THE DRAGON EMPEROR (DEMO)

TR2 Level by Chaoottentv

Walkthrough by Treeble

Lara slides into a cave... and stops right next to some skeletal remains who were carrying flares around. Step forth but prepare for a hasty retreat as not one but three tigers charge at you. In the area they lived in, make a mental note of the fenced area above and check behind the rocks just below that for some shotgun shells. For now, dive into the small lake.

Swim through the underwater tunnel to emerge in a much larger area. Climb up on the left as Lara's motif plays complemented by the caws of three ravens. Work your way to the top and get shells and a small medipack from the hole in the floor, then throw the switch on the back of the scout tower. Before diving into water, make a mental note of a shiny object in the other side of the river...

Swim all the way to the other end, ignoring the path below the battlements for a second, and climb up on the rocks on the left for more shells. You cannot climb up from here, so dive again and now swim through the side passage and all the way around to the end to find a spot you can pull out of water. Follow the rocky perimeter all the way around until you can climb onto the battlements and dispatch three spiders coming from the scout tower you'd opened with the switch earlier on.

Walk past the spikes in the back of the tower, run up the steps and then shimmy all the way on the crevice to a ledge just above the spikes. From here, you can take a running jump towards a wall switch which opens the scout tower on the opposite end of the battlements. Safety drop down and battle two ravens along the way.

Another spike field inside. Take a running jump to the broken support pillar, then to the next one and finally grab up through a gap in the ceiling to a walkway above. Turn around to see a series of rolling boulders neatly lined up... save your game and hop across. All of them will roll down when you reach the final stretch of the slope, so quickly retreat to the walkway to have them fall through the gap. The switch opens the fenced area in the tiger's den, as well as the door right next to you for a quick way back out.

Just as you drop back to the battlements, hop onto the very first left block, adjacent to the tower you've just left, and take a running jump to the rocks on the left (if you look below, you'll notice there's the piece of ground we'd gotten shotgun ammo earlier on). Geometry is somewhat unusual here but generally speaking just get to the higher moss covered rocks and run clockwise around the perimeter until you start going down. At which point, there's an obvious gap to the right facing the first tower; drop backwards there and grab the edge, then let go and grab a crevice just below, and shimmy all the way right to finally claim that silver dragon (SECRET #1) you'd spotted earlier.

If you're up for it, you can go all the way around again to the top of the moss covered rocks for a couple of items, otherwise skip to the next paragraph. After the tall and flat stretch of mossy rocks, just before going down to the area leading to the secret, slide backwards off the right side holding grab (might want to save your game first in case you have the wrong position). Lara will fail to grab the edge of the slopes, but she will still land right within a small alcove with flares and a large medipack.

Now get back into the water and swim through the underwater tunnel back to the beginning of the level where you'd fought off the tigers. From a higher rock beneath the fenced area, follow the ledges clockwise all the way to the open gate. As you run deeper into the cave, you'll see more boulders lined up to the left and spikes to the right. Save your game. You can disarm the boulders by running down a couple of steps right, then rolling and making an immediate retreat to the entrance.

Either way, hop over the spike pits and go through an opening on the left. Both tunnels lead you to the same waterfall area populated by two ravens. Once they're dealt with, go clockwise through the lower inner perimeter to end up behind the waterfall. In this cave with a campfire, kill four tigers before claiming the small medipack and automatic pistols ammo left behind.

From the fire, face a door in the distance and light up a flare. As you move towards said door you'll spot an opening in the ceiling, close to the pillar on the right: climb up inside to find the jade dragon (SECRET #2). Drop back down and proceed towards that door.

It lies across a chasm and now you can see it's locked by two keys. When you jump to the first of the rocky pillars, two side passages open. Let's start with the right-hand one, so hop across using the rocky pillars and enter another spike-filled place. Three spiders are scuttling by. Pull the block by the entrance twice (it won't block your way), then use it to reach a ledge above, from where you can use the rocky pillar in the middle to jump to an alcove housing the first WALL KEY. Safely work your way back and out to the chasm.

Hop over the pillars towards the left-hand door now. Two spiders bother you as you go around the spikes towards the rotating blades. In the trenches you will find shotgun shells and automatic pistols ammo. From the edge of the second blade track, you must jump to an opening high up on the wall. If you look right, you'll see a spiked wall, and on the left is a wall switch. You know what happens next.

There was nothing hidden behind the spiked wall, but another gate is now open in the opposite side of the room with the blades, so jump across. Same routine, with a switch to activate the spiked wall, but now you're granted access to the second WALL KEY. Safety drop back down and you can now unlock the door in the chasm.

Things ramp up a bit. Run past the break-away floor tiles and do your best to jump over the tall wall-mounted blades, also taking into account there's a rotating blade just in the end (wait safely in the alcove straight ahead). When it's safe to do so, run on the track of this blade making a short stop in the next side alcove for flares. The next stop isn't so easy, so you might want to save your game.

Another rotating blade is crossing the adjacent path. If you run straight up against the wall, in either of the two corners, you're safe from the blade. What you need to do is run in front of the next blade all the way to an opening on the far left, but instead of going in there blindly, I'd suggest running up to the wall (in either corner) and wait there until the blade bounces back so you have more time to assess your next move.

Jump over the ledges (spike pits below, things could have gone poorly if you'd gone in blindly...) and throw the wall switch to open two trapdoors in the back of this room. Safety drop and run past the next set of rolling blades. The trapdoor on the right leads to your doom, so go towards the leftmost one.

The last secret is easily missable, so save your game. Turn to face the rolling blades, grab the edge of the open trapdoor, and shimmy as far right as you can. Drop and hold down the jump and right keys: by the third jump Lara should land inside a small alcove, and just around the corner is the gold dragon (SECRET #3), plus shotgun shells and grenades as a reward for all secrets found.

At the bottom of the slope, another spiked wall is already en route towards you, so run up to it and use the side slope to bounce behind it. You're not out of the woods yet, as more spiked walls await in the corridors ahead. When you're forced to turn right, jump over the wall-mounted blade and wait on the very last break-away floor tile.

You'll land safely on top of a large medipack, perched in the middle of a spike field. Face the visible wall in the distance and take a long running jump over the spikes with a midair flip, so that you can grab the edge of the slope you'll land on, and safety drop to the shallow water below incurring some damage. Pull up to the floor above for some automatic pistols ammo, then go back down and enter the next area with a river stream.

Go left and use the higher rocks to grab a crevice on the wall, then shimmy all the way right to the corner. Pull up and take a running jump across the river to the rocky ledges. Stick to the left wall as you go around the perimeter until you eventually get to a bridge. Save your game as this is a bit of a tricky jump.

You need to slide on the rock at the other end of the bridge facing forwards, so that you can bounce off and veer right into an opening in the rock face. From that alcove, take a running jump towards the next rocky pillar and follow another bridge. At the end, a jump will get you to an alcove with a wall switch to open the double gate below.

Safety drop and go in. Just beyond the skeletons you'll trigger the boulders that killed them (... or did they? Who closed the doors and moved the boulders back into position? Hm.), so make a hasty retreat outside and then go back in when it's safe. At the top, go left but keep in mind that another boulder will soon give chase.

After dust has settled, pull up into the opening in the wall and drop on the other side to find yourself at the bottom of a large supporting column. Go straight ahead and pull the block off the wall to reveal a corridor; avoid the wall-mounted blades and go up the ladder. At the top, backflip back and forth as you veer left over the blades to a safe spot. But it's not safe yet: save your game as there's a boulder just inside the passage. Quickly retreat and walk off into the spikes before you're crushed.

At the end, push the block twice to find yourself on an upper level of the previous area. Climb the ladder on the back of the column and backflip with a midair roll and grab from the top, that way you will grab a crevice then shimmy left until you can climb up. Negotiate a couple more jumps to find another stretch of ladder into the top of the area.

Kill two tigers and light up a flare to spot a wall switch behind one of the four columns in this room to open the wooden door. Behind it is nothing but another wall switch, which will drain the area beneath the support column beneath you, so safely work your way all the way down to the bottom to find the newly opened trapdoors. Two tigers stand between you and the finish trigger, but you might want to inspect the skeletons for more automatic pistols ammo.