MERCHANT CENTER

Level by Mateusz Stawarski (Ext)

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth

After a brief opening flyby, draw your pistols and enter the first office on your right. Shoot the dog, then go around the L-shaped desk for a small medi-pack. Hop over the desk, exit this room and cross the hall into the facing room. Shoot the dog in there as well, then vault up onto the desk for the UZIS and a stash of uzi ammo. Exit this room and turn left in the main hall. An SAS will come around from behind the central pillar, so kill him before he has a chance to open fire.

Enter the north room opposite the central pillar and throw the wall switch to open the door to the opposite south room. There's nothing to do in the west room (but note for later the closed trap door in the ceiling) unless you just want to take a dip in the fountain pool, so go around the central pillar and enter the south room. This place needs some major restoration. In fact, it's on fire in certain spots. As you walk about you cause debris to fall from the ceiling and start more fires, so move quickly to the ladder in the SW corner and climb up. When Lara's feet reach the last horizontal rung, back flip to a ledge, and the nearby door will open automatically.

Enter the second-story area and the door closes behind you. There's a small office on your right. Enter and vault up onto the table. Face the south wall, standing one block away from it, and jump up to grab the overhead trap door. Turn around in place and jump up to grab the duct, then pull up inside for some uzi ammo. Go back down and exit this room. Turn right and you'll see two closed doors, one straight ahead and the other ahead and to your right, and an open hallway ahead and to your left. Go down the hallway and alert an SAS in the next room. Kill him and shoot the boxes in the SW and NW corners if you like (they're empty), then push the shelves against the west wall to either side to reveal a grated crawl space.

Shatter the grate with a pistol shot, then crawl inside and come up to a crouch (hit the space bar) near the other end. Draw your pistols and shoot the second grate, then enter a small office. The crate in the SW corner is empty. Pull the shelves from the NW corner and pull the wall switch behind it. Go back through the crawl space to find the east door across the hall is now open. You can see a wall switch on the east wall, but beware. It's guarded by a sentry gun stationed to your left inside the room. Get as far to the right as you can and sprint across to the east wall. Throw the wall switch, reverse roll and sprint past the sentry gun into the hallway.

The north door to your right is now open, so go inside the metallic room and locate the ladder. Climb up into an upper room. Cross to the other side, and the door to your left opens as you approach. Go inside and the door slams shut behind you. There's a closed door at the end of the SE alcove, but there's a grate you can shoot in the west wall. Do so and crawl inside. Shoot out the grate at the other end and stand up in another office. Pick up the SHOTGUN and some shotgun ammo from the desk, then throw the switch in the south wall. Crawl back to the previous room, where a dog charges out from the now-open doorway in the SE alcove. After killing it, go into a bare office. Open the door in the west wall as foreboding music plays.

Pull up onto the marble plant stand to your right for some uzi ammo, then vault up onto the long table and run to the other side as you get a near overhead camera angle. Stop one block from the west wall, jump up and grab the ceiling trap door. Turn around in place, jump up to grab the wire flooring and crawl into a small room with a pole. When you stand up you'll activate a flame blower, so it'd be a good idea to save your game here. Facing west, climb the pole, wait for the flames to subside above you, then quickly climb even higher and back flip into the passage. Turn around, run into the passage and allow Lara to slide down the long slope to your left.

Enter a room that's a lot more dangerous than it appears to be at first glance. There are crates stacked on either side, and in front of you is a burner wall. What's worse, and what you can't see from here, are the two sentry guns stationed on the other side of the burner wall. No matter what you do, this next part is going to hurt, so make sure Lara is at full health. Jump up and shoot the crate stacked on top of the crate to your left. Climb up onto it and pick up the shotgun ammo. Turn and jump up to shoot the higher crate to the east. Take a standing jump and grab to it and pull up. Pick up the REVOLVER and the LASER SIGHT (my, how convenient) and combine them. Look down over the burner wall and you can see the two sentry guns on either side. However, you can't draw a bead on their gas canisters so you can blow them up. However, there's a grate in the north wall that you can shatter with your combined weaponry, so do that now. Hold your breath and take a running jump and grab to the rope between you and the north wall. While the sentry guns are blazing away, quickly slide to the bottom of the rope, turn Lara slightly to the right, swing forward and jump off to land inside the north passage before the sentry guns can set you aflame.

There's a closed door ahead in the north wall, so turn to your left and enter another office. There's a dead soldier inside, and you can pull him away from his resting spot, but his body doesn't appear to be hiding anything useful. Step on the two gray floor tiles to open the door you saw just now. Go to the open doorway and run up the winding stairs. Turn right into the passage and go to a room with a Jeep parked on a block. Shoot the dog and the SAS, then climb up onto the SE plant block and throw the wall switch to open the door to the south office.

Enter the office and pick up the shotgun ammo and the revolver ammo on the other side of the table. Then go out and open the door to the north office. Climb up onto the table inside, face east one block away from the east end of the table, and jump up to grab the overhead trap door. Turn around in place and jump up to grab the wire flooring. Pull up and run forward into the next room. Don't continue past the closed door to your right, as another sentry gun lies in wait ahead to your left. Open the door and throw the wall switch just inside to your right to open a trap door.

Go back out and make a quick hairpin turn around the block to your right. Then climb up onto the NW plant block, out of range of the sentry gun's fire. Pull up to the top, then run straight across and jump down to the other side. Climb up onto the purple block to your left (don't venture beyond it, or the sentry gun will toast you with its short-range flamer). Turn around in place and take a standing jump and grab to the crawl space in the north wall. Pull up into the crawl space, crawl to the other end, shoot the grate and enter a larger office. Go to the shelf ahead and pull it back to reveal some uzi ammo. There's a door in the south wall for which you need a key, so shoot the grate in the north wall and enter the passage.

Throw the wall switch to your right, whereupon the trap door underneath you opens, dropping you down into a room guarded by three sentry guns and the same number of SAS. Drop down to a crouch immediately upon landing, then turn around and crawl west down the hall, using the long ledge for cover. The closed door at the other end opens as you approach, so at the last moment rise to your feet and dash ahead to apparent safety. I say apparent, because there's a dog lurking in the alcove just inside and to your left. Dispose of it, then you have the choice either of proceeding or going back to eliminate the sentry guns and SAS.

If you opt for killing, use your combined revolver and laser sight from the safety of your present position to take out the sentry gun farthest away from you (which should be aimed toward the east and therefore vulnerable). Then run out into the hall to draw the attention of the remaining pair of sentry guns, then immediately crouch and crawl to the east end of the hall. Both sentry guns should be pointed away from you, so blow them both up and then turn your attention to the trio of SAS. After you've enjoyed the satisfaction of cleaning out Dodge City, continue down the west passage (as there are no pickups in the area guarded by the SAS and sentry guns).

Run past the throbbing lights and turn left. You then come to a mini-maze with a closed door just ahead. Turn to your right just in front of the door and shoot the dog that charges at you from out of the darkness ahead. Light a flare and locate the wall switch to your right. Throw it to open the door you just passed. However, before going there locate the hole near the north wall of this area and hop down for a large medi-pack. Now proceed through the south doorway you just opened.

Kill the SAS inside and pick up the SHOPS KEYS he drops. Shoot the top crate in the NE corner and climb up onto the lower crate to pick up the shotgun ammo. Nothing more to do here, and it appears at first that you may be stuck. But remember that closed door requiring a key that you saw earlier. You've got the keys; now you need to find a way to get back up there. Return to the room formerly guarded by the SAS and sentry guns. There's a passage to the east where you first dropped down. Follow it around until you reach a short ramp. Draw your pistols and jump up to shoot out the grate. Pull up into the room with the closed door and the keyhole. (Yes, you could have gone down this way the first time, but you would have encountered a closed door at the end of the passage, obligating you to go back and throw the wall switch.)

Use the Shops Keys in the keyhole and the nearby door opens. Run down the south passage and come to an opening that overlooks a strange room. The fires down below and the dead soldier provide solid evidence that it's quite dangerous to try to walk on the floor of this room. Don't try it; take my word for it, you'll die. However, it's quite easy to hop around to the right, using the safe blocks, until you're in a position to jump into the south opening (where the floor is safe). Enjoy the brief flyby, then go inside and try to ignore the SAS barbecue to your left. Shoot the dog that comes out of the darkness to your right, then enter the small room to the east and pick up the crossbow arrows as well as an extra laser sight. Shoot the large crate in the NE corner and pick up the CROSSBOW that it was hiding. Use the combined revolver or crossbow with the laser sight and shoot the red protrusion on the fuse box hanging on the wall near the SW corner. The door to your left opens, so pick up the flares just inside and continue into a dark room with a closed door in one wall and a wall switch and a keyhole in the opposite wall.

Throw the wall switch to open a door in the area ahead, pick up the small medi-pack in front of the keyhole, and use the Shops Keys a second time to open the door behind you. Step up onto the ramp, and you can look down and see a burner tile just ahead. Don't try to jump over it, but instead jump straight up and grab the monkey bars. Swing across the deadly flames and turn right at the intersection. Release and drop down to the passage below as thunder crackles all around you. Step forward to the threshold of the dark room ahead, and a brief flyby takes you through part of it (another SAS barbecue, those things must be popular here). The most important part, however, is the room to your right where an ahmet lurks. Hop forward to draw its attention, then immediately hop back while drawing your revolver. After killing it, hop over its carcass into the next room and go inside its lair to your right. Throw the wall switch to open the east door.

Go to the next room and shoot the demigod holding court on the block beside the fountain, then vault up onto the block and pick up the crossbow arrows. Shoot the red protuberance on the fuse box in the north wall to open the east door. Enter to find yourself in a corridor blocked by flaming tiles. To get across, pull up on either of the sloped ledges, backflip to the opposite slopes, slide down slightly and jump off toward the first slope, using your arrow key to bring you closer to the south end. Continue in this manner until you slide down onto the tile marked with a large X. This turns off the flames underneath the wall switch in the corridor, so take a standing jump north and throw the wall switch to open the south door.

Take a standing jump back over the flames to the X-tile and step forward into the passage. The door to your right opens automatically, so go into a small room and stand on the X-tile here to open the next door. There's another dead soldier on the block in this room, but at least he's not being barbecued. Shoot the giant bug that flies out from your right, then climb up onto the SW block for a small medi-pack. There are two wall switches, a keyhole and two closed doors in this room. Your keys don't work, so throw the lower wall switch to open the south door. (The function of the upper wall switch never became apparent to me, unless it opens a timed door elsewhere.) Follow the winding passage into a room with white structures and a giant scorpion. Shoot the scorpion and pick up the VENTILATION KEY near the west wall. Another dead SAS is draped atop the central block. Nothing you can do for him, so return to the previous room and use the Ventilation Key to open the north door.

Climb up onto the ledge and drop down an extremely steep shaft into a pool you've seen before. Climb out quickly and shoot the two SAS who are waiting on you. After you've killed them there's nothing else to do here, so run back to the exact spot where you began this level and you'll hit the exit trigger.