EXPEDITION DEEP FREEZE: ABSOLUTE ZERO

Level by Martini

Walkthrough by José

Colors: pickups – necessary items – enemies – secrets

Starting Area

Go left and through the crawlspace in the SW corner, advance, shoot the wolves, continue through the next crawlspace (yes, Lara can climb two clicks high crawlspaces), avoid the rolling boulder and pick up the SECRET #1: shotgun shells, the Seahorse Statue and the Shotgun. Go back outside and up the stairs in the NW corner, pick up a small medipack in the niche to your left and past the next room look for a movable block to your left and pull it twice onto the grate in the floor, continue up the S stairs (note the keyhole in the balcony) and from the starting area you can drop down E, shoot the wolves (1) (note the door with the receptacles) and from the NE corner take a running jump to grab the niche with the large medipack, now jump into the lake below (cold waters), get out of the water from the W side and continue through the crawlspace to an icy cave with falling icicles.

Icy Cave – The Ornate Pearl Key

Drop down into the pit facing NE, slide down backwards, grab the edge, drop again and immediately jump to grab the horizontal pole, swing and jump to grab the crack in the wall, shimmy right, jump up to grab the upper edge and pull up; continue climbing and in the room with the vases climb up the E ladder. In the upper room pick up the large medipack and pull the switch next to the ladder to open the E and W ceiling trapdoors; if you placed the movable block onto the E one (check the previous paragraph of this walkthrough), the block will fall and you can move it W and S throwing it through the hole in the floor so it falls into the room below; drop down there and locate a small triangular crawlspace behind the vases (NE), go through and around, push the block into the W niche to release bars somewhere. Climb up to the room above, climb up the W ladder and in the upper room climb up the next ladder, jump back onto a balcony, pick up the flares and the small medipack and go down the E stairs to press a button; go back to the previous room, drop down and enter the N niche to get the Ornate Pearl Key, exit E, go up the next stairs and you’re back on a balcony you’ve visited before, go right and use the key to open the door.

The Ornate Ruby Key

Pull the switch in the small room to raise a door somewhere and go outside, from the balcony take a running jump E to the snowy rocks and continue running/jumping E to finally reach the open door in the NE building. Press the button to open an underwater door and exit W, jump into the icy lake (the floating ice tiles are climbable) and locate the open door in the SE corner; time the spikes in the entrance to swim through and climb the S ledge, pick up the shotgun shells, jump into the water and swim through the hole in the floor, follow the underwater passage to a room with a small medipack and climb down the ladder almost to the very bottom (trapped floor), jump back to land onto a safe tile and in the W room pick up the Ornate Ruby Key and a small medipack (note the crowbar switch in the niche (2)); back to the room with the spiked floor, take a running jump to grab the ladder, climb up and make your way to go back to the starting area: once in the lake climb the central icy tile and take a running jump S, go through the crawlspace, climb the next crawlspace, go outside, turn left, slide/jump to grab the ladder, go trough the next crawlspace (drop/grab so Lara is with arms and legs extended and use the “duck” and “up” keys), drop/grab the edge of the pit, shimmy left around the corner, pull up and go outside.

The Crowbar

Once in the starting area take a running jump E to the snowy rocks and from the last one take a running jump to grab the crack in the corner of the NE building, shimmy right around the corner, jump back with twist to grab the crack in the S pillar, shimmy right around two corners and jump back on a safe ledge. To get extra items you can take a running jump to the SW opening, shoot a wolf and pick up shotgun shells and uzi ammo; from the entrance take a standing jump E-NE to land in the balcony below.

There are two openings in the S wall, one of them contains uzi clips and the other one the keyhole with the closed door. Open the door with the ornate ruby key, enter, open the sarcophagus to get shotgun shells and uzi clips, shoot the vases (at least the vases under the switch), move the block to the W so you can pull the high wall switch in the corner and save your game for a timed sequence: pull the switch, exit, sprint N to the end of the balcony, turn right, jump to grab the ladder, climb up, jump back, jump S to grab the swing pole, time the moving fire to jump to the next one (I found easier climb this first pole and jump over the moving fire to grab the next one) and finally jump to the opening in the S building before the fires turn on; pick up the Ancient Doru (crowbar) and watch the flyby.

First Crystal

Jump into the lake and climb the most E floating ice, warm up your body to the max and swim through the hole in the floor below; once at the other side of the grate use the floating ice tiles to move in this area. You can find a large medipack and shotgun shells here but your goal is to swim W and get out of the water in a dry area. Take a standing jump to grab the N crack, shimmy left, pull up and climb the balcony; pull the crowbar switch to extend platforms in the area you came from and swim back there. From the floating ice take a running jump to the E safe rock, climb the balcony, use the extended platforms to reach the W balcony, press the timed button and quickly go back to the E balcony and climb the elevator; from here take a running jump to the N ledge, climb up the ladder, jump back, climb the next rock, slide/jump to grab the large icicle, turn a bit right, jump to grab the next one and to get an extra item, turn right and jump with grab into the niche in the corner with the uzi clips; from here run off the edge with a right curve and grab to land on the balcony below with the closed door, now take a running jump to the S rocky ledge and look for a button to press: a door opens somewhere. Make your way to go back up and grab the second big icicle like you did before, but this time jump to the W opening where the open door is. Pick up 2 X uzi clips next to the skeleton, safely drop down from the NE corner and use the crowbar to pry the Crystal of the Hyperborean. If you climb the rocks in the SE corner and go through the small crawlspace, you’ll get the SECRET #2: a large medipack, the Golden Amphora, the Uzis, and 3 X uzi clips.

Second Crystal

Anyway you must go all the way back to the room where you got the ornate ruby key time ago (do you remember the crowbar switch (2) in that room?), so go back to the main lake near the starting area, swim through the SE opening with the popping spikes and continue to that room as you did before. Pull the crowbar switch in the window sill (facing S) and a door will open in the room with the spiked floor to the right of the ladder, take a running jump there, drop down the next ladder and pick up the small medipack and the shotgun shells under the vases (shoot them). There is a wall switch in this room but ignore it, go to the E room, open the sarcophagus to get 2 X shotgun shells and a large medipack, pull the switch in this room, roll and go to the N room; pull the wall switch there, roll, go to the W room, check the sarcophagus to get uzi clips, pull the switch and go S to the starting room with the ladder; this time pull the switch to your right, roll, go back to the E room, re-use the switch, go back to the N room, re-use the switch, go back to the E room, re-use the switch and finally go back to the S room with the ladder and quickly drop down through the opening with the timed trapdoor to the right of the ladder in the corner before it closes. In all this sequence pulling all those switches I noticed that the final trapdoor was timed, but I couldn’t note the timed switch to open that timed trapdoor, so try to do these tasks as fast as you can. Go W and pull the switch in the dead end to activate a door somewhere, roll, advance E to a new room, shoot the skeleton and he will drop the Ancient Golden Key; pick it up and go through the N crawlspace to use it and open the door. In this room with several skeletons pry the second Crystal of the Hyperborean and some wraiths will be released. To get rid of them, quickly go back to the S room, go back W to the junction, go left, climb up the ladder, jump back with roll, go N to the room with the sarcophagus, pull the switch to open the E door, go there, turn left and go up the stairs to a dead end with a sort of big trident where the wraiths will rest in peace.

Cave with Popping Spikes

Go back to the S room, pull the switch to open the S door, go there, pull the S switch to open the W door, go there and climb up the ladder to the room with the spiked floor. Now make your way to go back to the starting area where you shot the wolves a long time ago (1). Go N behind the icicles to find the receptacles for the crystals, open the door, drop through the hole in the corner and continue to fall into the water; quickly take the only possible passage and surface in a cave with a pit and pillars with inactive spikes. To get extra items you can jump to the central pillar, take a running jump to grab the high S opening and climb the hole in the ceiling to get a small medipack and shotgun shells. Make your way to safely drop to ground floor and approach the S opening, shoot the skeleton, climb and pull the floor lever to open an underwater door somewhere; exit, shoot another skeleton (this one will drop uzi clips) and try to climb to the entrance avoiding/timing the now active spikes (you’ll need to grab the edges and pull up a second or two before the spikes pop up losing some health); jump into the water hole and swim back the way you came to find the open door in the left side of the path, jump into the water again if you want to get extra uzi clips in a niche opposite the water hole and continue following the only possible path until you reach a big cave.

Final Fight

Here you’ll need to shoot a lot of skeletons and kill some wraiths (only if you pick up certain items) with the big trident attached to the first pillar (you’ll need to approach to the trident and jump up several times so the wraith catches the upper part of the trident); when all is calm go to the S side of the room and pull the jumpswitch in the back side of the last pillar to open a door in the W side of the cave. Don’t forget to pick up all the items the skeletons dropped: shotgun shells, 2 X small medipack and a large medipack; in addition you can go through the crawlspace in the E wall to get 2 X shotgun shells and 2 X uzi clips. Anyway enter the W room, and shoot the skeleton to raise a block in that room; if you pick up the shotgun shells another wraith appears; climb the upper floor and explore the N and S passages to find 3 X shotgun shells and uzi clips inside the sarcophagus, finally go through the E opening and pick up the Relic of the Deep North: a big boss is released and you need to deal with him, with another enemies which appear from time to time and also avoid big falling icicles sometimes, so you must move fast and continuously while shooting. When he is defeated, ice breaks in an opening in the E wall, jump there and follow the path jumping/climbing blocks until you find the sunlight and finish the level.

September – 10 – 2025