Levelbase Advent Calendar 2006 - THE BELL

Level by Eva

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth

Save your game at the very beginning, as it may take you a couple of tries to get the first secret. Step forward and start sliding down the long slope. When you're about halfway down, jump forward and grab the wall. Climb up and shift to your left near the top pull up into an opening and hop down into the small room below. Take the Golden Star from the pedestal for SECRET #1, then pause to collect the flares and the small medi-pack. Pull up into the opening and hang drop from the other side. Shimmy to your right and you'll find yourself instantly transferred back to the ladder. Climb down, release to the slope and slide down to a ledge, triggering a long flyby that takes you through a star-lit winter wonderland.

Safety drop to the ground and climb the blocks to the north. In the alley next to the large building where the firewood is stashed, you'll find a small medi-pack. Go back to the trees near the east wall and climb up onto the most convenient block. Follow the ledges N until you come to the CROWBAR. After picking it up you can safety drop from there and turn to face north. Run forward and pull down the wall switch for a cut scene showing a door swinging open elsewhere. Reverse roll, pull up over the block ahead and run back S until you reach the spot where you dropped down from the opening slope. Turn right and run up the steps W, noting the closed gate to your left. Continue W between the buildings and go to the lone tree NW near the tall ice cliffs N.

Facing S, step right up to the tree and hit the action key. You'll find that the tree is climbable, so climb up to the very top leaf and back flip to the ice ledge behind you. Turn around to face N and you'll see a switch in the ice wall. It's a timed switch that allows entry to the nearby cathedral W, but let's leave that for later. Climb the ice steps E and turn to face S when you reach the top one. Near the corner of the roof you can see a lowered platform, and the timed wall switch down to your left that operates it. Again, that's for later (since we're already up here), so turn around, jump back to hang from the S edge of the top ice step, and shimmy right around the corner. Release to drop onto an ice ledge, and hop down N into an enclosed alley. Pick up the small medi-pack nearby and climb up the E wall into the doorway you opened moments earlier.

Pull up and take a couple of steps forward into the lodge. Turn around at the threshold and jump up to activate a jump switch that opens a door to the library. Enter the main room of the lodge and shoot the box near the NE corner for some flares. Lift up the well-concealed trap door in the floor of the nearby alcove, and drop down into a dark cellar. Light a flare and go past the cobwebs in the SE corner for another supply of flares. Use your crowbar to pry the CROSS from the W column, and note the opening in the north wall that's blocked by a cage. Through the crack in the wall you can see another Golden Star on a pedestal. Don't worry, you'll be back here later.

Climb back out into the main room of the lodge and make a hairpin turn to the right to the stairs leading to the library. Listen to a little Mozart while you turn left and locate the short bookshelf against the S wall. Climb up onto it and turn around to face N. Jump up to grab the ceiling, then monkey swing forward a short distance. Veer to your left and follow the wall until you reach the fourth block, then veer to your right and continue until you drop down onto the corner of the taller bookshelf. Go around to the N wall and drop down into the hole next to the cage. Pull down the wall switch to lower the cage, then turn around and pick up STAR PIECE 2.

Leave the library and go back downstairs to the main floor of the lounge. If you need some fresh air you can shoot out the picture window S, but there's nothing out there on the balcony. You can use it as an exit if you wish, however, or you can take a running jump through the NW opening and around the open door to the ice ledge. Either way, get back onto the ice cliffs NW and pull down the timed wall switch you noted earlier. Turn slightly left and run forward off the cliff to the ground below, and run W into the cathedral before the door closes. (It stays open once you're inside.) Note the cage ahead that blocks your way to a push piece. Enter the cathedral to your left and note another cage inside that blocks your way to an artifact. Go to the W side of the SW column and jump up to activate the jump switch. This lowers the cage in front of the push piece, so go there and pull the piece from its ornate tile three times onto the snow-covered entrance.

Go into the passage beyond the ornate tile and pull up into the opening at the W end. Turn right and hop down into a cramped shaft where you'll find a Golden Star on a pedestal for SECRET #2. Pull up out of the shaft and return to the previous passage. Back in the cathedral, whip out your binoculars and look up at the ceiling, using the action key for extra light. You'll see an ornate tile near the back (S) wall, identical to the one from which you pulled the push piece. Maneuver the piece to the tile directly beneath the companion ceiling tile (from where it is now, pull it back 10 times and E once) and the second cage will lower. Go there and pick up STAR PIECE 1.

Exit the cathedral and go E between the two buildings. Go down the steps SE and place the Cross in the receptacle to the left of the closed gates S. Go inside and stand in front of the artifact between two candles. Combine the two Star Pieces to form the STAR, and use it in the golden post. Joyous bells start clamoring as a flyby takes you once more through the winter wonderland. The exit door is now open, but it's much too early to leave.

Turn to your right and go to the NW alcove. Jump up to activate the jump switch to your right, which lowers the cage in the cellar of the lodge. Exit this room and return to the climbable tree. Use it to back flip to the ice cliffs, and re-enter the lodge in the same manner as you did earlier. Hop down into the cellar and enter the passage where the cage blocked your way earlier. Crawl through the opening and claim the Golden Star on the pedestal for SECRET #3. Crawl back out and exit the cellar. Jump over the balcony (it's faster, assuming you shot out the picture window earlier) and go to the SW corner of the lodge building. Now it's time to pull down that wall switch for a nifty timed sequence.

After you pull it, reverse roll and run to the climbable tree, veering around to the right so you can approach it from the proper side (the N side, facing S). Jump up to grab, and climb up to the top leaf. Back flip to the ice cliff, turn to your left and take a running jump onto the second ice step, then a standing jump to the top ice step. Run forward, jump up to grab the edge of the roof, pull up and turn to your right, and run along the roof's edge to the timed platform. Run across it diagonally and take a running jump to the near corner of the floating platform. This sequence is tight enough that I would suggest saving twice along the way after you've made good time, once when you back flip to the ice cliff, and once when you pull up onto the roof. If you make it to the roof without having squandered any precious seconds, you'll have plenty of time to practice your run and jump from the first platform to the second.

Once you reach the floating platform safely, walk forward to the SW corner and take a running jump SW into the passage with the clanging bell. Step forward into the S alcove and take the Golden Star from the pedestal for SECRET #4. To get back down safely, go into the E alcove and take a running jump SE over the railing onto the roof below. Slide down, grab the edge and safety drop to the ground without losing any health.

Okay, let's get one final secret before we leave this place. Go back to the climbable tree, back flip to the ice cliffs, and pull up onto the roof of the lodge. Run E to the top and pick up the small medi-pack on the other side. Go down to the NE corner and locate the pedestal for a Golden Star and SECRET #5. You're now finished here. Go back across to the other side of the roof, drop down to the ice cliffs and from there to the ground, make your way to the open exit door in the S wall (to the left of the cathedral) and take your leave of this charming level.