BtB 2006 - Level 15 - A New Mission for Lara
Level by Mikki (Michele Flena)
Walkthrough by Selene
Background Story:
A rich American entrepreneur would like to get back the inestimable blue crystal that has been stolen by a powerful group of people and after having discovered that it has been hidden in an unknown place in the South East, she contacts her trusted friend Lara. This therefore is a new challenge for Lara - to recover the prestigious diamond and to overcome the numerous traps and to resolve the complicated puzzles... Will she succeed?
*There are no secrets to be found in this level*
Pickups: 2x Eye of Horus, large medipacks, revolver ammo, lasersight, small medipacks, revolver, 4 Yin Yang symbols (Load), the Hand of Orion
Enemies: Ninjas and snakes
Welcome to Honshu Island:
Lara starts her quest dropping down from a waterfall and into a pool below, the place being a village on the Island of Honshu, Japan. First of all take note of the two underwater openings in the pool, one to the E and one in the opposite wall (W). Start by swimming through the opening to the W below the waterfall. At the end climb into the room above and pick up the Eye of Horus from the pedestal on the right. The left pedestal is missing something and there are red pedestals as well, just a perfect place for the Eye you just found. But let's wait with placing it until we've retrieved another of its kind. Leave this room and swim back to where you came from. We'll leave the other underwater opening alone for now as it only leads two ways: one to an opening on the right where the strong currents prevent Lara from swimming in and another one leading into a room where the floor above is too high for her to climb out.
Jumping and climbing - the rooftops:
Climb out of the pool to the E and start forwards. You will see the camera pan past a closed gate to your left and fly across the area beyond the gate. But before we can explore that area we need to find a way to open the gate. Go around to the left and locate a ladder in the N/W corner. Climb it to the top and right until Lara is above the slanted roof. Drop, slide down and grab the edge. Shimmy until Lara is directly below the approximate middle of the first red tile above the roof, pull up, backflip and roll in mid-air before pressing Action in the last moment to grab the red roof above the pool where you slid down. Shimmy left and around the corners until Lara can pull up on a ledge jutting out from the roof. From there turn to face the white terrace of the building to the E and do a running jump towards it, pressing Action in the last moment to grab the edge and finally pull up.
Straight ahead(E) from where you jumped over there's a large medipack for you to pick up. Apart from that there are no other pickups on the terrace, but there are two switches in the area. Now take note of the three slanted, green roofs up here. Between the leftmost and middle roof(facing E) there is one switch on the left side. Pull this one to open a white and black sliding door in the garden below to the N. The other switch is located to the left between the middle and rightmost green roof(still while facing E) and it opens a different black and white sliding door down in the garden.
Stand facing N on the left hand side of the green roofs(closest to where you jumped over). At the far N end you will have a nice view over the garden below and straight ahead there is a grey roof which you can get to with a running jump + grab. Once there pick up some revolver ammo. There's nothing more of interest up on the rooftops for now, so stand on the far left side(while facing W), slide backwards off the roof and grab the edge, then drop down on one of the top steps of some stairs leading up to a currently closed temple(if you drop onto one of the higher steps Lara won't lose health).
The Puzzle Courtyard - exploring the residences:
Go down into the courtyard to find a puzzle with moveable pieces. It seems that you have to move the pieces onto the tile that matches in colour, but there are some gaps around the board preventing you from doing so. It seems we need to find a way to fill those gaps before getting started with the push and pull sequence. So for now let's leave it at that. First of all head over to the N/E corner. Up the stairs to the left you'll find one of the doors you opened from the terrace above the garden, so let's explore that area first.
In this room you'll find an array of ladders(but only one that is climbable, the one at the E wall). There are also two climbable poles in the room, but none of them serve any particular purpose and the high pillar by the W wall can be reached only by doing a standing jump from the pole platform in the middle of the room. Never mind that though, as there's nothing up there. The only way to go seems to be up the E ladder so climb up to the balcony above and follow it around to the left, where you can open a wooden door at the end. In the next room head around the left corner and pick up the lasersight and a large medipack from the pedestals. Leave this room, follow the balcony back to the ladder, climb down and leave this room.
Lever number 1 - Of steel and firearms:
Go right and up the stairs on the opposite side of the garden(S). There's a closed gate at the end, but before reaching it turn left and go between the two houses here. Pick up some more revolver ammo in front of the right one and enter the door of the house to the left. The sight that greets you here is a lever to the right behind a closed gate and some elevated blocks on the floor. There is some revolver ammo on an elevated block to the left(by the N wall) so pick that up to begin with. Next head up the stairs at the right side of the room(still to the N). Go up the first seven steps(right corner-left corner-right corner). On the seventh step turn right to spot a small ladder. Climb up and drop down into the next room, where there is a lever to pull. Doing so raises one of the blocks out by the moveable piece puzzle.
Climb back out the way you came, continue straight up the stairs and as you turn the left corner on top you're met by a circular blade trap. To get through this unharmed you need to do the following: stand as close to the step ahead as you can without actually standing on it. The blades will fold towards the centre twice and then unfold. As the trap folds together the first time do a forwards swan dive/roll and Lara should make it through without taking damage. For the second blade trap stand facing it square on about one step away from the wall behind her. As it folds together do another swan dive/roll forwards to clear it. As for the third and last one stand about three steps away and perform a last swan dive/roll through
the trap as it folds. In the room beyond there are some prizes to pick up from the two pedestals flanking the open doorway: a small medipack and the revolver. Do not go back where you came from though, we have some more business to attend to up above ground.
Balcony business - lever number 2:
Go through the open doorway out onto the balcony and turn right. Walk all the way to the edge, but do not drop down yet. Instead line Lara up as shown in this screenshot.
Do a running jump, angled slightly to the right and jump around the corner towards the next balcony. Press Action in the last moment to grab the edge of the balcony and proceed to press the Up arrow key, making Lara pull up through the railing. Go to the end of the balcony, stand facing the railing N and do a standing jump across to grab the ladder. Climb up to the top and pull onto the green roof. Walk towards the green roof and balcony to the left and line Lara up like this: see screenshot.
Do a standing jump forwards while pressing Action and she should sail safely over the railing and land on the balcony below.
Go almost to the end and pull the switch on the right wall to open a door somewhere else in the courtyard below. I couldn't find any way down without losing health, but this is the best I could do: Head over to the W side of the balcony and sideflip over the railing. She'll land on a white ledge below, losing less health than she would by any other method I could think of.
Lever number 3 - Stepping blocks:
We're not quite done with the room with the green blocks and blade traps yet, so head across the courtyard to the left side and re-enter the mentioned room. Now turn your attention towards the elevated green blocks in the room. You need to step onto three of them in a specific order to open the gate shutting off access to the lever on the right hand side. Closest to the N wall there is a row of three blocks, one a bit further back and one in the S/W corner. The correct order is: middle block- right block(the one closest to the gate and lever)- S/W corner block.
Having done this correctly the gate opens and you can now go over to pull the lever. Doing so you're being shown a shot of a familiar setting: the moveable pieces in the garden outside. Leave this house for now and set your course towards the open doorway opposite.
Ready, slide, fire:
A bit of precaution before you slide down the ramp into the next room: combine the revolver and lasersight (if you haven't already) and arm yourself with it. As soon as you slide down a platform will raise at the bottom of the slope for you to land on. As you do so you will see five shootable balls up and ahead. Within a few seconds the platform will collapse and if you don't hurry with your business Lara will be sent down to a sudden and gruesome death. To survive you will have to shoot at least two balls before the platform collapses. If you can't manage to shoot all the balls before the platform disappears under your feet you need to shoot the remaining ones from where you land. Do NOT attempt to proceed ahead or you will get a nasty surprise. To ensure safe passage to the ladder across the room all five balls must be shattered. Climb the ladder and ledges up to the top and head into the passage to the left where there's another lever to pull. Doing so opens a door out in the courtyard.
Once you've pulled the lever back up a bit and use the binoculars to spot a ladder on the right wall before the lever. Climb up and backflip onto the floor above, then enter the next room and pick up a large medipack near the N wall. The white door to the left of the medipack does not open for the time being so take advantage of the wooden door in the W wall instead. Turn right and there's a switch on the wall there. Pull it to see a door open somewhere else and immediately press Look to shift the camera over to the angry ninja beating on poor Lara. Whip out some gunfire and show him who's the boss around here, then re-enter the large room and go out to the balcony via the now open white door. Getting down to the ground will cost you health no matter what you do and in an equal amount too, so sideflip, jump over the railing or use whatever method suits you best.
Lever number 4 - the colour tile puzzle:
Go back to the puzzle in the courtyard, but as we still have one more block to raise we will not do anything here yet. Instead go to the S/W corner of the courtyard(towards the gate separating this area from the garden where you began the level, on the right side of the temple when facing the entrance door). Here you will find the door you opened a little earlier to the W. Enter the festive-looking room beyond and you will see more of those coloured dragon tiles scattered around the floor, although no moveable pieces. Well, that's because those are all up on the floor above and now you need to find out how to position them correctly in order to open the gate with the lever behind it at the W side of the room.
Enter the only open doorway in the room, to the right. A platform will raise below the switch ahead, but this is just a decoy(notice the bloodstain on the wall where the switch is). If you fall for it(literally) and pull the switch you will be sent down to a swift and sudden death. Instead turn right and notice the ladder on the wall. Climb up and follow the climbable wall around to the right until Lara is directly above a doorway diagonally across from where she entered. Drop and press Action again to grab the edge of the doorway and pull up to be faced with the sight of four swinging chains. Crawl under the chains, sticking to the middle and at the other end go up the stairs to the right. The prospective that greets you here is four platforms, each with a moveable piece on it. I will not explain in depth how to solve the next puzzle, but what you need to do is to move each of the four pieces so that they're placed DIRECTLY above the dragon tile with a matching colour. In the following screenshots each of the pieces are located in their correct positions. Their initial positions are also marked(with a red dot).
Blue: see screenshot
Black: see screenshot
Purple: see screenshot
Green: see screenshot
Once all the pieces are positioned correctly the gate below will open, giving you free passage to the lever. Drop down to the ground floor and pull the lever to raise the last block by the courtyard puzzle.
Solving the Courtyard Puzzle:
Finally time to deal with the courtyard puzzle now that all four blocks have raised. Leave the room, head around to the left and get ready for some pushing and pulling. The solution of this puzzle is quite obvious so I won't give any detailed explanations: Black piece goes onto black tile, purple piece onto purple tile etc. until all the moveable pieces are positioned on the tile with the matching colour. Once this is done the door to the temple opens so head up the stairs to the S and take a tour inside.
A tour of the Temple - finding the 1st Yin Yang:
As soon as you enter the door behind you will close and a fly-by will show you the interior of the temple, consisting of among other things some blades down the stairs to the right, four receptacles by a closed gate and a gemstone behind it. Down the stairs to the right there are three slashing blades, but only one at the bottom of the stairs to the left. First pick up
the large medipack on the wooden landing to the right, then turn and face the first blade. If you stand on the very edge of the first step you should be able to make it past the blade with a standing jump and no harm done. Climb into the first alcove to the left and turn to face S/E. Stand at the right side of the alcove and, looking down to the right, you should spot a pedestal on a ledge holding a Yin Yang symbol. Do a nicely angled running jump to land on the mentioned ledge, losing a bit of health in the process. Pick up the 1st Yin Yang from the pedestal(this is called Load in the inventory) and drop down to the ground floor.
Blades, a missing link and yet another Yin Yang:
Head up the stairs on the right side of the room(when facing S) and stop right before you reach the last step in front of the slashing blade. Hop backwards and do a running jump past it as it slashes towards her. This should not cost her any health and should land her on the step right in front of the middle blade. Turn right(so facing the E wall with the alcoves) and as the tip of the blade nearly touches her perform a left sideflip to get by it. Do the same sideflip past the first blade, standing as close as you can without getting sliced and jumping as it folds out.
This time go down the left staircase and climb the second alcove on the right. Turn slightly to the left and look down to spot a ledge with a large medipack on it. Run off the floor to land next to the medipack and pick it up. Now turn around(N) and do a running jump with a grab in the last second to get over to the longer ledge. Walk under the yellow overhang, turn right, drop and hang from the edge. Shimmy left until you can drop down onto the opposite ledge and pick up another large medipack before dropping down to the floor again.
Once more head up the stairs towards the three blades. This time stand facing the bottom blade, turn right to face the wall and sidestep as close to the blade as you can without it hitting Lara. The idea is to be able to jump and pull up into the alcove above. When you have succeeded in doing so you can turn right and locate a dark crawlspace above the stairs. Perform an angled jump towards it and press Action to grab the edge. Pull up and drop down into the next passage. Follow the hallway along and as you round the corner pull the switch on the right wall(this functions as the missing switch on the floor below).
Go on and pick up the 2nd Yin Yang on the pedestal to the left. Now head back out to the crawlspace and drop down onto the staircase. Continue back down to the ground floor.
A spike gauntlet - The Eye of Horus and a 3rd Yin Yang:
Once here pull the switches below the black and the blue dragon tiles. Doing so opens the gate to the left(E). Enter and go across the room straight into the hallway opposite. Go through the next gate to find yourself in a room lined up with spiked walls. There are pickups we need at both ends of the hallway, but we can't access the one at the far left end of the room until we've gotten the one in the opposite end(right). So head right first and pick up the large medipack and the 2nd Eye Of Horus. The spiked walls won't start moving until you've picked up the eye so don't worry about them until that moment comes.
Now you need to make your way past ALL the spiked walls to the far end of the room. Time the runs past them, sticking to the left side on the first one and the right side on the rest. Climb the block in the left corner(this only raised when you picked up the Eye Of Horus so there's no use in trying to go this way first) and into the alcove above, where you can pick up the 3rd Yin Yang. Climb back down and time your runs past the spiked walls again until you can go out through the gate you came from and return to the main hall.
Bloodstains and slopes - spikes and the final Yin Yang:
This time flip the switch above the black tile back up and pull the green one down. Turn around and continue down the main hall towards the closed gate opposite and you should see a now open gate to the left. Enter and get ready for the next obstacle. This time it's a hallway lined with bloodstains. This can only mean one thing: spikes ahead. There are white slopes on each side and a monkey swing in the ceiling above. Your prize is waiting for you at the far left side of the hallway.
Getting past this is easier than the looks of it. Angle Lara towards the slope on the right and do a running jump towards it. As soon as she lands keep pressing Jump and the left arrow key and she will bounce sideways along the slopes to the other end. When she lands in safety turn around and proudly pick up the 4th and final Yin Yang. Getting back is even easier: stand at the edge of the flat block, do a standing jump forwards to grab the monkey bars and traverse to the far end. Leave this room and go back out to the main hall, where you can now use the 4 Yin Yang's to open the gate N.
Claiming your prize.......and reward:
A new prize is within reach, but first you need to deal with two cranky ninjas that aren‘t about to part with it so easily. Go over to the pedestal and pick up the Hand Of Orion, but as soon as you do so the floor beneath Lara's feet collapses and sends her sliding down a slope. In other words: now we're in a hurry. The worst part is the first one, with a boulder crashing down on our heroine. About two steps from the edge of the slope jump forwards, run to the edge of the platform and jump to the next one. That is to avoid the boulder. But these tiles won't stay up for long and it's a loooong way down so we need to keep moving. As soon as you land take one step backwards and do an immediate standing jump to the next platform. Continue running to the very edge, jump and grab the next one. Pull up and perform another standing jump. Again run to the very edge, jump and grab. Pull up and quickly turn slightly to the left, then do a last standing jump into the safe alcove. Go around to the right and kill another ninja.
Sssssnakes and a final goodbye:
Ignore the empty alcove to the left and instead go straight for the ladder ahead. Climb up and go right. Ready your guns here for you are just about to enter the snake pit. No less than six of that exact species are slithering around the room. You can kill them safely from the brown ledge around the pool or, as there are no pickups in this area, jump directly into the pool.
Either ways swim through the underwater opening to the N and just continue straight on following the passage(the current is still too strong in the passage to the right so ignore that) until you reach a very familiar sight: you're now in the pool you landed in at the very beginning of the level.
Swim through the opposite underwater opening again and climb out on the other side. Place the two Eyes Of Horus on the pedestals and see the gate open. You can now go through there and slide down the waterfall to end the level.
