only a key but a couple of gems. There are two shallow pools on either side of the gate. The one on your left contains the LASER SIGHT.

Run down the walkway into the east passage and climb down the ladder to your right. Kill a couple of wart hogs that await you down below, then enter the west passage and pick up the flares. Turn left and enter what appears to be an underground sewer. Climb up onto the short block in the NW corner to your right and pull up into an upper room. Pick up another laser sight and some revolver ammo, then return to the cavern floor. Jump across the water and locate the crawl space in the south wall. Pull up into it and follow the passage until you reach a wildly decorated room. Run forward between the two rows of steps and pick up the REVOLVER. Pull up onto the red-floored balcony and locate the passage in the east wall. Turn around at the end and pull up into a higher passage.

Run up the short ramp into the next room and combine your revolver and laser sight. Shoot the barrier high up in the west wall to release a boulder. It rolls down the slope through a hole in the floor, down to the room where you picked up the revolver. Go back down to find that the boulder has punched a hole in the flooring between the two rows of steps, giving you access into a new area.

Drop down into the hole and carefully hop over the lethally deep pit, then turn right and approach the opening to the next room. See those tell-tale holes in the tile just inside the room? They, and others in this room, mark a deadly spike trap, so jump over the "holy" tile and any others similarly marked until you're safely outside the south opening. Ahead is a deep pit that's too wide for you to jump across. Not to worry, just jump up to grab the ceiling and monkey swing to the other side. Since it's dark in this area, it's best not to release until you run out of monkey bars.

Go up the ramp to the artifact, then turn around before picking up the GATE KEY. Immediately run back down the ramp as a boulder rumbles down after you, and dart to the right or left when you reach the bottom (being careful, of course, not to fall into the pit). There's nothing to do back up the ramp, so look across the pit to the north ledge and see that two skeletons have been awakened. If you wish, you can use your combined revolver and laser sight (using the crouch key to zoom in) to shoot off their heads from here and render them harmless. Otherwise, you'll have to deal with them when you get back across.

Monkey swing over to the north ledge and release. Run forward and jump over the spike tiles until you're in the passage beyond the room. Turn to the left, jump over the pit and climb back out into the room above. Turn around and jump over to the east wall and use the crawl space to drop back down into the sewer area.

Run over to the east end, pull up onto the ledge to your right and locate the water hole in the SE corner. Jump in and pick up the revolver ammo on the rock below before the crocodile arrives, then swim over if you dare to the NW alcove for a large medi-pack. Assuming the croc hasn't consumed you by now, swim across the room and enter the passage near the SE corner. Allow the croc to follow you so you can kill it as soon as you pull out into the next room.

You're in a dark room where a wart hog awaits your attention. Then go up the steps into a covered opening and pick up the SHOTGUN and some shells to go along with it. Go back to the water hole and jump up to grab the ledge to the right of it. Pull up and jump into the upper passage beyond the waterfall. Follow the passage into a loft where you find the first HORSEMAN'S GEM in the NW alcove. Return to the floor of the main room below and go around the left side of the central structure to find an opening in the south wall. Pick up the revolver ammo and grenade gun ammo in the next room, then return to the previous room. Take a standing jump and grab to the ledge jutting out of the east wall, pull up and go to your right into a small room for some more revolver ammo. Hop down to the floor below and jump into the water hole.

Swim up through the air hole in the next room and pull up into the sewer area. Jump into the shallow water and follow the channel until you reach an opening to your left. Wade up the ramp and drop down into a small pool. Pick up the revolver ammo and pull out. Pull up onto the brick ledge to the left for a small medi-pack, then hop down and use the Gate Key in the gate between the two brick ledges.

Looks like an empty passage, but if you'll turn to your left halfway down you'll see an opening you can pull up into. Turn to your left at the end of the next small passage and pull up into a higher passage, awakening a skeleton at the other end. Shoot off its head to distract it, then pull up to your right at the end of the next passage. No skeleton here, so pull up to your right at the end of this passage. You'll awaken a second skeleton in this final passage, so shatter its head and follow the passage until you reach a water-filled trench with two crocodiles swimming about lazily. Kill them both before diving in, then swim down the hole in the SE corner.

Pick up the second HORSEMAN'S GEM in the small room before the croc can get a good grip on your buttocks, then reverse roll and allow the croc to follow you back to the larger pool. Pull out on the north side and kill it. Go back the way you came and descend the series of passages until you reach the opening to the sewer area. Turn to your left and approach the small waterfall. Angle Lara slightly to the right and take a standing jump and grab to the top of the waterfall. Pull up to find yourself in the main area of the sewer where you first arrived. Jump across the channel and go through the opening in the north wall. Follow until you reach the ladder, climb up and return to the spot where you began this level.

Insert the gems in the receptacles on either side of the closed gate. Ha, ha, fooled you, you don't need a key here after all. When the gate opens, run inside the Hall of the Adept and find two skeletons awakening. Before they can get organized, run past them and up one of the ramps to your right or left. They won't follow. In the loft above, pick up the GRENADE GUN and some ammo to go with it. Arm yourself with the grenade gun, go back down the ramp and blow away the two skeletons. They were both carrying essential pickups, the ORNATE HANDLE and the HATHOR EFFIGY. Pick them up, combine them to form the PORTAL GUARDIAN, and use it on the pole to the left of the west gate.

Run through a steamy passage into the next room. Jump into the water and swim along the north passage. Pull out on the other side and then pull out of the pit into a higher room. Stand at the edge of the slope in the east opening and save your game. Step forward and slide down the slope. You'll hear the sound of timed trapdoors being raised, so as soon as you reach the bottom run forward to clear the trapdoors before they retract. You'll then start sliding down another slope, attracting a boulder in the process, so run forward and take a jump across the gap at the very last instant and grab the far edge as the boulder comes crashing down behind you. Pull up and step forward to an opening looking out into a lava room. Save your game again.

There are three suspended ledges ahead. Each one has a boulder poised above it, but you can't see them from here. Very Ian-like, one might say. Take a standing jump forward to the first ledge, turn to your left and take a standing jump to the next one, then quickly take two side flips to the right and land inside the gate that opened obligingly for you as you were busy jumping. Take a look at the boulders that narrowly missed crushing your skull, then head up the ramp and view the builder's message of appreciation. A farewell flyby takes you through the last segment as the level ends.