TR Legend is different in many ways to any previous TR, even AoD, and a systematic approach to the game will give you the best gameplay experience! I won't be listing absolutely everything here, so the manual is your first port of call. If you'd like an insane amount of detail, I can recommend The Complete Guide from Piggyback Interactive, which has an enormous amount of information about every aspect of the game. If you can't afford it I'll be covering everything that's necessary to complete the game and find all the Rewards, but I won't be going into an enormous amount of detail due to the limitations of running my site single-handed, and with limited bandwidth on the server...

The full Legend game starts with a movie style cinematic Title, then you find yourself at the main menu. It's a good idea to let the game sit here for a while as there are a series of 'replay' movies from the different areas which illustrate the locations, some of Lara's new moves, and some of the alternative combat moves - these little demos only cut in when the game is idle and are well worth watching.

Starting a new game shows you another cinematic, this time a flashback to Lara when she was young, accompanying her mother on a flight in the Himalayas where the aircraft is forced down by mechanical failure. Following this is a current day cinematic showing Lara free climbing in Bolivia, after which the game proper starts. It's good to pay attention through all the cinematics, voiceovers etc. as Legend does have a strong storyline, an understanding of which will enhance your gameplay experience!

To begin with, take your time and don't rush things. At the start there will be on-screen instructions to guide you - I won't be giving full details here so you need to pay attention to the onscreen instructions to learn how to do the new moves! Also listen to the conversations as I won't be detailing them here, and often I won't even mention them at all unless there is something of specific interest.

Legend reintroduces us to one of our favourite gameplay elements - secrets, or Rewards as they are now known. The Rewards are quite conspicious, even in pitch dark caves, so as long as you go close enough to them you can't miss them - you only need to be sure you explore every nook and cranny as you progress, although that's not always so easy! Every level has a large number of these Rewards, which come in Bronze, Silver, and Gold, roughly corresponding to the difficulty in finding them. Check your PDA during a level to see how many Rewards you need to look for, and how many you've found so far, and be sure to search each area thoroughly before you move on as you may not be able to come back, at least for a while (once you finish a level you can come back and replay it anytime to find the extra Rewards). In the old games the secrets may have given you extra ammo or goodies, or maybe nothing at all, but they are one of the keys in Legend to unlocking a large amount of extra goodies, so now they are well worth chasing down - without them all you're only seeing part of the full game experience!

To complete the game to 100% requires completing the main game, and gathering every Reward in the main game and Croft Manor. During the game various extras will be unlocked as you go, which includes a wide variety of different costumes for Lara to wear when you replay levels! Some of these are unlocked simply by finishing a level, others by finding all the Rewards in a level, and the last few by winning the Time Trials (the Time Trials are extra and don't figure in the game completion % shown in the stats). The ultimate, at least for most guys, would be completing the game and winning every Time Trial as this unlocks the final items, including two different colour bikini swimsuits for Lara to use in the Manor. Legend doesn't have a lot of levels although some are quite long, but there are now big incentives to replay them, and on the way increase the bonuses the game has to offer, by the introduction of Time Trial Mode. If these are beaten more extras are unlocked, so these are also well worth the trouble! The Time Trials can be tackled after each level is completed - see the manual for more details.

At the end of each level you'll be told what Extras have been unlocked and how to view them from the main menu, so be sure to check them out. Once won they're available for ever after, so there's no rush... Also, finishing each level allows you to go back at any time and replay it to find Rewards you may have missed before, and also unlocks all the cinematics you saw during the level. Once you complete the main game you also gain access to the Special menu, which contains a cinematic showing the many ways for Lara to die (a sort of bloopers reel ;-) and also the Cheats menu. The Cheats are unlocked one at a time by completing the game and beating the Time Trials, so you won't be seeing them all in a hurry...

The game can be Saved at any time, but doing so saves the game to the last Checkpoint Lara crossed so there's no point in saving between checkpoints. There are plenty of Checkpoints so this isn't a problem most of the time, but the action can be quite intense between them. If you do get kicked back to a Checkpoint, remember that any Rewards you found after that will have to be grabbed again - this may include any you found in the vicinity of the Checkpoint!

A word on the Save/Load functions (for more on this read the manual!) As you go through the game you can save as usual, but if you want to go to Croft Manor, or replay a level, you need to load the latest in-game save and work from that. Reason is that the savegame not only saves Lara's progress through the normal levels, but it also saves the extra Rewards from the Manor, as well as any extra Rewards or Time Trial data from replaying a level. To play in the Manor select Croft Manor from the main menu; to play a previous level again choose Load Level from the Load menu. If you finish a level and miss some Rewards you can go back there at any time to find the rest of them, by using Load Level and choosing the latest save from the menu, which then gives you a list of available levels to play. This means playing the level as usual until you find the Rewards you're missing, and it plays just as it did when you were first there! (I forgot to go back for a Reward in Peru because Lara died and I was sent back to the checkpoint - I had to replay more than half the level to get it ;) Once you find the missing Rewards you can save the game in the latest slot, even though it saves as a different level to the one you're replaying - it's just the Reward data you're changing in it!

The PDA, or Personal Digital Assistant, contains information and objectives, details of Rewards gained and game progress, as well as items Lara is carrying.

The PLS is Lara's Personal Light Source, which is an ultra bright, self charging light. It slowly discharges, but recharging is a lot faster. Use it freely, but before attempting any tricky manoeuvres in dark areas recharge it so it doesn't turn off just when you need it!

The Binoculars now have RAD mode which can be used to assess the environment for things such as dangerous features, fragile objects, puzzle components etc. The Binoculars are now far more useful and fulfil a variety of gameplay functions, so use them whenever you want to find out more about the environment around you!

The Grapple can be used to pull items from a distance, swing across gaps, pull Rewards down from inaccessible ledges, even pull enemies down from ledges or closer to Lara! Experiment as you go to see what uses you can put it to.

Lara has a variety of new combat moves. Combining the weapons with Jump, or Roll, now gives Lara some cool moves, such as sliding into an opponent to knock him off his feet, Lara doing a slow motion jump over her opponent while merrily blasting away, flips and rolls while shooting etc. Lara can also kick enemies when up close but this is the only non-weapons attack. Try out various control combinations, and practice these on the easier opponents early on so you're familiar with them when they're needed for the big battles later in the game. A good place to practice is the start of the second level, Peru, as there is a targetable dummy in the street and you won't be pestered.

One move that has become something of a trademark in TR is the Handstand when Lara pulls up onto a ledge, and it is back with us in Legend! There is only a small difference between the ordinary pull-up and the handstand - both are done with the Jump button, but for an ordinary pull-up the button is tapped momentarily, and for the handstand it is held down. This obviously introduces a slight lag in the handstand, but then you won't be doing it when time is short, will you! (The Jump button is also used for vaulting between ledges to climb up a wall, as well as for jumping.)

The other classic move from every TR, the Swan Dive, is also included in Legend. However it is a little tricky to pull off - it requires hitting the Roll button at the correct moment when doing a forward jump. This should be done with Lara running, then hit the Jump, followed immediately by the Roll - the gap between hitting these is very tight, a fraction of a second, so requires some practice! This dive also works on dry land, when Lara swan dives and ends with a roll to continue forward. When you get better with the swan dive it is possible to perform it from a standing start by tapping Forward, Jump, and Roll, in very quick succession, but it's not easy.

There are some special undocumented moves to experiment with as well - these are gymnastic exercises, and if you string enough of them together Zip and Alister will come in with some comments. These aren't necessary for normal gameplay, but are a lot of fun in the quiet moments! Find an unobstructed open area (Lara's gymnasium is useful for this), start running, and tap the Roll button for Lara to do a forward roll. In the middle of the roll, start tapping Roll repeatedly and Lara will do a series of forward handstand flips, ending with a double somersault! Experiment with the Jump button as well, which results in the same series of forward flips, but without the handstands - Lara tucks in for these. There's also a special move on horizontal bars - spin Lara around the bar then tap backwards as she comes to the top of the spin to stop her so she handstands momentarily, and you can then change the direction she swings. Another, while swinging on a horizontal bar, is to reverse the control direction as she begins a swing, whereupon Lara will tuck her toes into the bar as she reaches the top of the swing, then straighten out. You can also experiment with combinations of these manoeuvres, and changing directions between flips - there's no knowing what you might find!

Generally speaking, Lara's moves are now very responsive and fluid, and bear little resemblance to the lag-ridden controls from AoD. In fact, despite the superficial similarities between Lara's movement in Legend and AoD, in practice there is little comparison - now everything just seems to work with little fuss and as a result is a far better experience!

There are some new uses for the Action (Interact) control. It's not needed to grab hold of things when jumping, but sometimes when Lara jumps to grab hold of a ledge or whatever you'll see her hand slip and the Action control symbol appear onscreen. Hit it fast when you do as it could mean Lara's losing her grip and needs help to stop falling off! Once Lara has a good grip it can be released. The same control tapped in time with Lara's shimmy moves will speed up her shimmying, and the same applies for climbing chains or poles! But it's necessary to use Action to climb a swinging vine or rope at any speed as the directional control is normally used for swinging... Otherwise Action has similar uses to those we know already.

Another use for Action is to speed up Lara's swimming, and it needs to be tapped in time with Lara's movement. Using this underwater makes Lara do some extra kicks to swim faster, but on the surface Lara will do the crawl swimming stroke, which looks great!

Collecting Goodies - Lara will automatically pick up ammo, medipacks, and grenades - all you have to do is walk over them. Weapons have to be picked up manually, but there are some things to know about weapons and ammo which I mention below so be sure to read them to avoid confusion! Lara has limited carrying capacity now so you won't be able to pick up everything you come across!

Medipacks - Medipacks are limited to a total of 3, but even on medium difficulty there are plenty scattered around or dropped so it shouldn't be a problem in most places (on high difficulty less are dropped, but there should still be plenty as long as you're careful). Some advice about medipacks - if Lara doesn't pick one up and her health's a little down, stand on it and use a medipack to top up her health. The one she's standing on will automatically be picked up to replace the one you used. This ensures that Lara's health and medipack supplies will always be at the best possible, so be sure to do this after a firefight when the bad guys have dropped their supplies!

Ammo - Lara will automatically pick up any she walks over for weapons she's carrying but Lara has limited capacity for extra ammo. This includes discarded weapons the same as she has - she'll grab the ammo from them as she walks over them, as long as she can carry it.

Weapons - Lara carries Pistols at all times, which have unlimited ammunition. However as you progress through the game there are three upgrades awarded - larger magazines, increased accuracy, and increased damage - which depend on the total number of Rewards found. Lara has limited capacity for carrying weapons - for example, in the level 'Tiwanaku' the guards carry either SMGs (Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun) or Assault Rifles. Lara can carry either, but not both. Later in the game you will see a Shotgun and Grenade Launcher, both of which are only useful for very specific tasks, and neither of which are essential - as Lara can only carry one larger weapon at a time it's probably best not to use these in case you forget to change back to a more useful weapon after the fight. However they can be useful when you go back to replay individual levels later on! As Lara walks over dropped weapons she'll pick up ammo for the one she has, and she can also exchange one weapon for another by standing on it and manually picking it up. The weapon she drops will retain all the ammo she had collected so she can return and exchange them again later. The one she picks up will allow her to collect any ammo to suit the new weapon. These can be exchanged anytime while they are still accessable by standing on the alternate weapon and pressing Action. One final weapon is the sword Excaliber, but this can only be used at the end of Nepal, and for the final battle in Bolivia.

Grenades - These are limited to 4 at a time, and Lara will pick up only those she can carry on her harness. Useful to make opponents take evasive action, and while they're evading keep shooting at them.

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First posted 2 April 2006, last updated 3 June 2006
Status - Completed & Checked

Objective - Negotiate the ravine to find the entrance to the ruins, then avoid all the traps while searching for the locked door. Solve the puzzle to open it so Lara can proceed deeper into these ruins. On the way deal with all the mercenaries Lara comes across.

Level - The game starts with a cinematic (FMV) showing Lara free climbing on some rather precipitous cliffs, while chatting to Zip and Alister on her comms headset. When it ends Lara is standing at the start of a narrow ravine leading into the mountains, with a series of waterfalls to negotiate.

Explore this area and try out the new moves. There are three small rocks Lara can kick to start them rolling, but this is just for practice. Once you've looked around, jump into the deep pool below the large waterfall, climb out on the ledge on the far side, then up to the next ledge (if Lara drops only a short distance into the water, say from a low bank, she defaults to swimming on the surface now and it looks great! Higher falls, or a swan dive, and she will be submerged.) Go around the corner to a large boulder which Lara can push off the edge to clear her way. Jump across the gap and go to the vine to the right. Climb up this then jump to the right to the next vine, and from there to the ledge on the right.

At the far end of this ledge is a swinging vine. Jump to it, but before swinging anywhere, turn Lara to look to her left. On the cliff wall above her there's a cave entrance you can swing to if you like. Go through this cave using the torch (the cave's empty), then at the far end drop into the second cave. One end of this cave faces back to the vine Lara just used, and if you don't want to check out the first cave you can swing directly into this one, which is in the cliff face behind the waterfall. Go through this second cave, and at the far end jump to the next ledge for a short cutscene. On the cliff wall next to Lara jump up and grab the crack, then shimmy left around a couple of corners until Lara is opposite the top of the waterfall. Jump backwards across this gap, and pull up to the the next section of the ravine.

Head up the left side of this section to avoid a large boulder that will roll down the stream, then continue through the gap to the next waterfall. Nearby is a rock shelf, and Lara can jump from this to grab a horizontal branch across the ravine. Shimmy to the left side, then swing to grab the next horizontal branch. From there swing to the narrow rock ledge on the left of the waterfall, shimmy right, and side jump right to grab the ledge across the other side of the waterfall. At this point there's a cutscene showing a guard above Lara looking for a climber (Lara herself, they know already!) and he's prepared to shoot on sight so you know what to expect when he sees you. He turns back up the stream and Lara pulls up. Get the guard, and be sure to grab his SMG and medipack - these could be underwater and the SMG could be hard to see so look for a slow pulsing glint of light. (Later in the level more guards drop stuff but as I noted above you can't always pick it up - I won't as a rule mention these, so just check if you can get the goodies by walking over them.)

Continue up the stream and note the structure on the right side where the stream goes to the left. Around the corner is another rock shelf, this time with a log balanced on it. If you look carefully you can see that the log is rocking and that it has a branch out to the side at the far end. If you could raise this it would allow Lara to swing to the next waterfall, but how to raise it? At this point use the Binoculars to check out the ruins above and ahead - Lara has to climb up there! Put the Binoculars away, go to the left side of the structure, and jump up to grab the narrow ledge from the higher spot on the ground. Shimmy to the right around the corner and vault and pull up onto the top of the structure, then go to the far end and push the boulder off the edge onto the end of the log. This swings the log so the horizontal branch is high enough for Lara to use! Drop back down, use this branch to swing to grab the edge of the rock in the middle of the waterfall, and pull up. Continue on a short distance to see a glinting circular object blocking the way. Use the Grapple on this, and pull it out.

Go through the now open doorway to trigger a cutscene with two guards talking. When you get control of Lara stay still for a while and listen to the rest of the conversation, then take the two guards out. Go to the next waterfall and look for a narrow ledge across the cliff face. Jump and grab this at the centre, then shimmy to the left quickly to beat the section of the ledge that collapses. If you're too slow and Lara falls off you'll need to grab the ledge again and sidejump the small gap. Jump back off the ledge to grab the horizontal bar (it bends!) then swing to grab the crack on the structure. Shimmy to the left as far as possible, and jump left to grab the next crack at the top of the lighter section of stone. Vault and pull up onto the top ledge and check the area out. Around to the left Lara can jump to a swinging vine, and using it she can swing to a ledge behind the waterfall. On the left behind the waterfall there's a hidden alcove above her head but there's nothing in there.

Continue to the right and jump to grab the first horizontal bar. Swing to the second, then to the ground ahead. Get your weapon ready for the guard around the next corner and continue on to the next gap. Ahead and above Lara is another glinting disc, and the Grapple can be used to swing across the gap - to use the Grapple first jump up, and while in the air hit the Grapple button to hit the disc. On the other side follow the passage until you reach an open area - at this point another cutscene comes in to show some new, armed, arrivals. This ain't going to be easy!

When you gain control again, don't just rush to slide down the slope to get them. First use the Pistols to target the wood holding the boulders on the top of the slope ahead, which starts them rolling. (When an object like this is shootable, it will show a special icon when Lara has her guns at the ready. But not everything that is shootable will show this icon, just those that can be used as gameplay items, so feel free to experiment on other objects!) With a bit of luck the rocks will get at least one guard who was down there! Slide down, and go to the left where another guard comes to investigate. Once he's down explore the area and dispose of any other guards you find. If you would prefer a longer range weapon for the next section, you can exchange the SMG for an Assault Rifle here as some of the guards carry them. After you change weapons, make sure you tour the area to get all possible ammo for the weapon you've chosen.

When you're ready, go to the edge near the swinging vine and use it to swing to the higher ground on the far side. Go carefully here as there are several guards waiting for Lara near the ruins! Get a decent weapon ready, slide down, and go get the guards - use Lara's sidestepping movement to reduce her injuries. If you're using the SMG shoot short bursts to save ammo! If you like, before sliding down use the object targetting to aim at the pillar to the left of the building near the first guards and shoot it to cause it to fall, possibly getting one or two of the guards in the process - this can be targetted successfully from this range even with the pistols! Once the area's clear, fix Lara's health and check out the stuff the guards dropped, then climb the steps to see a short cutscene. Before leaving, be sure you're carrying your preferred weapon - if necessary make an exchange with one of the discarded weapons lying around. The SMG is good for closer ranges, the Assault Rifle is best for longer ranges.

Follow the two unfortunates into the passage (careful!) until the floor slides back from a long pit with a nasty looking blade trap which goes a lot further than simple spikes! To cross this use the Grapple on the disc above, and get a good swing up to reach the far side. Continue up the next stairs and check out the hidden room on the left, but it's empty. Go further to the room with the chains, and examine the two chains in the centre of the room. Both these have counterweights attached that block Lara, and the object is to get to the passage high on the right. Go to the right hand chain with the higher weight, and climb as far as possible. Jump back, grab the other chain, and quickly pull up and jump back to grab the first chain above the counterweight - as you climb the second chain lowers so you need to be quick. From the first chain climb higher and jump to the high passage (you can also reach it from the second chain with luck). Note that these chain jumps are much like the old jumps except you don't have to roll Lara in mid-air, nor do you have to grab - both are automatic. Just have Lara's back in line with the second chain then hit Jump, and she will flip and grab for you.

Go to the next room and use the chain to safely drop to the floor below. Head into the small passage and go to the pool, then drop in, swim down, and head to the right. Follow the passage as it curves left - there's a room halfway around on the right you can pull up to but it doesn't have anything interesting. Continue to the far end where the bright light is, swim up, and pull out into the next passage. Lara will probably wipe the water from her eyes and rearrange her hair here so give her a moment to tidy herself up...

Continue down this passage carefully until you trigger a sliding block trap. These blocks are much slower than the old sliding blocks, but they're also a lot bigger so treat them with respect! Time a quick run between these blocks, and continue on. At the corner there's a cage, and around the corner another sliding block trap, but this time there are two sets which would be tricky to try running through. But there's a better way - grab hold of the cage by using Action and push it towards the centre of the first pair of sliding blocks. When they open, push the cage in and keep pushing until you reach the second set of blocks. Here you could push the cage just far enough to block the second set as well as the first, then climb over the cage and stroll through, or you can time it carefully to push the cage right through the second set as well. At the far end continue through to the big room, where another cutscene shows the door close behind you, as well as the exit door opposite closing and the two door opening mechanisms locking. Then have a look around the room.

This is the final room of the demo, although the full game continues further before the level ends. You need to open the door opposite, and if you look around you'll find three pressure pads close by, two of which unlock the two door lifters, and the third opens the door itself, but only once the two lifting mechanisms are unlocked. There is also a single cage close to one of the pressure pads, so pull it into place on the pressure pad to unlock the first door lifting mechanism. Now drop down to the lower level and find another two cages. One is beneath the end of the 'seesaw', so pull it out (don't push it!) and when the 'seesaw' drops push it onto the end. Climb back to the top level, and up the steps next to the other end of the 'seesaw'. Do a standing jump onto the high end of it, and Lara's weight catapults the cage onto the top level - cool trick! Drop back down to the bottom and pull the second cage into place, then repeat the jump to catapult it onto the top ledge. Move the two cages into place on the other two pressure pads, then watch the door open. Now to get to it.

If you look at the wall to the left of the exit door you can see some ledges and a horizontal bar, and a chain in the rear corner. Climb that chain to the top and jump to the crack in the pillar, then shimmy around to the right. Vault to the top edge and pull up, then jump up to grab the horizontal chain and move Lara along to the ledge on the other end. Hang off the edge, then drop to grab the lower ledge and shimmy as far to the right as you can. Do a side jump to the horizontal bar, then swing to the platform near the exit door. Head through the door to end the demo!

Now wasn't that fun, and not a key in sight!

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Bolivia - Tiwanaku (Full Level)

First posted 13 April 2006, updated 6 June 2006
Status - Completed & Checked

Objective - Negotiate the ravine to find the entrance to the ruins, then avoid all the traps while searching for the locked door. Solve the puzzle to open it so Lara can proceed deeper into the ruins to reach her goal. On the way deal with all the mercenaries and dangerous animals Lara comes across.

Note - This is essentially a training area as Lara's mansion is mostly unavailable until you complete this level. So make full use of it to become familiar with all the moves, and particularly the combat moves - it's very useful to repeat the fights and practice all the special moves here while it's relatively safe, as the next level gets quite busy in places!

Playing at Maximum 'Tomb Raider' Difficulty - This level is not too hard at maximum difficulty as the fights mostly take place in more open spaces - as long as you use the terrain carefully there are still plenty of medipacks and Lara shouldn't suffer too much damage. The final fight is a little hectic, so you need to be more diligent about grabbing any medipacks you see during that fight.

Level - When the cinematics end, Lara is standing at the start of a narrow ravine leading into the mountains, with a series of waterfalls to negotiate.

Explore this area and try out the new moves. There are three small rocks Lara can kick to start them rolling, but this is just for practice. Also check around the lower levels of this area for the first two Bronze Rewards. Once you've looked around, jump into the deep pool below the large waterfall, climb out on the ledge on the far side, then up to the next ledge (if Lara drops only a short distance into the water, say from a low bank, she defaults to swimming on the surface - higher falls and she will be submerged.) Go around the corner to a large boulder which Lara can push off the edge to clear her way. Jump across the gap and go to the vine to the right. Climb up this then jump to the right to the next vine, and from there to the ledge on the right.

At the far end of this ledge is a swinging vine. Jump to it and turn Lara to look to her left. On the cliff wall above her there's a cave entrance she can swing to - go through this cave using the torch and get the first Silver Reward, then at the far end drop into the second cave. One end of this cave faces back to the vine Lara just used, but Lara needs to go through to the far end. At the far end jump to the next ledge for a short cutscene. On the cliff wall next to Lara jump up and grab the crack, then shimmy left around a couple of corners until Lara is opposite the top of the waterfall. Jump backwards across this gap, and pull up to the the next section of the ravine.

Head up the left side of this section to avoid a large boulder that will roll down the stream, then continue through the gap to the next waterfall. Nearby is a rock shelf, and Lara can jump from this to grab a horizontal branch across the ravine. Shimmy to the left side, then swing to grab the next horizontal branch. From there swing to the narrow rock ledge on the left of the waterfall, shimmy right, and side jump to grab the ledge across the other side of the waterfall. At this point there's a cutscene showing a guard above Lara looking for a climber (Lara herself, they know already!) He turns back up the stream and Lara pulls up. Get the guard, and be sure to grab his medipack if he drops one. (Later in the level more guards drop stuff but as I noted above you can't always pick it up - I won't as a rule mention these, so just check if you can get the goodies by walking over them.)

Continue up the stream and note the structure on the right side where the stream goes to the left. Around the corner is the third Bronze Reward and another rock shelf, this time with a log balanced on it. If you look carefully you can see that the log is rocking and that it has a branch out to the side at the far end. If you could raise this it would allow Lara to swing to the next waterfall, but how to raise it? At this point use the Binoculars to check out the ruins above and ahead - Lara has to climb up there! Put the Binoculars away and go to the left side of the structure and jump up to grab the narrow ledge. Shimmy to the right around the corner and vault and pull up onto the top of the structure, then go to the far end and push the boulder off the edge onto the end of the log. This swings the log so the horizontal branch is high enough for Lara to use! Drop back down, use this branch to swing to grab the edge of the rock in the middle of the waterfall, and pull up. Continue on a short distance to see a glinting circular object blocking the way. Use the Grapple on this, and pull it out. It's a good idea to save your game here so you can try out Lara's new combat moves without any real danger!

Go through the now open doorway to trigger a cutscene with two guards talking. When you get control of Lara stay still for a while and listen to the rest of the conversation, then take the two guards out while practicing the new jumps and slow motion actions. Cool! Check your health, then go to the next waterfall and look for a narrow ledge across the cliff face. Jump and grab this at the centre, then shimmy to the left quickly to beat the section of the ledge that collapses. If you're too slow you'll need to grab the ledge again and sidejump the small gap. Jump back off the ledge to grab the horizontal bar (it bends!) then swing to grab the crack on the next structure. Shimmy to the left as far as possible, and jump left to grab the next crack at the top of the lighter section of stone. Vault and pull up onto the top ledge and check the area out. Around to the left Lara can jump to a swinging vine, and using it she can swing to a wide ledge behind the waterfall.

On the left behind the waterfall there's a hidden alcove above Lara's head with the fourth Bronze Reward. Continue to the right and jump to grab the first horizontal bar. Swing to the second, then to the ground ahead. Get your weapon ready for the guard around the next corner, take him out carefully as there's not a lot of space, and continue on to the next gap. Before proceeding, be sure to collect any medipacks Lara can carry and max out her health if necessary.

Ahead and above Lara is another glinting disc, and the Grapple can be used to swing across the gap - to use the Grapple first jump up, and while in the air hit the Grapple button to attach it to the disc. On the other side follow the passage to the right hand corner, move a short distance around the corner, then turn around and look for the fifth Bronze Reward in a niche up in the wall. Use the Grapple to pull it down, then continue down the passage until you reach an open area - at this point another cutscene comes in to show some new, armed, arrivals. This ain't going to be easy!

When you gain control again, don't just rush to slide down the slope to get them. First use the Pistols to target the wood holding the boulders on the top of the slope ahead, which starts them rolling. (When an object is shootable, it will show a special icon when Lara has her guns at the ready.) With a bit of luck the rocks will get at least one guard who was down there! Slide down, and go to the left where another guard comes to investigate. Once he's down explore the area and dispose of any other guards you find. One of these guys drops an SMG (Heckler & Koch MP5) here as some of the guards carry them. After you pick it up, make sure you tour the area to get all possible ammo for the weapon you've chosen, and any medipacks Lara can use. Also look for the sixth and seventh Bronze Rewards tucked away in a couple of dark corners.

When you're ready, go to the edge near the swinging vine and use it to swing to the higher ground on the far side (you need to climb a little higher up the vine first). Go carefully here as there are several guards waiting for Lara near the ruins! Before sliding down, draw the Pistols and use the manual targetting to aim for the loose masonry near the base of the pillar across near the left of the temple wall - with luck when this falls it will get at least one of the guards for you (this should also be possible with the Object attack with the pistols, even though it may be greyed out, but manual targetting is more accurate). Or ignore it if you like extra thrills... Switch back to auto targetting, get a decent weapon ready, slide down, and go get the guards - use Lara's sidestepping movement to reduce her injuries, and try out the jumps, rolls, and special combat moves. If you're using the SMG shoot short bursts to save ammo! Once the area's clear, fix Lara's health, check out the stuff the guards dropped, and top up Lara's health. You can change the SMG for an RC650 Assault Rifle here if you like.

Before going on, have a look at the masonry ledges to the left of the staircase as you face the building facade. Underneath the top floor level is a breakable wall, and Lara should be able to pick it up with the Binoculars in RAD mode. Use the Pistols to shoot the wall out, and go into the small cavity for the second Silver Reward. Then climb the steps to see a short cutscene if you've not triggered it yet (if you don't climb the steps this may not be triggered). Before leaving, be sure you're carrying your preferred weapon - if necessary make an exchange with one of the discarded weapons lying around. The SMG is good for closer ranges, the Assault Rifle is best for longer ranges.

Follow the two unfortunates into the passage (careful!) until the floor slides back from a long pit with a nasty looking blade trap which goes a lot further than simple spikes! To cross this use the Grapple on the disc above, and get a good swing up to reach the far side. Continue up the next stairs and check out the hidden room on the left for the eighth Bronze Reward. Go further to the room with the chains, and examine the two chains in the centre of the room. Both these have counterweights attached that block Lara, and the object is to get to the passage high on the right. Go to the right hand chain with the higher weight, and climb as far as possible. Jump back, grab the other chain, and quickly pull up and jump back to grab the first chain above the counterweight - as you climb the second chain lowers so you need to be quick. From the first chain climb higher and jump to the high passage (you can also reach it from the second chain with luck). Note that these chain jumps are much like the old jumps except you don't have to roll Lara in mid-air, nor do you have to grab - both are automatic. Just have Lara's back in line with the second chain, then hit Jump, and she will flip and grab for you. Alternatively, Lara will jump in the direction you choose with the directional controls.

Go to the next room and use the chain to safely drop to the floor below. Head into the small passage and go to the pool, then drop in, swim down, and head to the right. Follow the passage as it curves left - there's a room halfway around on the right you can pull up to and there you'll find the ninth Bronze Reward. Continue to the far end where the bright light is, swim up, and pull out into the next passage. Lara may wipe the water from her eyes and rearrange her hair here so give her a moment to tidy herself up...

Continue down this passage carefully, get the Jaguar which is waiting for Lara down the stairs, then go on until you trigger a sliding block trap. These blocks are much slower than the old sliding blocks, but they're also a lot bigger so treat them with respect! Time a quick run between these blocks, and continue on. At the corner there's a cage, and around the corner another sliding block trap, but this time there are two sets which would be tricky to try running through. But there's a better way - grab hold of the cage (Action) and push it towards the centre of the first pair of sliding blocks. When they open, push the cage in and keep pushing until you reach the second set of blocks. Here you could push the cage just far enough to block the second set as well as the first, then climb over the cage and stroll through, or you can time it carefully to push the cage right through the second set as well. At the far end continue through to the big room, where another cutscene shows the door close behind you, as well as the exit door opposite closing and the two door opening mechanisms locking. Then have a look around the room. There's another Jaguar on the lower level in the water so it's probably a good idea to get it before moving on.

You need to open the door opposite, and if you look around you'll find three pressure pads close by, two of which unlock the two door lifters, and the third opens the door itself, but only once the two lifting mechanisms are unlocked. There is also a single cage close to one of the pressure pads, so pull it into place on the pressure pad to unlock the first door lifting mechanism. Now drop down to the lower level and find another two cages. One is beneath the end of the 'seesaw', so pull it out (don't push it!) and when the 'seesaw' drops push it onto the end. Climb back to the top level, and up the steps next to the other end of the 'seesaw'. Do a standing jump onto the high end of it, and Lara's weight catapults the cage onto the top level - cool trick! Drop back down to the bottom and pull the second cage into place, then repeat the jump to catapult it onto the top ledge. Move the two cages into place on the other two pressure pads, then watch the door open.

Now that you've seen how the door works there are three goodies to get before going on, but you need to fix the door to lock it part open before going for them. Firstly, pull the centre cage off so the door closes. Then go to one of the other two cages and pull it off the pressure pad. Go back and push the centre cage back onto the pressure pad which opens the door, but as the lifting mechanism is now locked the door won't open. What you need to do is to raise the door partway, then jam it there so you can reach a goodie. Turn Lara to face the exit door and bring the camera behind her so you can see what's happening. Look for the narrow ledges in the pillars on either side of the door - there are two in each pillar. You need to use the topmost ledge as a reference for opening the door. Step onto the pressure pad that operates the lifting mechanism lock, and watch as the door rises. The carved figure on the door appears to have a 'mouth', which is actually a narrow ledge in the door - when this rises just far enough so it's level with the top ledge on the side pillars, get off the pressure pad so the door jams at that point. The door will now be moving a little up and down around that point, just what we need!

Now to get the first goodie. Go to the alcove behind the lifting mechanism in the rear right corner (as you look towards the exit door, which is at the 'front' of the room) and grab the tenth Bronze Reward. Go back to the centre of the room, and look at the wall to the left of the exit door where you can see some ledges and a horizontal bar, and a chain in the rear corner. Jump to that chain from the alcove next to it, climb to the top, jump to the crack in the pillar on the side wall, then shimmy around to the right. Vault to the top edge and pull up, then jump up to grab the horizontal chain and move Lara along to the ledge on the other end. Hang off the edge, then drop to grab the lower ledge and shimmy as far to the right as you can. Do a side jump to the horizontal bar, then swing to the platform near the exit door. (If you can't get hold of the first chain, try re-doing the door jam sequence with the opposite pressure pad.)

When you reach the next checkpoint, save your game so you don't have to do all that again. Before heading through the doorway, go across to the far side of the platform across the front of the exit door, and look for a narrow ledge leading to the second door lifting mechanism on the near side of the closest pillar. Jump to it, and shimmy Lara around the corner and along until she's under the near side of the ledge above (much the same as the first shimmy on the other side of the room). Vault and climb up, then use the chain on this side to get across to the other ledge. Grab the third Silver Reward, then head back the way you came until Lara reaches the end facing the exit door platform where she started. Lara can vault and climb onto a ledge above, from where she can jump to the platform safely.

Now for the third goodie before leaving this room. Go to either side of the exit door and jump up to grab the first of the two narrow ledges. Vault to the top ledge, then get ready for an awkward jump to grab the narrow crack where the mouth is on the door. When the door is at its lowest, side jump and grab the ledge, then as the door drops again vault to grab the top of the door. When the door is at its highest vault up again, then up into the hidden alcove above the door. Take your prize, the first Gold Reward, and make your way carefully back down to the floor.

Have you noticed something about these Rewards? Yes, the Bronze ones are quite easy to find and get, the Silver harder, and the Gold quite tricky. That's as it should be I suppose...

When you're ready, head through the door at a crouch if necessary (no need to open it fully, which is why I did the room in this order). Beware - the passage ahead is a trap, but you may have guessed that already because the floor looks a bit familiar... This time it's a bit different as the game will take Lara through the traps in an interactive cutscene, and all you have to do is to hit whatever control the game asks for, and quickly, so that Lara can avoid getting sliced and diced. This style of gameplay doesn't happen often and for that I'm grateful as I would much rather do it myself... In this case it just requires two actions from the player - Duck and Jump - at the appropriate moments. Once past the trap head around the corner to the next checkpoint and save your game. (You may have noticed a Reward as you went through, but that's for a little later.)

Continue down the passage to the pit. Before proceeding check out the room below for another Jaguar. You can get it from here or down below, but as you risk losing a little health with a close encounter and you're soon going to need all the health you have, it's possible to take it out from up here. Draw the Pistols, and switch to manual aim mode. Scan the floor below until you see the Jaguar, put the aim point on it, then click off the manual targetting. When Lara is targetting an enemy manually, she should hold the target when switching to automatic targetting, so then just start shooting. She will track the Jaguar as it runs around the floor, and eventually it will go down. If Lara loses her aim, do the manual thing again.

When the Jaguar's down, hang off the edge and shimmy right. Drop to the next narrow ledge below, then down another ledge, and from there to the rocks on the floor. Check out the room, which contains four gadgets that look much like rotary clothes lines, and actually function the same way by rotating 90 degrees when Lara jumps to them (but I don't think they're intended for hanging clothes...) Also use the Binoculars in RAD mode to find a moveable block embedded in the wall below the passage Lara came from. First push that block in as far as it will go, then go through the cave on the right to the pit under the trap passage for the fourth Silver Reward you saw from above. Head back out and check out the room. The rotary gadget that's lit up is where to start, but before doing it use the Binoculars in RAD mode to look at the back wall. Across the wall there's a narrow ledge, and in the dark corner on the right you can just see ledges above it. In the centre of the back wall is another passage. That's where you're going, eventually, but first there's the final Reward to get.

From the pile of rocks near the first gadget jump and grab the nearest arm at the outer end where the spikes aren't. It will turn through 90 degrees to face the centre gadget. Swing to grab the outer end of the arm on the next one, which will then turn so Lara can swing to the next one in the back left corner. When that swings around jump to grab the narrow ledge on the back wall. Shimmy to the right to the gap, jump across, and line Lara up with the left arm of the last gadget. Jump back and grab it, then when it's swung around swing to the small alcove with the Fifth Silver Reward. Jump back to the same arm, then to the ledge when it swings around. Shimmy right as far as Lara can go.

Now Lara has to vault to the higher ledge. This is a longer vault than before, so Lara could need a little extra help. You may have noticed that Lara hangs from a wall crack in two ways, with either one or both feet on the wall. She seems to be able to vault higher with both feet on the wall, so swing the camera behind her and push the movement control up so she puts both feet on the wall. Vault up, move right a bit, and repeat the vault to an even higher ledge above (it helps to have the PLS turned on when doing this so you can see in the darkness). Shimmy left, side jump the gap, go left around the corner, and drop into the next passage. Go forward and climb into the top level, then continue through the passage until you reach the Checkpoint. Save your game here as the next bit is quite dangerous!

Continue through this passage, but before going near the end check out the standing stones, and the wooden bridge across to them. That's where Lara's going, but if you look carefully on the right you can also see part of a helicopter. Oh dear, that means more bad guys..! Continue down the passage and a cinematic cuts in, showing another flashback of Lara and her mother (in Nepal?), and then to the present with the bad guys (Rutland in charge...) and some more of the story. Interesting! When this cutscene ends start running as the chopper is shooting at Lara and smashing the bridge in the process. Jump the gaps as they open up, then jump to grab the edge of the plateau the standing stones are on. Pull up, and get your best weapon out for a big fight!

Keep moving around during the battle, and use the combat moves like the sliding attack to do the most damage. There are a lot of these guys, so be sure to keep your eyes on Lara's health as well! If you'd been careful to gather as much health as you could find before entering the ruins you should have enough, but grab any that are lying around as you use your stock up and make space in the backpack. If Lara dies you'll be sent back to the last Checkpoint in the final passage so it's not too far back, and you can cancel the cinematics in the menu next time (although a single button press to do that would be nice...) When the last mercenary goes down there is a cinematic to end the level, then a second cinematic back at Croft Manor where she learns she has to go to Peru. She'd have been better to stay in Bolivia - Peru's next door...

At the end of the level you'll be shown what items you've unlocked, depending on how many Rewards you found. You will now have access to the areas at Croft Manor that were locked before so you can now go check that out as well, but be sure you've saved the start of the next level, Peru, before leaving the game. When you want to leave the Manor, save the Rewards when prompted into the latest savegame - it will save as the level you just left, just in case you're confused, and that save will now include data for the level and the Manor separately. Once that save is stored, returning to the Manor will give you all the goodies you'd already collected!

Rewards in this level - 1 Gold, 5 Silver, 10 Bronze

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Peru - Return to Paraiso

First posted 14 April 2006, updated 6 June 2006
Status - Completed & Checked

Objective - Follow up clues Lara's picked up about Tiwanaku from Rutland, and on the way investigate the possibility that Amanda may not have died in the incident at the digsite some time ago.

Playing at Maximum 'Tomb Raider' Difficulty - The early fights here can be quite tricky, so you need to be careful! At the first battle, try to get into one of the side alleys either side of the wide stairs as soon as possible, so Lara can take the bad guys on one at a time without exposing herself too much. It's very useful to go for the explosive targets in this area as soon as possible! Later in Pt.1 it could pay to use the Grapple to swing across to the opposite rooftop as soon as you reach the final area (the streets after going through the small room) as this gives Lara more protection from the bad guys below, and more room to manoeuvre. From this larger roof you can stay back and target the gunmen on the roofs and balconies first, thus getting rid of the most dangerous threats before dropping to the street. The other place that can be tricky is the last battle when Lara climbs back to meet Anaya at the end of Pt. 4, where you have to fight large numbers of gunmen. This needs Lara to never stand still, and to always be aware of grenades aimed at her - try to keep jumping and rolling to reduce the gunshot damage, and as soon as you see a grenade coming Lara's way, get some distance from it! As ever, you'll need to be particularly aware of any medipacks that are dropped and do your best to grab them on the run.

Level - This level is actually several smaller levels strung together, so it's quite long and varied! I'll separate them into parts according to their themes.

Return to Paraiso Pt. 1 - The Village

When the level loads after a short cinematic showing the population running away, Lara is in a dusty street surrounded by buildings, with rubbish and dust blowing around (a nice touch!) Nearby is a soccer ball, and you're free to kick this to your heart's content - Lara may not be much use with it, but you can still have some harmless fun. (There's an Easter Egg here - behind the dummy is an opening in a fence with flags strung above it, and the first time you kick the soccer ball through the opening you hear a cheer of 'Goal!' from the hidden crowd!) Lara can use the dummy for shooting practice, and for practicing all the combat moves that will shortly come in handy. Practice the kick, slide, slo-mo jump, jumps, rolls etc. while shooting, and generally do whatever you want as no-one's going to come and hassle you as long as you stay away from the archway down the street. Be sure not to use anything other than the Pistols though as you're going to need all the ammo you can get your hands on in the next area! For details of the control methods for all the melee attacks see the manual. This is the first chance you get in the game to practice the combat moves in safety, and I highly recommend taking some time out to do so before facing a whole bunch of bad guys in the next area! You may not need all the moves yet, but it all helps to improve your general control skills.

Before leaving this area there's a goodie to get. Look behind the building on Lara's right at the start of the level and use the low block on the back wall to reach the roof. If you go to the corner of the roof nearest the dummy, you can find a Grapple point on a telegraph pole overhead - use this to swing across the lane to the roof of the building that was on Lara's left when the level started. Behind these buildings in a small alley is the first Bronze Reward for this level. To get back out, move the crate to the low fence, and use it to jump back into the street. Go towards the archway opening into the village square, and as soon you reach the checkpoint save your game for the wild action to come!

Go through the archway and watch a short cinematic of Lara talking to Anaya, but they are rudely interrupted when a truck smashes through the gates. Lara is beset by a large number of bad guys - they initially seem to be everywhere, but try to stay at a distance and pick off the nearest first, while keeping behind cover wherever possible. You are also able to target some unstable items here and blow them up, which can help Lara - the truck fuel tank is vulnerable, as is something on the cart, and a gas cylinder on the ground across the square. When they're all down watch out for another guy who appears on a balcony, but as he only has a Shotgun and Lara a Rifle (grab one on the ground if you didn't bring it from the first level), he's easy to get from a distance. Once it's all quiet move around and grab as much ammo as Lara can carry and max your health out. Go down the alley near the flagpole and grab the second Bronze Reward, then head up the stairs of the large building near the truck and jump onto the roof of the market stall, and from there to the flat roof nearby. Go to the left, use the two horizontal poles to swing to the far roof, and grab the third Bronze Reward. Use the zipline to slide down to the street for a bit of fun.

Go to the flagpole, climb up, and backflip to the balcony. Go to the nearby door, kick it open, and head in to get the first Silver Reward of the level. Go back out onto the balcony and use the Grapple on the overhead light to swing to the next balcony, and go to the room the Shotgun guy came from. Watch out as you go in and don't let Lara get jumped by another bad guy, then grab the grenades off the table. The cupboard in here can be kicked open but doesn't contain anything. Once you're ready go to the doors and save your game.

Kick the doors open and back away down the room so as not to attract too much agro. Get the Assault Rifle out and start taking out the bad guys one by one, starting with the guy on the balcony ahead. Once you've taken out as many as can be seen from this room, head outside onto the metal roof and start taking the rest out. You can move back on the roof a bit and start with the guy on the rooftop opposite, then the one on the balcony to the left, then take out those in the street, only moving as far forward as necessary, but watch out for grenades! Alternatively you may prefer to take the initiative, and drop down to street level to press your attacks closer to the bad guys, with the advantage that Lara has more room to manoeuvre. To make it a little easier, don't go near the corner yet as that will cause a couple of extra bad guys to appear and complicate things! There are a couple of explosive targets here if you like fireworks, and they go off very spectacularly! You can use the Grapple on the overhead light to swing quickly to the opposite roof, but it's not necessary. When they're all down drop to the street and get all the goodies Lara can carry, but don't run around the corner yet. There's some ladders and drainpipes Lara can use to climb to the rooftops, and there's a last bad guy waiting just around the first street corner on the balcony to the right - it's best to get him from the balcony before going to the corner at ground level as he can be a pest.

Drop to the street again and continue on. More bad guys come looking and these guys are very prone to throwing grenades if you're unlucky, so be sure to dodge or Lara's toast in very short fashion. As Lara has some grenades now you can use them against the bad guys, and as they scatter be sure to keep shooting. A small truck also comes into play, and as it has a heavy machine gun mounted on the tray it's a good idea to target this before finishing off the bad guys, or better, target the item above the truck so it drops on the gunner. Check out the street but stay away from the motorcycle for the moment as when you approach it this part ends. Go to the spot where you came across the second batch of bad guys (between the two corners) and head down the small alley there to grab the fourth Bronze Reward, then do a final check around the streets for goodies before making your way to the bike.

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Return to Paraiso Pt. 2 - The Bike Chase

When you're ready go up to the bike to trigger a short cutscene - this next section is a timed run as Anaya is in danger, although it's not necessarily obvious. The bike is fun, but the physics aren't very realistic, so you can do things you wouldn't dream of in the real world (of course!) When you get control of Lara you find yourself heading down a dirt road - use the Jump button to accelerate, and hold it hard down as much as possible. The road is a bit bendy, and there are crates and medipacks scattered around - try to avoid the crates and run over the medipacks as Lara is going to lose some health before this ends. Also try to avoid the rock walls and assorted rock pillars and other obstacles you come across on the ride. And watch out for ramps you can use to jump obstacles, or maybe explosives you can target to remove an obstacle.

But of course, it's not that easy... As well as all the obstacles and jumps, what else are you up against than a whole bunch of bad bikers with guns - it's lucky Lara can shoot and ride at the same time! All you have to do to shoot is to hold the fire button and blaze away, while keeping the speed up, avoiding obstacles, using the jumps, riding over medipacks, and keeping an eye on Lara's health. All in a day's adventuring for Lara, but quite frantic while it lasts! It's best to tap the health button while you're on a straight section of road, just in case you get distracted... Don't worry about the bad guys coming up behind Lara as they have a tendency to overtake her, shooting all the time, so you get the chance to nail them eventually. It's a good idea to try to not get too close to the other bikes, but as long as you watch Lara's health it's not that critical. And keep up a bit of a weave, if you aren't already doing that anyway from lack of time on the bike with unfamiliar controls!

There are some jumps that only get Lara airborne so she can drop in on the bad guys from above, but others must be used, like one to jump a barrier, and others to jump gaps in a broken and burning bridge (full of holes as well)! If you fall too far behind on the ride you'll get a message from Zip that Anaya's phone has hung up, in which case the ride ends and you're kicked back to try again. The same happens if Lara dies. Eventually you'll come up on several trucks with bad guys on board, who push crates off to try to stop Lara. Pass the first truck and move up to the lead truck, then shoot the bad guys on board and ride up the now lowered tailgate onto the tray of the truck. Another cutscene comes in where Lara climbs over the cab of the truck and jumps into Anaya's Jeep while shooting the driver of the lead truck. The trucks crash and burn and this section ends with a cutscene showing yet another part of the backstory, where Lara is with Amanda when an accident happens at a digsite.

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Return to Paraiso Pt. 3 - Paraiso Incident

This is a relatively short, but interesting, playable flashback, and Lara is in the classic outfit she was wearing during the previous cutscene. She is at the bottom of a pit, the rope she came down having broken away from its mount on the beam above the pit. Lara has no weapons or other goodies, but she does have an unlimited supply of flares. Use these by tapping the Grenade/Flare button, or hold it down and release for a longer throw. Use these flares often as the tunnels are very dark and there are some traps you won't want to blunder into! During this short section there are several conversations detailing what happened to the original party.

Go forward and duck through the low gap into the tunnel. These tunnels look great but you need to use a lot of flares to see them properly. Go along the tunnel to the edge of the pit and use the bar to monkey swing across. Continue to the junction, and go left to follow Amanda who is urging Lara on. There is a rock fall that blocks the way, so Lara has to go back and take the other tunnel - continue through to reach a room with a body on the floor. Approach the body to learn that it's Sarah, another expedition member. At the other end of the room is a high ledge, and if Lara steps on the large pressure pad in the middle of the room she triggers a derelict trap with only one good spear, which jams so she doesn't need to put a weight on the pad to keep it activated. Go back to Sarah and pull the crate next to her around so it's close to the only good spear. Climb on the crate, jump to the spear, and swing to the ledge ahead. Grab the fifth Bronze Reward in the corner of the ledge, then go across the ledge and jump to the narrow ledge on the end wall. Shimmy left, then jump to the left to reach the next section of the passage.

Continue through to the next room and go to the right through the gap in the spear trap. Go to the door and talk to Kent, then pull the large ball off the pressure pad and shove it well out of the way so the spears retract, which will allow Lara to reach the high ledge. Go back through the safe side of the trap, which triggers it, but it doesn't stay out as this one is working properly. Climb on the ledge to the right, turn around and jump to the rope, then swing to the high ledge above Kent. Go to the far side and take a deep breath, there's a dangerous bit to come!

Drop off the edge for a cutscene where Kent talks to Lara then runs off to look for Amanda. Unfortunately there's a rather hideous monster - the Unknown Entity - roaming these tunnels, and it goes after Kent, then comes for Lara. Lara runs for her life, and as soon as you get control of her again you have to continue running down the passage, jumping a couple of rock falls, until Lara falls into a pit at the far end and the Unknown Entity goes over her and vanishes.

Go to the ledge in the corner, and push the large ball off so it rolls down the room. Drop down and push the ball onto the pressure pad here, to trigger another spear trap which is also damaged. Go back to the ball ledge, and jump to the next ledge where Lara and Amanda talk through the bars before the Unknown Entity chases her further around. Jump to the spear, swing to the rope, and then swing to the high ledge at the far end of the room. Go around to the right and grab the sixth Bronze Reward, then head for the next tunnel entrance.

Go carefully down here as there's a classic spike pit that you have to monkey swing across using the bar. A little further a cutscene comes in where Lara catches up with Amanda, and the Unknown Entity catches up with them both. Luckily Amanda figures out how to stop it, but in doing so the room starts to collapse. They run for the exit, but Amanda's foot is trapped by some falling rocks, and a set of bars drop to close the room and trap Lara outside. Lara struggles to lift the bars, but the tunnels start to flood and more rocks fall, trapping Amanda, and Lara has to escape alone.

This ends the story of the incident that was thought to have claimed the life of the all the expedition but Lara.

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Return to Paraiso Pt 4 - Amanda?

This next part starts with a cutscene back in the present day, with Lara and Anaya talking about Lara's wish to find out what happened to Amanda as she still has a niggling suspicion that she could have survived the incident. Anaya is unable to go with Lara so Lara is left to investigate alone. The old dig has been boarded over and is blocked by rockfalls, so Lara has to find another way into the tunnels.

Before proceeding search around the digsite for the seventh and eighth Bronze Rewards, then go to the water and drop in. Below you there is a vertical shaft at the bottom of the deep pool, and that's where Lara's going. Don't forget that Lara can swim a little faster when necessary by tapping Action in time with her swimming. Dive down, go through the passage, and at the end surface and get your breath. Dive down again and go through the broken bars, then surface for some more air. Dive and go through the next opening then up to get some more air. Dive yet again and swim through to the large room, then surface and look around. (If you get lost during these dives, each successive passage entrance is at the bottom of each vertical shaft so dive to the bottom each time to find the correct passage.) Underwater in the large room you can see four blue lights - these are four stones you need to pull, but they are timed so need to be done in a single dive. Dive down to any one of them, pull it, and fast swim (tap Action while swimming) to the next three in turn around the walls, pulling each in turn (keep tapping Action and Lara will pull them automatically as she reaches them, without the need to line her up carefully). Do it in time and a cutscene will show Lara surfacing, and the room draining.

This is the room Lara and Amanda were in when Amanda was trapped at the end of the previous backstory. Amanda's shoe is there which tends to indicate that she did actually free herself, but there's no other indication as to what may have happened to her. Check around the room for the second Silver Reward in one of the short side passages, then go to the broken stone wall and jump through. Look at the large stone tablet directly ahead and listen to Lara's translation, then go around the back to the next passage. Lara can't get up the slope ahead so go to the wall opposite the wide ledge above on the right, climb up two ledges, and jump back to the wide ledge. From there use the Grapple on the high grapple point to swing to the passage above the slope, then go to the wall on the right and climb up two ledges into the alcove. From the side of the alcove where the edge is broken use the Grapple on the second grapple point to reach the top of the second slope. Go forward to the next room, noticing as you reach it that there's a bit of shaking - this is a warning about an earthquake that will make the next section dangerous. You also reach a Checkpoint, further hinting that something tricky may be coming up shortly!

Negotiating the first part of this room requires another interactive cutscene. Go up the steps to the floor with the large pavers, where Lara will carefully walk out on the stone slabs, but they start to collapse under her. The cutscene then goes interactive and you need to use the three successive controls that are shown on the screen - first Run, then Jump, and finally Action to help Lara grab the last ledge. Once you reach the next room, stop and take it all in. Use the Binoculars in RAD mode and carefully scan all around the room to see the things you need to interact with. There are three hollows in the floor, which require three heavy objects to trigger. On either side of the room is a massive statue, and directly ahead a mechanism in the centre of the floor pointing at an alcove where there is a carving with two jewels for eyes. Either side of the alcove is a ladder, but there's no need to bother with them yet.

Firstly move the ball on the left onto the hollow in the floor nearby. This activates the massive statue on the left, opening two large panels and throwing a shaft of light across the mechanism in the middle of the floor. Now look for the other two balls. One is on a pillar near the stairs where you entered this room, which can be pulled over with the Grapple. Move this ball onto the hollow on the right, to open the second massive statue and throw the second shaft of light across the central mechanism. However you'll notice that the light is going over the top, so you need to raise the mechanism so it intercepts the light shafts.

When the second statue opened it exposed a couple of ladders - similar ladders exist on the statue on the opposite side of the room, but they're broken and Lara can't reach them. Go to the right side statue and climb either ladder until Lara can't climb further. In the centre of the statue between the two ladders is a ledge you can side jump to. From the centre of that ledge, vault up higher a couple of times until Lara can side jump back to one of the ladders above the gap, then climb to the top and push the third ball off. Climb back down the left ladder, but this time you only need to release Lara's grip to drop past the gap in the ladder.

Push the third ball onto the centre hollow, then watch what happens. The mechanism rises so the two shafts of light are intercepted and reflected into the alcove. This causes two stone panels high above to open, revealing a new passage. Climb the ladder on either side of the alcove, and go into the passage for a cutscene where Lara discovers another part of the broken sword of which Rutland had one piece.

After the cutscene Lara's back at the entrance to the high passage, having learned from Anaya that the bad guys are coming to get her - Lara has to make her way back out following the route she came in, but now she has some opposition. Turn right and jump to grab one of the ledges on the stone, vault up to the top, and go across to the edge nearest the ladder on the first statue with the broken ladders. Jump to this, climb to the top, and go across to the other side. From there jump to the pillar, then grab the ledge on the wall and shimmy left around the corner, side jump two gaps, shimmy a little further, and drop down onto the pillar over the deep pit. There's a rope hanging over the pit, and there are a couple of bad guys waiting for Lara on the other side of the pit where she came into this room. Ignore them for now as Lara will lose too much health trying to shoot them at this distance (even using the Assault Rifle), and they won't bother her yet if she leaves them alone.

Before going down and explaining the meaning of life to the mercenaries, there's a side trip to get the last Reward for this level. Jump to the rope, and turn slightly left to face the opposite wall. Climb up the rope a fair way until Lara is about level with the high narrow ledge running along the wall. Directly opposite the ledge is badly damaged, but a little to the left where there's a sort of pillar it's OK and she can grab it. Position Lara on the rope slightly below the level of the ledge and face the good section, then get a good swing up and jump to the ledge. Shimmy left, jump the gap, and continue until Lara's under a dark alcove. Vault up and go through to the right up the slope. Push the ball up there to the top edge of the slope and let go of it - it will roll down, smash the wall, then slowly roll out, bounce off the pillar and land on the floor. If it doesn't smash the wall try again, making sure the ball is at the top of the slope when letting it go so it has enough momentum to smash through.

Drop out of the broken wall opening onto the pillar, then jump to the low ledge beside the massive statue. Make your way down to the floor, and push the last ball across to the centre hollow, directly behind the central mechanism - the extra weight of both balls makes the mechanism rise further to expose the Gold Reward. Grab the goodie and retrace your steps up the centre ladder and around to the rope again, and this time swing to the pillar on the other side of the pit. Make your way down to the mercenaries, and when they're ex-mercs go back down the passage you came in. Lara only has to retrace her steps to get out, but she will have to fight her way out of here now the bad guys have arrived so be sure to grab any goodies they drop (you may need Lara's PLS to see some of them). At the bottom of the first slope is another merc, then continue down to the room below and use the manual aim to throw a Grenade through the hole in the wall to ruin the day for the three mercs in the next room. Jump through with guns blazing, then once they're down climb the rope the mercs left in place and swing into the passage at the top.

Continue through to the ladder and go through the broken bars at the top. Go to the left and climb up, and get the next merc waiting for Lara. Go to the rope further up the passage and climb up to the digsite, but be careful as there is a welcome party assembled for Lara. This is a bit tougher than the fight at the end of Bolivia, so you'll need to be very careful, especially when they throw grenades. Use the ruined hut for shelter when possible, but this puts many of the bad guys out of range so it is probably better just to keep moving and use the various rolls and jumps to avoid too much damage to Lara. At least you only get thrown back to the edge of the pit if Lara dies so there's not a lot to redo, and it could be good practice anyway! During the fight be sure to keep Lara's health up and grab any goodies possible - these bad guys seem to go on for ever, but at the end of the fight there'll be a short cutscene and a last merc appears above Lara near the Jeep. When he goes down the level ends and Lara talks to Anaya about Amanda's disappearance, and to Zip about her next challenge in Japan.

Rewards in this level - 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 8 Bronze

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Japan - Meeting with Takamoto

First posted 16 April 2006, updated 20 November 2006
Status - Completed & Checked

Objective - Lara is chasing another part of the sword, which is held by Takamoto in Japan. Takamoto is a Yakuza leader and has the loyalty of plenty of henchmen and little regard for the law, so this is not a simple matter of buying it. He doesn't want to relinquish it, so Lara's left with no choice...

Playing at Maximum 'Tomb Raider' Difficulty - As you'd expect, the gunmen you meet along the way are more difficult to deal with at this level, particularly in the small rooms. But one of the areas I found most tricky was the large office area with the giant TV screen, because the bad guys had some cover and were quite persistent. Most of the other parts, including the final apartment area, weren't too bad, but what was really tricky at this difficulty was the final battle with Takamoto. The reason is partly because his attacks were quite damaging on this difficulty level, and this was compounded by a lack of medipacks in the final few rooms, which were fairly damaging but without enough medipacks to get Lara's health maxed before the final battle. So I faced Takamoto with only two spare medipacks, and that made it extremely difficult - I made it through with just a whisker of health left, after many tries! To beat Takamoto you need to avoid the energy attacks with jumps or rolls as much as possible, but never stop shooting as every hit counts, even at longer range! To do some serious damage to Takamoto in this battle requires you to get close, but as soon as you do that you're exposing Lara to some serious damage herself, with the likelihood of a string of attacks that don't give Lara time to recover and get out of the way of the next attack. This boss battle can take some perseverance, and you need a good spatial awareness and good control skills. But it still seems that the Pistols are the better option unless you find enough ammo for the Shotgun...

Level - Lara is in a plush corridor, having just exited the elevator. As she's pretending to be a lady, at least for the moment, she won't run, so walk down the passage and down the stairs to the party in the atrium. Mingle if you like, then go to the bar and talk to the barman who'll send you down the passage to Nishimura's room. Open the door, after which Lara has a short talk to Nishimura during a cutscene. When you get Lara back, go down the passage towards the atrium for another cutscene where Lara faces Takamoto and his minions - the party guests all suddenly found the need to be elsewhere when the Yakuza came in! Lara dives behind the bar and 'changes' for the fun part of the evening - now you have weapons, dispose of all the Yakuza thugs, and be sure to pick up one of the heavier weapons they drop, and grab any ammo, grenades, and medipacks lying around. Then go down the passage to the left of the bar and use the elevator to get to the rooftop.

There's a bike in a locked room, and a helipad through a glass door down the passage. Head out there first, and check out the cityscape - it's quite spectacular, right down to traffic moving in the streets far below! Look around the roof to see what's what, and take special notice of the partially completed bridge and the shootable drum. Shoot the drum and it explodes, exposing a pipe up which Lara can climb. At the top jump to the right then climb up onto the roof. Go to the far side and climb on the container, and from there to the highest part of the building. Use manual aim with the Pistols to shoot the crate, and grab the first Bronze Reward. Drop down to the skylight and move it out of the way with the Grapple. Drop into the small room below, and go down the stairs to the room with the bike. Check this room for another two crates containing the second Bronze Reward and the first Silver Reward - to see the second crate move some cardboard boxes out of the way.

Get on the bike and head out through the now open door to the helipad area, and get ready for a jump across the partly completed bridge. Now for another interactive cutscene... Ride round to the right then gun the bike at the bridge. A cutscene comes in as Lara reaches the ramp, during which she needs to Grapple, Jump, then Crouch (to avoid the explosion) - these are tightly timed, and the onscreen prompts can be difficult to see with all that's happening in the background. When you get Lara back, drop down to the lower level of the scaffolding and go to the far end. Shoot the crate there for the third Bronze Reward, then retrace your steps back to the top level. Jump to the horizontal bar and swing to the top scaffold, but as this section isn't secured firmly Lara will have to do a running jump to the next scaffold to make it across. Go forward and use the Pistols on manual targetting to shoot out the ring holding the dangling payload to the rope, then jump to the rope and swing to the next scaffold. Go to the far end and use the Zipline to cross to the building opposite.

Go to the left and use the Grapple to pull the maintenance platform towards Lara. The next bit will be easier if you pull it several times to get a big swing up - pull it, then let go of the Action button momentarily as it swings away but don't release the Grapple, then start pulling again as it starts the swing back towards you, repeating as necessary. Once the platform is reaching Lara, release the Grapple and jump to grab the platform. As it swings to the far end there is an overhead Grapple point so quickly run forward and jump up, and use the Grapple again so that Lara's dangling from the corner of the building. Don't look down if you don't have a head for heights! Turn Lara to the right and swing to the first ledge on this side of the building and get ready for another platform jump or two, using a similar technique to the first one. From the second platform use the Grapple on the overhead point, then turn Lara right again and swing to the rooftop courtyard. Through this series of moves around the buildings there are several Checkpoints so if Lara has a slight accident you won't have to go far back.

Once on the courtyard you can see some guards and dogs, and if you're careful they won't notice Lara straight away. One thing you can do is target the lights around the courtyard as they explode with a few pistol shots, but be careful to keep distance from them when they do. This may take out some enemies, leaving less for Lara to deal with. Once they're down go to the doorway in the corner and head through. First go down the stairs on the right and smash the crate down there for the fourth Bronze Reward. Then head up the stairs several flights to the dark top section and look for the gap in the railing. Walk out onto the pipes and use the ledge on the left wall to shimmy along as far as you can go, then backjump to the pipework. Walk carefully around the pipes and smash another crate for the second Silver Reward. Jump back to the narrow ledge, drop down to the lower ledge, and from there to the floor.

Now head to the door at the end of the passage and go through. Stay quiet here, crouch down, and use the cube farm for cover while you check out the room and locate the Yakuza in here. Try using a Grenade or two on manual aim to soften them up, then finish them off while staying behind cover as much as possible. Do a tour of the room, and collect any medipacks, ammo, and grenades you can find. Then go to the back left corner (as seen from the entrance door) and look for a crate. Use manual targetting to smash it to find the fifth Bronze Reward. Next go to the raised floor area to the right as you came in and check the cupboards on the back wall for the third Silver Reward.

Now to get out of here. From the raised floor area use the Binoculars on RAD mode to check the room out. You'll see that the large monitor on the far wall is moveable, so head that way and use the Grapple to pull it out as far as it can go. It can't be pulled further, so something must be holding it. Use the Pistols on manual targetting to shoot out the two clips holding it at the top corners, and it falls over the cubicles to expose two more Yakuza. Climb on the nearest desk and stand on a monitor to shoot them from a safer distance, then climb through to the passage behind, open the exit door, and head outside.

When Lara goes through the door a flyby shows the route she has to take next. Yes, all the way up there! First climb the pole by the wall and jump to grab the frame of the air conditioner on the corner. Shimmy around and climb up onto the platform. Look left to see a Grapple point up behind the first display panel, so use the Grapple to pull the display around and give Lara a platform to jump to. Cross to the other side, jump to the next platform and climb the ladder. Do the Grapple thing with the next sign and jump to the bar, then swing to the platform. Go across to the far side and climb the pole you find. At the top jump to the nearby platform and then to the next pole and climb to the top, then jump to the horizontal bar on the next sign, holding on while the third sign swings around. Once it stops moving jump back to the pole, climb further, and jump to the platform behind the third sign. Go across this platform, and before it swivels and dumps Lara, jump quickly to the safety of the next platform. Climb the next pole quickly as it starts to break away under Lara's weight, then at the top jump back to the dark horizontal bar. This also starts breaking away so you have to quickly swing across the series of bars to reach the safety of the balcony at the other side. Go though the door to the next Checkpoint and save your game. Phew!!!

But it's just about to get busy. Down the stairs ahead of Lara are some more Yakuza, as well as more around to her right. The large chandelier down the stairs is shootable and could catch a Yakuza or two by surprise. These guys can also be shaken and stirred with a well aimed grenade, but it's not a good idea to actually go down into that room just yet. Instead, after giving them something to think about, go to the right and follow the passage to get a couple of Yakuza on the balcony, then despatch the rest at your leisure (the ones on the balcony are tricky to shoot from down below). Before leaving the balcony use the trusty Pistols on the crate for the sixth Bronze Reward, then head down to the main room. Look for the small room to the left at the bottom of the stairs and open the cupboards to find the fourth Silver Reward, then go to the glass doors and through to the next part. Don't go near the passage down to the right yet, rather go into the room on the left.

There are a couple of things Lara can do in here. Firstly go to the far end of the room and press the fire switch. This triggers the sprinklers in the passage outside and lights up the laser detectors, which are linked to the machine gun on the end wall. The gun fires when the lasers are tripped which makes it rather difficult to get down there unscathed, although it should be possible with some well timed rolls. The other switch activates three security cameras to show you other rooms in the building. Now to get through the passage. There is a large ball on a stand outside, and Lara can pull this onto the floor. Stay behind it and roll it down the passage so it shields Lara from the gunfire, and push it well past the last set of lasers. Wait for a few moments and the gun will stop firing now that the lasers aren't being triggered, so Lara can let go and continue on. Go to the left, around the corner, to the door in the left wall in the passage. Enter the room with the dragon hanging from the ceiling, to hear a conversation with Takamoto. Then get the gunmen who come after Lara - this room is a bit tricky and a grenade wouldn't go amiss if you feel like throwing one.

Once the room is quiet again, go to the rear of the dragon and use the Grapple to pull it back. Release it and it smashes through the window for you, then quickly get another two Yakuza waiting in the passage above. Lara can now climb onto the small cupboard and vault up into the passage. Go to the right into the small room with the guns, which may come in handy for the next sequence if you don't have an Assault Rifle with you. But in the meantime grab hold of the red chest and drag it out of the room and down the passage to where Lara pulled up. Push it over the edge so it smashes on the floor below, then drop down and grab the Gold Reward. Climb back up and compose yourself as the most difficult fight so far is about to happen! This requires a good selection of weapon, and the Shotgun could be the most useful (although I did it with the Assault Rifle and Pistols, and Lara just managed to survive. Just...) When you decide on a weapon make sure you've stocked up with as much ammo and medipacks as you can find, then go to the elevator in the high passage and press the button. When it arrives go in for a cutscene showing Lara reaching Takamoto's hideout - I hope you've been making sure your health is always maxed out, 'cause you're going to need it!

Takamoto reads Lara his version of the Riot Act, and he doesn't seem to be at all willing to hand over his piece of the sword! Foolish man! This room is very dangerous on the ground floor due to automatic machine guns on the walls, so the first thing to do is climb one of the poles behind the statues, and backflip onto the catwalk above. If Lara gets knocked off the catwalk, get back up to it as fast as possible to avoid excessive injuries! You need to keep moving to avoid Takamoto's energy attacks from the sword fragment, and combine movement with jumps over the low level attacks, and rolls under the high ones, but try not to fall off the catwalk while you're doing it. Grenades are a waste of time here as he moves too fast and they're more likely to get Lara than Takamoto, and Lara's attacks work better if you try to get close to Takamoto, despite the damage he can do to Lara. You'll probably need to try this a few times, but once you get the hang of it it's not as bad as it first looks. Keep an eye on Lara's health, and also on Takamoto's health which is displayed at the top right of the screen.

Eventually Takamoto goes down and Lara claims her prize. Nishimura arrives in a chopper to rescue Lara, and the guys tell her that her next port of call is West Africa.

Rewards in this level - 1 Gold, 4 Silver, 6 Bronze

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Ghana - Pursuing James Rutland

First posted 17 April 2006, updated 6 June 2006
Status - Completed & Checked

Objective - Find Rutland and 'persuade' him to hand the sword piece over to Lara.

Playing at Maximum 'Tomb Raider' Difficulty - Strange as it may seem, at maximum difficulty this level wasn't so bad until I reached the deep ravine near the end, where you have to fight a bunch of gunmen to allow Lara to enter the final rooms. This was a very challenging battle, especially as once the bridges are down you have to take out several gunmen at long range, and they don't go down that easily! It may be better in this case to not kick any barrels over the edge of the waterfall, which would then allow you to use the bridges to get up close and personal with the gunmen across the ravine. But that still wouldn't be easy. Oddly, the final battle with Rutland was a piece of cake compared to the ravine outside, and I got him well before I'd destroyed all his 'recharging points', at the loss of only a little health. But then in that battle circling Rutland with sidejumps is a very effective defence, and keeping close can be very bad for his health at little risk to Lara's, especially if you can destroy a recharge point or two while he's actually standing on them...

Level - Lara starts Ghana by arriving on her trusty steed, parking it, and sliding down into the jungle. Looks like Lara has a sponsorship contract with Ducati, this is the third ;-) Lara finds out from the guys that she's not the first of her family to be here...

Lara's facing a jungle track, so it looks like there's only one thing to do! Head down the track and check out the spectacular waterfalls, then check out the island directly below. There's a mechanism on the island Lara needs to operate, but first things first. Walk back a little, then turn and run at the edge to do a swan dive into the water below. While you're in the water dive down and find the first and second Bronze Rewards which are deep down to the left and right side of the large pool. Watch Lara's air supply here as the strong currents slow her down, and use the fast swim to reach them. This is also a good place to check out Lara's crawl on the surface (swimming stroke, that is...) Both these fast swimming actions are activated by tapping Action in time with her swimming.

Climb out on the island and check out the mechanism. You'll notice that there's a shimmering spot on the top of the vertical slab, and that it's pivoted at the base. But using the Grapple won't do anything yet, and that's because it needs to be unlocked. To do that, climb the ledges and jump to the rope - Lara's weight causes the locking mechanism to disengage. This is only temporary though and if Lara drops off the rope the lock moves back into place, but not immediately.

There are at least two ways to drop the slab. While Lara's hanging from the rope you can swing towards the slab and jump at the top edge. This will cause the slab to pivot and drop, also diverting the waterfall and exposing a set of ruins with an entrance at the base of the cliff. Another way is to drop from the rope when the mechanism is unlocked, then quickly use the Grapple to pivot the slab before the locks re-engage. I personally prefer jumping to it, and there may be other ways to do it as well if you want to experiment. Before heading down the newly opened passage, swim down under the bridge and look for the deep underwater cave at the base of the island. Inside the cave you'll find the first Silver Reward. Swim back up to the island, go across the bridge, and go down the passage to the pool of water - the current in it is too strong for Lara to swim across, and the ropes are too far away to jump to, but of course there's a simple way to do it.

Use the Grapple to pull the raft at the far end right up to this end, then use the raft to jump to the rope. Swing to the next rope, then to the far end, and continue on. Watch out for a gunman in the passage, and be careful as he may throw a grenade. Continue on and jump over the trap which won't hurt Lara as it ain't working, then continue to the next set of traps and a pressure plate. Standing on the pressure plate opens the door at the far end, and Lara has to get through before it closes. Do this with a jump over the first trap, dodge between the next, and roll under the last, then quickly roll under the door before it closes and stay crouched by holding the Roll button down. Crouch-Walk directly forward so Lara's behind the pile of crates where she can stand up and you can take a good look around without being seen.

In this room there are a large number of gunmen, one of whom is manning a large machine gun which can be very damaging. Try to keep under cover, and start by targetting an explosive object under the rock ledge near the machine gun. When this explodes it smashes part of the ledge, and then Lara will need to dodge around to get the rest of the gunmen. It's a little tricky, but it's a good idea to try to get the machine gunner as soon as possible if he's still active as he can do a lot of damage. Grenades should come in handy for the guys below. This can be done with the Pistols only if you want the hard way, or even better, try to get to the machine gun quickly and use that!

Once the room is quiet grab the third Bronze Reward in the corner on the top ledge near the machine gun then check the room out. At each side there is a circular mechanism, one not working and the other apparently jammed by a fallen pillar - these are both waterwheels and they need to be activated before Lara can proceed. The first one is easy - go to the machine gun and shoot at the carved pillar on the left of the wheel with the water flowing over it. Or use the rope to swing to it so Lara knocks it over. This pillar falls and unjams the wheel, which starts turning. Go to the pedestal the pillar was on (or use the rope) and jump to one of the bars on the waterwheel as it goes past Lara. When this bar has swung to the other side, but before it goes too high, jump to the nearby rope. From there Lara can reach the high ledge in the corner.

Use the Grapple to pull the hanging platform down next to the ledge Lara's on, climb on it, and use the Grapple on the small pillar on the ledge at the other side of the room to pull the platform to the far end. The doorway on the left leads to a trap passage Lara needs to use, but the traps are jammed and stop Lara from passing. To get them working requires water to be diverted to the second waterwheel, and for that we need to do some climbing. From the ledge jump to the rope, then to the top bar on the second waterwheel. Swing to the top bar on the other side, then to the ladder on the wall ahead. Climb to the top of the ladder, go to the next ladder, and climb to the top. Side jump to the ledge on the left, vault to the higher ledge, and go around the corner to the left. When Lara is below the next ladder vault up to it and climb to the top.

Go forward, but before dropping down into the next room shoot the Leopard (no, it's not a Jaguar, this is Africa...), then drop down, go to the right and climb the broken staircase. Go around to the right to the other side and grab the fourth Bronze Reward, then climb onto the rock ledge. Jump to the hanging block, which slowly lowers, go forward and jump to the next block when it is at least the same level as the first block, then run and jump to the ladder at the other end and climb to the top. Go to the far end of this ledge for a flyby which shows Lara's route. At the other end of the ledge jump to the crack in the wall, shimmy around the corner and drop down to the crack below. Jump to the crack to the left, then drop down the cracks to the floor below.

Lara is now down at water level, and before playing with the raft there's a side trip to do. Jump in the water, swim through the gap in the wall on the left, and head across to the rear left corner of the next pool. Climb out, go up to the right, and grab the second Silver Reward. Drop back into the water, swim back to the raft and climb on board. Use the Grapple to pull the raft out next to the gap in the wall, then when it floats through to the other side use the Grapple again to pull it close to the ledge on the other side and jump to the ledge. If you fall off, the raft should float to the end of this pool so you can climb on it and either use the Grapple or jump to the ledge again.

Above Lara are a couple more large suspended blocks which work the same way as the two previous blocks, but travel further. To reach the first one go to the ladder to the left and climb up far enough so Lara can backflip to the first block. Go to the far end of the block and when the second block is high enough jump to it, then run to the far end and jump to the ledge. Go to the other side of the ledge and grab the fifth Bronze Reward, then do a Grapple jump to the next ledge.

Jump to the crack in the wall ahead, shimmy around the corner, then drop to the crack below. Shimmy around the next corner and vault to the crack above. Jump backwards and grab the next crack on the side wall, drop to the crack below, then go to the right and jump the gap to the next crack. Vault to the crack above, then go right and jump to the platform.

Now check out the next puzzle which consists of two pressure pads - one on either side of the room - a central mechanism, and two intermediate ledges. Firstly step on the pressure pad on the first platform to dislodge the large block by swivelling the first intermediate ledge, then jump across to the centre mechanism once the ledge has returned to its starting position. This has a Grapple point in the centre which can be pulled outwards, and there are two hinged clips above on either side that lock the two arms in position. If you test the pressure pads you'll notice that each clip swings out by stepping on a pressure pad, then slowly returns to the locked position as the intermediate ledges swivel back, but you can't do both at the same time. Jump to the platform on the other side, and pull the block onto the second pressure pad. That's one you don't have to bother with any more!

Return to the far side. Stand on the pressure pad for several seconds until the swivelling ledge stops moving and the clip is fully open. Then time a quick jump to the swivelling ledge (even if it's at a steep angle, just keep Lara moving forward so she doesn't slide down) and do a running jump off the far side to the centre platform. Quickly get the Grapple on to the centre mechanism and pull it out (Lara needs to be standing in front of it to pull it out properly), and if you are fast enough the two arms will swing down either side of Lara and release the water in the holding tank below to flow down to the second waterwheel. If you fall off the swivelling ledge you can use the large block dislodged earlier to reach a crack in the side wall, from where Lara can vault up and get back to the pressure pad ledge without having to retrace her steps all around the room - nice touch!

Now to retrace your steps back down to the waterwheel room. Go to the outside edge of this platform and jump down into the tank which is now full of water (it's where you came across the pussy cat before). Swim to the passage below the platform you were just on, go through it, and climb down the ladder. At the bottom drop to grab the ledge, shimmy right around the corner, drop to the ledge below, go right and jump to the ladder. Climb down to the floor, and go across to the next ladder where the water is falling. Climb down to the floor of the waterwheel room, and use the bars on the second waterwheel to jump to the rope, and from there to the ledge leading to the passage with the traps, which are now working.

This passage has a series of more or less classic TR traps, so what are you waiting for? Firstly time a quick run between each set of spears as they retract - it helps to move the camera above Lara so you can judge distances better. Once past the spears, the next trap is two sets, high and low, of whirling blades running up and down the passage in slots on either side, hence four separate blades. Now these things look very nasty! It's probably possible to jump over and roll under these, but there's a better way. Grab the block on the left and push it down the centre of the passage to interrupt the blades. They won't necessarily all be stopped, but some should be, clearing the way for Lara to proceed. Climb over the block and head down the safe part of the passage, but be sure to stay away from the blades even when they're jammed as they can cause Lara a lot of damage. Go up the stairs to the next set of blades - there's another block embedded in the wall on the right you can use to jam them. Once past, continue on, then go down the next stairs.

As Lara approaches the next traps a rumbling starts, and guess what, it's a rolling ball that fills the passage! Oh how I miss them ;-) The moment you get control of Lara again, start running and jump over the right side of the first trap, then veer left and roll under the left side of the second set. Continue running down the passage and jump the pit. If Lara is still alive a cutscene takes over where she runs out of the passage to the right and the ball falls down into the water, smashing into some rocks as it goes.

When you get Lara back, if you look around you may realise that this deep valley is actually where you started the level. If you like you can dive down for a swim, and Lara can get back up using a series of ledges along the cliff to the left. When the boulder fell it broke off some rocks, and now they're broken you can get up here - before you couldn't.

Nearby is a horizontal bar, but before jumping to it there's a short side trip again. Turn around and go to the ladder on the other side of the ledge, and climb down to the bottom for the third Silver Reward. Climb back up and go back to the other side and get ready for an interesting series of manoeuvres. Jump to the bar, then to the ledge on the rock ahead. Go around the corner to the left and vault up to the ledge above. Shimmy to the left again, around the corner, and jump back to grab the next ledge. As you do this you'll notice some dirt falling from directly above, and this signals trouble. Vault to the next ledge above, which dislodges a rock above Lara, so quickly jump backwards to grab the bar behind Lara and avoid the rock.Swing to the next bar, then to the ledge. There's a checkpoint on this ledge so when you reach it save here if you want a break.

Jump to the suspended cage and wait as it lowers, then jump to the wide ledge ahead. Go across to the other side and jump to the other suspended cage, and from there to the next wide ledge. Jump to the horizontal bar nearby, then to the splintered masonry outcrop and shimmy to the left around the corner. Vault up to the ledge above, then quickly side jump right to the next bar to avoid another falling rock. Swing to the next bar along, turn around, and swing to the high bar, then to the ledge, quickly shimmying to the left around the corner before yet another rock falls and hits Lara. Vault up to the next ledge, shimmy around the corner to the left, and back jump to the platform. Head through the doorway to another Checkpoint.

Down this passage you need to watch out for some wide spike pits, and then you'll start encountering Rutland's gunmen. When you reach the staircase turn on Lara's PLS, and at the first spike pit use the Grapple to get across - be careful if you lower Lara down the rope here before swinging as she can damage herself on the spikes in the pit if you drop her too far. Even with the PLS it's very dark and hard to see the far side, but two good swings should be enough. The second spike pit is soon after, but the light is better so it's easy to cross. Go carefully around the corner as there are some of Rutland's gunmen guarding the passage. You could pick them off one by one from the corner, but it's quicker to run towards the bridge they're standing on and throw a grenade onto the bridge, then retreat. The grenade will probably blow the bridge up (not always though) - the guards on it won't bother you any more even if it doesn't - or you could also use the alternative targetting to shoot a section of rock in the ceiling above the bridge, which will take everything with it when it falls. There will be one or two more gunmen to deal with from a distance (one more comes to investigate, so wait for him) but using manual mode with the Pistols while standing behind the box for a little cover should be enough. Use the Grapple to swing across if the bridge is no longer there, and be sure to replenish your supplies with anything lying around on the other side before continuing down the passage to the waterfall area as a big fight is coming up.

Now for a very sneaky goodie - at a close examination this does certainly look a little suspicious, but it's not obvious. If you look to the right wall of the gorge, you can see a ledge with a carved stone panel at the back. If you use the Binoculars in RAD mode they don't register anything, but zoom right in and look carefully. Yes, it's possible to see cracks in the stone panel! Now look to the right side of that ledge and there's a crack in the rock which is roughly level with the crack opposite the two bars on the right. Yes, it certainly looks suspicious!

On the right is a horizontal bar so jump to it, then to the next, and from there to the crack in the wall ahead. Now move to the left, and do a side jump to the crack by the stone panel. Drop to the ledge and have a look at the panel. Try kicking it, nothing. Nor does anything happen when you shoot it. There are only two ways to do this, and the second requires some backtracking so probably isn't worth doing unless you don't have any grenades. Stand Lara close to the outer edge of the ledge facing the carved panel, throw a grenade at it, and immediately make Lara fall off the ledge and dangle while the explosion goes off. Pull back up and go into the cave for the fourth Silver Reward, then go back to the crack and side jump back to the first one.

Vault up to the crack above, and shimmy around the corner to the left. Vault up two more cracks, shimmy around the corner to the right, vault up to another crack, then jump backwards to the bar. Swing to the next bar, then to the flat ground ahead, and crouch down. Keep away from the river as it will sweep Lara over the falls! Out over the waterfall are a bunch of gunmen who're going to make life difficult for a few minutes. One of them even has a Grenade Launcher so it's good idea to stay clear of him - he is the one dressed differently to all the others! There are two ways to handle this area. You could cross the metal bridge nearby and head down the path on the other side to take them on one by one, close up and personal, but the risk is that they will come across to get Lara and may overwhelm her. And you need to keep your health up for the boss battle to come shortly... Or you could do it the easy way, in which case read on.

First, kick one of the nearby barrels into the river so it goes over the waterfall and explodes - this not only gets rid of the bridges and some bad guys, it also smashes that carved panel just below if you'd run out of grenades. Go carefully across the metal bridge up here and stay away from the rock wall on the other side as there's a gunman down to the right hidden at the moment. Get rid of the barrels on this side if you like, then drop down into the lower section near the side wall and blow away the gunman there. It's possible to pull a barrel away from the river with the Grapple, then go around and kick it into the lower section by the wall. Another kick can get it rolling towards that first bad guy and Lara can blow it up with the Pistols on manual targetting. Bit fussy though, so probably not worth bothering with, especially as if the bad guy shoots it Lara gets blown up if she's too close!

This is a good place to stay under cover as by now the bridges are gone so the bad guys won't be coming across! First get the guy you can see on the ledge against the back wall of this ravine, then sneak out and take potshots in manual targetting mode at the rest one at a time. This will take some time, so you could use the Assault Rifle if you have it, but even so it will probably mean running a little way down this side ledge to get them into range. As long as Lara keeps moving it shouldn't be too damaging though. Having got rid of some by blowing the bridges, there aren't too many left now, so it's not all that difficult as long as no grenades reach you.

You can reach the far side with the ropes dangling around, so check all around the area and grab any supplies you can find, particularly medipacks as Lara could be a bit short of health by now and you'll need as much as possible. There should be a Grenade Launcher on the far side but there doesn't seem to be very much ammo for it so it's probably best left alone. And don't forget to go back to that ledge above for the goodie if you didn't get it on the way down! When you're ready, carefully head into the passage on the ledge all the bad guys were on and get the Leopard that is in the next room, backing out of the passage if it gets too close - you don't want Lara coming to any more harm here as there aren't any more medipacks! Take note of the large carved doors directly ahead at ground level between the stairs - there's something behind there, but what? Also note the position of the rope as it's needed shortly when there won't be time to look around.

Climb up onto the left stairs and quickly jump to the rope as a couple of large balls come a-rollin' down. Swing to the opposite stairs and beware of another ball, then go to the top. The door is closed and there's a pressure pad on the floor. Step on the pressure pad to see the door open, albeit slowly so Lara needs to stand there for a few seconds. But this pressure pad also opens the door underneath where Lara's now standing so head down the stairs for the Gold Reward before that door closes. Make your way back up, open the door fully again, then run forward and roll under it before it closes to reach the final room and a Checkpoint.

You're now locked in a room with Rutland, who has the piece of the sword that Lara wants. He also has a good supply of grenades and he's not afraid to use them! He will spend most of his time down on the floor attacking Lara with either the sword or grenades, so to reduce the damage to Lara you need to keep moving, and don't let him get too close, although not too far either. I found that circling around him where possible, and also using side jumps (rather than rolls as they interrupt Lara's shooting too much), while blazing away constantly with the Pistols, was quite effective. By circling you avoid the grenades he throws, and as they are the most damaging this helps Lara a lot! If you get too close to him, especially if you manage to get Lara trapped between him and a wall, he can do some serious damage with the sword fragment with a series of effective attacks. I didn't find the Assault Rifle or Grenades to be much help here so you'll probably do just as well to stick with the Pistols.

Periodically Rutland jumps to a high ledge to fix his health on one of the four structures up there, but you'll probably notice that there is a targetting point on each of these. While he's recharging you can shoot these out one by one, which exposes a Grapple point on each. Once these are exposed, if Lara Grapples and pulls them she can destroy them and rob Rutland of his security blankets, thus making him vulnerable. This fight is a bit tricky and will probably require some practice before you get him, but as long as Lara keeps moving and doesn't get too close it's not so difficult. Keep your eye on Rutland's health gauge on the top right of the screen to see how much damage you're doing.

When the fight ends and Rutland goes down, Lara takes the sword fragment. She hears from the guys back home that her next destination is Kazakhstan, so that's where we're off to next!

Rewards in this level - 1 Gold, 4 Silver, 5 Bronze

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Kazakhstan - Project Carbonek

First posted 18 April 2006, updated 6 June 2006
Status - Completed & Checked

Objective - Lara is now after the next piece of the sword. She is starting to have suspicions that Amanda did in fact survive, and is not up to a lot of good.

Playing at Maximum 'Tomb Raider' Difficulty - In the first battle after Lara base-jumps down to the facility, instead of using the machine gun on the roof where Lara is vulnerable, try dropping off the back of the roof and going along to the end of the back wall farthest from the rail tracks and take the gunmen on with Pistols only from that end of the large compound. This can work well, at little loss of health, as long as you make sure to target all the explosive objects as soon as possible to reduce the number of gunmen. And there may be less gunmen to deal with that way. In the second compound in Pt.1 try sliding down the boards to the nearby rooftop rather than using the zipline as Lara is less exposed on the roof. From here you can still target some explosive objects to make it easier. In