CLIMB UP THE TREE

Level by Alphonse

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth

You begin underwater, so swim forward, wade out onto an island and loop around left to a pit. Drop down for flares, enter the S cave for the IGNITION KEY that the former owner no longer needs, exit and pull out E. The Jeep is just ahead, waiting for you. Get in and drive a short distance to a closed gate. Back up to the wall (sprint key for reverse, walk key for forward gear), get out and hop into the N opening. Pull the chain to open the gate, get back and drive E over the gate that has fallen to form a convenient bridge.

Follow the road to a floor hole, and for a pickup stop the Jeep, get out and look for the S opening. Make your way to a lower passage for a small medipack, ignore the opening ahead and return to the Jeep. Drive down a dark ramp, running over a jackal that foolishly challenges you. Stop at another closed gate, get out and go back up the ramp. Look for the opening in the E wall and prepare to shoot another jackal inside. Enter the N side passage to find another chain that opens the second gate. Drive the Jeep over the resulting bridge and over the slope to a wooded area. If the constant Jeep track starts getting on your nerves, delete 098.ogg from your audio folder. You'll get an onsceen message fussing at you for doing so, but so be it.

Dismount once again and go through the SE opening. Get past a crawl space and continue to a large medipack. Again, ignore the nearby opening and return to the Jeep. Drive N past the tree and you'll soon come to another closed gate, forcing you to dismount once again and hunt for yet another chain to pull. In the meantime, let's go on a secret hunt. Pull up S next to the tree, turn around and jump up to grab the limb. Pull up to attract a vulture, stand with your back to the tree trunk and wait for it to arrive.   

When it's dead, take a running jump N to grab the limb on the limb on the next tree, pull up and stand jump NW. Face N, jump straight up to grab a higher limb, pull up and jump to the limb against the E wall. Follow it clockwise, jump SW two times, wait for the vulture to arrive and take a running jump slightly NW past the tree to grab the wall opening. Pull into the passage and follow to a GOLDEN ROSE for SECRET #1. Go back the way you came, and when you reach the limb against the E wall, go to the N end, face the E wall near the tree trunk and drop down to the limb below. Step forward to trigger a flyby through the area ahead.

Save your game, step forward onto a slope and slide to near the bottom. Jump at the precise moment to avoid the spikes below and grab the limb ahead, pull up and look around to find that you have more than one tree to climb. Take a running jump N onto the limb jutting from the next tree, go around the tree and face S to jump up and grab the higher limb. Pull up, take a running jump to grab the limb across the way, pull up and go to the tree trunk. Climb the ladder surface past the limb above you, shift left around the corner and drop down. Hop back, face slightly NE and stand jump to grab the short jutting limb.

Pull up, ignore the friendly monkey and climb higher up the tree trunk. Just before you reach the leaf canopy, shift right around the corner and drop onto the high limb. Walk out to the end of this limb and see the E wall opening just to the right of the tree ahead. Jump straight up to grab the dangling rope, adjust your position if necessary to line up with the opening, save your game and swing forward and jump with grab to land inside the opening. The jump requires precise timing and may require several attempts. Your best strategy is to release just after the apex of the swing, as Lara is starting to move away from the opening. Once you get there, pull the chain to open a door and walk forward to awaken two bats.

Stand at the edge of a deep shaft and stand jump down S. Hang from the edge, drop to grab the crack and shimmy left around corners until you can drop to grab a lower crack. Continue in like manner until you're low enough to drop next to a closed door. Continue around to a slope, save and slide down to jump off at the precise moment to grab the tree limb and avoid the spikes. Pull up onto the limb, make your way around as before in a clockwise direction to reach the E wall, face W and jump up to grab the higher limb. Proceed to the tree with the climbing surface, climb to the two next higher limbs (at the same level with the monkey), but this time instead of climbing further up the trunk hop NW onto the next limb and then into the W alcove where the door opened. Take the GOLDEN VRAEUS from the plinth and hop back down to the limb.

Make your way down the tree (you can use the hop back and glide trick to get to a lower limb) and return to the limb on the tree near the E wall. Note the higher wall opening, jump to grab it and pull into the opening. Place the Golden Vraeus in the receptacle on your left to open another door and get back to the tree with the climbable trunk. This time climb up to the highest limb, grab the rope and repeat that tricky jump to the wall opening with the chain. Make your way down the deep shaft as before and drop to the door that's now open.

Head N along the passage for flares and continue to an opening. Safety drop onto a slope, slide and grab and drop to the ground. Go to the nearby tree, stand near the trunk and jump up to grab one of the four jutting limbs. Pull up and note three poles E, N and S with spikes protecting each one. From the SE corner near the trunk stand jump carefully to the tip of the S limb, mount the limb and turn to face the tree. Climb up a bit, back flip into the S wall alcove and pull the chain to open the door in the N wall alcove and release a vulture. Wait patiently for it to arrive, kill it and take a running jump out of the alcove to the right of the spike field.

Go around to the N pole, mount it and back flip past the opened door and take the BLUE CRYSTAL from the plinth. Deal with another vulture and go to the tip of the W limb. Take a running jump to grab the opening in the wall and pull inside the alcove for a GOLDEN ROSE and SECRET #2. Jump back to the tree, make your way to the final E pole, mount it and back flip into the opening to find the receptacle for the Blue Crystal.

A bridge unfurls near the parked Jeep, so jump back to the tree trunk, drop to the ground and go through the W opening. Return to the Jeep, drive it N across the bridge and up the slope ahead. You'll soon come to an open area with a deep pit, so turn right and park the Jeep at the corner. Get out and pull up into the N alcove for the GOLDEN SKULL as nearby doors open. Go back toward the Jeep and find the pushblock in the E wall. Push it two times to reveal an alcove containing a GOLDEN ROSE for SECRET #3.

Return to the ledge and go on foot to the W opening to trigger the boulder poised at the top of the slope. Get into the Jeep and drive up W and down to a dead end. Get out, pull up into the W opening and run toward the bright sunshine to end the level.