SADNESS IN VENICE

Level by Astraf

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth

During the opening flyby a gondola slides slowly out of sight behind Lara. You're standing in front of a closed door requiring a key, so hop back into the canal, swim into the alcove ahead and pull the underwater lever to lift an underwater gate elsewhere. Flip turn, swim W and N and pull out onto the jetty on your right near the far wall. Run to the right up the stairway for shotgun ammo (note that the shotgun is already in your inventory, and you have unlimited flares as well), go upstairs to a balcony and jump over the railing onto a red awning. Shoot two dogs waiting on the adjacent balcony and hop over there to open the door at the SE corner.  Enter the hallway, shoot a dog and a thug, pick up the dropped small medipack and go past a closed door to a timed wall switch for later

Return to the balcony, turn left into a fixed camera and activate the jumpswitch at the W end to lower a nearby swingpole. You'll drop into the canal, so flip turn and swim  W, S and clockwise around the building on your right to return to that same N jetty. Go back upstairs and around to the far end of the second balcony where you'll see the lowered swingpole. Stand jump to grab it, swing around, push the up arrow key and keep it depressed as you release the action key. Lara should jump off and land on a lower W balcony. Shoot the windows, hop down into the building and climb the bookcase at the NW corner. Back flip onto an upper loft and face two wall switches. Pull down both of them, hang from either edge and shimmy past the obstruction to pull up on the other side.

There are two wall switches here as well, but pull down only the one on the left to move a wall painting down below.  Drop to the floor, pull up into the S alcove and pick up the LIBRARY KEY. Hop down and exit via the W window. Take a running jump to grab the sloped roof, shimmy left around the corner, pull up and take a rolling back flip to grab the swingpole. Swing around and jump off (remember to keep the up arrow key depressed or you'll drop down into the canal) to activate the jumpswitch on the side of the bridge. You hear the sound of something moving, and a vulture will come to peck at you. Swim S past a grated opening on your left, turn left at the corner and pull out right onto a balcony just past a candy-stripe pole to deal with the vulture.

Jump into the water, swim back a little bit and continue N underneath a bridge to a balcony on your right with an underwater opening just below it where a gate has lifted. Swim inside and bear to your left, staying high to avoid a blade trap, and find a ceiling air hole at the corner. Time your way S past another blade trap (that moves up and down) to find the LIBRARIAN'S HOUSE KEY around the corner. Exit carefully to the canal, turn left and locate another underwater lever beneath the balcony of the S building. Pull it to open the door over your head, pull up onto the balcony and enter the building.

Follow the central hallway past a pushblock and around the corner for shotgun ammo. Return to the pushblock and pull it one time into the hallway. Go around and push it into the S alcove. Turn left to face swinging crates. Time your way past them and look for shotgun ammo and a small medipack in the alcoves to your right and left. Pick up the reusable TORCH in front of the fence with the closed gate and get back past the crates to exit the building. Jump into the canal and swim E underneath the closed doors into a boathouse. Pull out, shoot a thug and pick up the dropped BOAT HOUSE KEY. Use it at the NW corner to open the doors and hop into the motorboat.  Drive it all the way to the W wall, turn right at the closed doors and continue toward the closed N door. Turn the boat around while you still have room to do so and back up S (action and jump keys). Dismount left (delete key) onto the jetty you visited earlier, stand at the SW corner and stand jump over the water onto the block next to a balcony.

Hop up N onto the balcony with weapon drawn and shoot the thug who emerges from the building. Enter and follow the hallway to the end, hop up right and pull up onto a ledge overlooking a pit. Take a running jump to grab the ceiling and monkey swing to the wall. Release to activate the jumpswitch (opening doors down below) and drop onto a slope. Slide and grab, climb down the ladder and drop onto a block in the canal. Swim a short distance to the N ledge, pull up and save your game in front of the timed W wall switch. Pull it down, turn left with your back against the wall and take a running jump onto the wooden ledge. Continue with a running jump to land in the motorboat and drive forward past the alcove and turn right to pass by the timed doors. If you get there in time the doors will remain open.

Don't attempt to explore this area quite yet. Instead, turn the boat around and drive back into the canal. Dismount into the water (action and delete keys) and return to the W timed doors. The passage on the right is blocked by a fence, and the passage on the left looks safe but has a moving underwater blade. Light a flare, wait for the blade to approach and take two standing jumps in succession to reach the other side. Go around the corner to face a similar blade trap. This time, take a running jump over the blade, followed by a standing jump that brings you to another timed wall switch. Save your game, pull it down, turn left and time two standing jumps past the nearer blade. Go around the corner, do the same with the next blade, take a running jump over the water to the entrance ledge, jump into the motorboat and drive forward. Turn left toward the timed doors and go on through so they'll stay open.

Turn the boat around, drive back into the canal facing S, make sure it's close enough to reach with a standing jump from the entrance and dismount into the water. Swim into the SE corner for automatic pistol ammo, pull up into the nearby S opening and place the Library Key to open the door. Enter to find the UZIS on a nearby desk, and since there seems to be nothing else to do here, exit and jump into the canal. Swim over to the N opening near the motorboat, pull up and swim to one of the openings ahead. Take standing jumps to get past the two roller blades and save your game for a difficult and tight timed run. Pull down the switch, get back past the roller blades and jump onto the entrance ledge (save in a separate slot when you land safely, if you have to pull up you'll never make it), stand jump into the motorboat and drive to the far wall, using the sprint key for extra speed. Turn right and gun it W past the timed doors ahead.

Turn around, drive the boat back into the canal, dismount and swim back to the hard-earned W opening. Pull up inside and jump into the water. Swim to the right of the spinning fan and fight the strong current to get around the corner. Surface and pull up on the other side of the closed door, which opens as you approach it to reveal an enemy soldier. Pick up the dropped shotgun ammo and go past the spikes to face yet another timed run. Getting to the entrance ledge is not such an ordeal this time, however. Hop into the boat and simply gun it ahead E until you reach the timed doors and drive on through to a dead end. Dismount and swim back to a raised slab for the COG WHEEL (1 of 3). Get in the boat, drive back W, take the first right and then the next left, dismount onto the jetty to your left and use the Librarian's House Key to open the door.

Enter and search the window alcoves for shotgun ammo. Go to the SW corner and find a book switch (1 of 5). What it does if anything is a mystery at this point. Go up the W steps and look right for uzi ammo. Continue S up the next set of steps and loop around left into a den. Grab the small medipack from the window alcove and find a large pushblock  near the doorway.  Move it around the Oriental rug and against the NE window alcove so you can get up on it and use another book switch (2 of 5). Shoot the N window underneath the painting and step out onto the balcony. Look right for shotgun ammo and run W over a bridge to a seating area as an unseen assailant opens fire from below and to your left. Open the W door, enter and turn left into a dining room. Look S for a small medipack and go behind the corner for shotgun ammo.

Push the nearby wall button for some breezy Venetian music, go past the W door that opens automatically and engage the dog and soldier waiting inside the kitchen. The wall button is too high to reach, so move the nearby table underneath it. Pushing the button lifts a gate elsewhere. Exit to the dining room and loop around right into the connecting passage. Turn left, open the door and step outdoors into another seating area. If you approach the balcony you'll take enemy fire from that unseen assailant. You can shoot through the railing, so your best strategy is to stoop there and target the soldier poised on the balcony below and to your left. When he's dead, take a running jump over the balcony to grab the awning, pull up and deal with a vulture.

Stand at the SW corner, save your game and take a running jump to grab the swingpole jutting from the adjacent wall. This particular swingpole is quite buggy, as Lara tends to drop into the water instead to jumping forward as intended. Save again after she grabs the S ledge in front of the lifted gate and pulls up. Run past the lifted gate, pick up the COG WHEEL (2 of 3) at the end of the passage and return to where you pulled up. Hang from the edge, drop to grab the crack, shimmy left around two corners and pull up into a crawl space. Crawl to your right for the FAIRY TALE BOOK 1, which registers as SECRET #1.

Drop into the water, swim E, N and W, pull up onto the jetty next to the motorboat and re-enter the building. Go up the steps, see a soldier posted on the balcony on the other side of the window and continue up the steps and past the den you explored earlier. Go across an enclosed bridge into the adjacent building and open the door near the end of the hallway with your Library Key. Enter a scenic upper room with an adjacent aquarium, look around and note the ladder you can use to reach the lower floor and the N closed door that you can also open with the Library Key, but it just leads to areas you've already covered. Instead, exit S to the hallway and find a single window that you can shatter with a bullet. Stand at the opening and take a running jump to grab the sloped roof across the canal.

Pull up and make your way SW toward a storage area. Slide down to engage a thug and a soldier, pick up the dropped small medipack and shotgun ammo, then go to the E side room for more shotgun ammo. Return to the other room, shoot out the window and step onto the balcony for the AUTOMATIC PISTOLS. Picking them up attracts enemy gunfire from across the canal, so hop back and go to face the E side room. Stand a safe distance away, draw your pistols and stoop to shoot the smaller barrel in front of the others. They all explode, blasting a hole in the E wall. Bring out your torch, light it on the flame, jump over the fire pit and hop up into the E opening. Drop down the other side, stand next to the grated floor and set it ablaze with your torch facing S. Hop back, wait for the floor to crumble, toss the torch aside (although it stays in your inventory) and  safety drop to the room below.

The three crates here are pushblocks.  Pull the NE block away from the LASER SIGHT and push that block back to its original position. Pull the other two one time each, and now you're in a position to move all three blocks against the E ledge (one is already there) so that you can get up and pull a third pushblock two times from the SE corner. Hop over it into the revealed alcove for the CROWBAR. Hop down and use the crowbar to open the W gate. Danger music heralds the arrival of two soldiers. Pick up the dropped shotgun ammo and automatic pistol ammo, get past the two swinging crates and take the next right toward the exit leading to the canal.

Jump into the water, swim N to the jetty and pull out in front of a closed door. Open it with that multi-use Library Key and enter the lower floor of the building you accessed earlier. Loop around right and activate the book switch (3 of 5) near the SW corner. Go to the alcove in the E wall and use the Library Key again to open the door to a jetty where you met a thug earlier. Don't go outside, but instead find the NE wall button next to a statue that moves aside a bookshelf section to reveal another wall button. This one does the same thing, so venture deeper into the library and turn right to find a third wall button to your right that reveals a fourth button behind you and around the corner. Nothing seems to happen after you push the fourth one, so exit to the main room and loop around left into another section of the library stacks. Turn left to push a fifth button, reverse roll and loop around left to a sixth button, return to the main room and loop around right into the adjacent area. Turn left, then right to face a newly opened area. Before entering, press the nearby button #4 a second time.

Enter the new area E and go past a ladder (blocked by a trap door) to find a book switch (4 of 5) in the SW alcove. Go around to the SE corner and pull up into a crawl space. Flip out the other side and pick up the FAIRY TALE BOOK 2 for SECRET #2. Return, exit to the main room and go around the central aquarium to the W ladder you noted earlier. Climb to the upper level, go toward the N door you opened earlier  and activate the book switch (5 of 5) at the NW corner. A section of the wall lowers near the SW corner, so go there to find the FAIRY TALE BOOK 3 for SECRET #3.

Go around to the gap in the railing near the W wall and take a running jump to grab the chandelier. Pull up and climb the chain until Lara's head is even with either the N or S window. Back flip onto the S ledge, shoot the window and follow the passage past two sword-wielding statues to find a large medipack and uzi ammo. A fence blocks further progress, so return and shoot a baby spider on your way back. Jump to grab the chain, swivel around and back flip onto the N ledge. Shoot the window and get past the two sword-wielding statues in the passage. Use the crowbar to open the floor trap door next to the fence you saw from the other side, jump into the floor hole and swim down into the aquarium. Grab the large medipack and automatic pistol ammo on the upper ledge, note four corner underwater levers and pull only the NW and SE ones to lower the central cage.

Swim down for the COG WHEEL (3 of 3), surface and pull out. into the passage. Shoot another baby spider, get past the statues and jump to grab the chain. Slide down to the chandelier, jump W to grab the ladder and climb up to the surrounding ledge. Exit S, turn right and go across the bridge into the adjacent building. Turn right (N) into the den and go out onto the balcony. Turn left, step out onto the bridge where you took enemy fire earlier, jump S over the railing onto the red awning and run to the other end. Drop between the awnings onto the balcony for the uzi ammo dropped by the soldier and pull down the wall switch to lift an underwater gate below this balcony.

Jump into the canal and swim E into the opening. Surface and pull out to do battle with a dog and a soldier. Pick up the dropped shotgun ammo and place the three Cog Wheels on the empty pegs to activate the machinery and open the trap door above the ladder in the library stacks. To get there quickly, go to the NW alcove and jump up to open the ceiling trap door. Turn around, jump up to grab the opening and pull up into a familiar hallway. Go S up the steps and continue over the bridge into the adjacent building. Turn left onto the surrounding upper ledge, climb down the W ladder and go around the aquarium to the inner library stacks. Follow around the bookshelves to the ladder, climb up past the opened trap door and back flip into a higher passage.

Step forward to trigger a squishy block and time your way past it. Loop around left to another ladder and climb up even higher. Make your way over toward the NW corner, drop down N and jump forward as another squishy block is triggered. Turn around and time a jump SW past it. Continue S to the wood-covered hallway and follow to a closed door. Open it with the Library Key and loop around right to the upper wraparound ledge. Exit N, loop around left and save your game in front of the timed wall switch.

Pull it down, turn left and loop around right onto the wraparound ledge, go around to exit S and turn left in the hallway. Follow all the way to the squishy block next to the aquarium wall, time a running jump NE past it and continue past the timed doors into a room with a sarcophagus containing the GOLDEN OWL FEATHER. Enjoy the concluding flyby.