HUNT FOR 5 ARTIFACTS

Level by Horst Kolodziejczyk (Hokolo)

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth

After a brief flyby through portions of Lara's home, turn your back to the fire, proceed toward the closed door in the south wall and it will open upon your approach. Enter a combination library, music room and radar station and pick up the extra pair of binoculars and the LASER SIGHT that you'll find on the ledge. Exit the room and you'll see the revolver and a small medi-pack lying in plain sight on the balcony outside. The trick is getting to them. You can shoot the small ceramic barrel in your frustration if you wish, but it's empty. Go into the laundry room in the SE corner and squeeze past the drying vestments. Climb onto the washer and drier and pick up the small medi-pack.

The pool is empty and there's nothing interesting to see outside, so leave this room, go past the fireplace and pick up two sets of flares in the window alcove. Exit to the stairway landing, whereupon you'll alert an SAS down below. Draw your pistols and wait for him to come to you, then take him out. Explore this upper area a bit before going downstairs and take note of the two closed doors in the outer hallway to your left, the first near the SE corner and the second in the south wall. (The one farther on appears to be a dummy.)

Go downstairs now and you'll see two facing closed doors at the foot of the stairs in the north and south walls. There's an open door leading outside in the west wall, but it wouldn't be wise to step into the opening. There's a sentry gun stationed outside to the right, just beyond your field of vision, and you'll be both toasted and riddled with bullets the instant you show yourself.

However, if you stand on the uneven wooden floor panel next to the doorway, you'll hear the sound of that door in the south wall opening upstairs. If you turn around in place, you can also see part of that lurking sentry gun, and a second sentry gun at a greater distance to the left in the garden.

Before going back upstairs, explore the downstairs area a bit more. Head east and take the left pathway into the empty dining room and the kitchen to your left. By this time you've probably noticed the impatient footsteps of more SAS. One of them is waiting for you in the kitchen, so go there and eliminate him. Pick up the revolver ammo he drops, then climb up on the counter next to the oven and pick up the small medi-pack. Another SAS will then attack from the opposite end of the kitchen, so kill him and relieve him of his revolver ammo. There's another SAS outside beyond the closed door in the NE corner, but he's for later.

Leave the kitchen and dining room area and make a hairpin turn to the left into the gymnasium (or simply use the short connecting hallway in the dining room). Go to the W wall, step onto the sloped platform with the "6" on it, and pull up into the opening. Jump down into the hole on the other side (you get a fleeting cut scene) and throw the floor lever. Return to the gymnasium and notice another floor lever out of reach on a platform high up on the south wall. There's an opening in the SE corner. Go down the stairs past the door you just opened with the floor lever, turn right and a couple of wraiths will give chase. Simply run forward along the passage, and a door ahead will open before it even comes into view. Make a hairpin turn to the right and keep running (the door closes behind you, but don't worry about that) until you reach the end of the passage with a water hole. Go around the water hole past the stepladder to the SW corner, and you'll hear the chimes of SECRET #1 as the wraiths magically disappear. Pick up the FIRST ARTIFACT - RIGHT GAUNTLET, then step over into the SE corner and pick up the flares.

Jump into the water and enter a maze that's not too difficult to master. If you make every turn to your left (not counting the dead-end alcove you'll come to quite early), you'll soon reach a door that opens upon your approach, giving you access to Lara's luxurious swimming pool. Quickly pull out after surfacing, as there are three SAS in here with their weapons all trained on you. After killing them, return to the gymnasium through the north exit.

Now it's time to go back upstairs. Find the open doorway in the south wall and enter what appears to be a huge entertainment room. Pause for the shotgun ammo in one window alcove and the SHOTGUN in the other, then go up the stairs to the east. Enter a cozy loft with a fireplace, that Lara probably uses for making out. Go to the far corners and pick up the shotgun ammo, then locate and throw the floor lever behind the crate next to the fireplace. Now leave this room and exit the next room through the north doorway.

Turn right and run toward the now-open doorway in the east wall. Go up the stairs, and the door at the end opens upon your approach. Enter the next room and make a hairpin turn to the left. As you step into the alcove you'll hear the chimes of SECRET #2. Pick up the SECOND ARTIFACT - BREAST PLATE. Reverse roll and come out into the room, and you'll hear the door closing behind you to bar your retreat. There's another empty ceramic barrel in the NE corner (beyond still more drying garments) that you can shoot for target practice before looking for another way out of here. Go around the crate into the SE part of the room and light a flare. You'll see a jumpswitch up on the south wall. Activate it to open a door above you and to the right. Turn to your right and climb up onto the lower grey wall. Draw your pistols and shoot the bat that flies out to harass you.

Go into the short passage ahead and stop about a block away from the far wall. Facing the wall, jump up and pull down a trapdoor. Now step forward and pull up onto the roof of Lara's huge mansion. There are SAS patrolling up here, so you may as well deal with them now. Run south toward the chimney and you'll hear a burst of "be alert" music. Draw that shotgun you picked up recently and turn to your right. Walk down toward the next chimney and the first SAS will burst out of hiding from behind it. Shoot him, then pick up the revolver ammo he drops together with another stash of revolver ammo lying nearby. The other two SAS will then show themselves, so dispose of them and pick up the small medi-pack and the revolver ammo they leave behind.

Don't venture too close to the west edge of the roof, or you'll alert that sentry gun standing guard in the garden. Also, as you explore the roof area stay away from any broad black stripes you may see along the roof's edge or around the chimneys, as they're deadly burner tiles. Go to the NE portion of the roof, and when the camera angle becomes fixed you'll know you're in the right place. Walk carefully over to the east edge and look over. You'll see a white slope jutting out from the south wall with a small medi-pack just below it. Go over and do a safety drop down to the slope. You'll slide down to the balcony you saw earlier when you began the level. Pick up the small medi-pack and the REVOLVER.

The safest way to get down is to right flip over the balcony at a slight angle into the water below. Pull out and quickly draw that revolver to kill the SAS who was attracted by the splash. Pick up the revolver ammo he drops. Now it's time to deal with those sentry guns, after you perform a couple of preliminary tasks. Run west along the path beside Lara's mansion. When you pass the first kitchen window to your left, turn right and go through the little alley in the obstacle course to the opposite pathway. Turn around, look up and locate the jumpswitch in the wooden structure. Activate it to open the nearby door that gives you access to the mansion through the kitchen. You'll find that this really comes in handy later. Thanks to Yoav for pointing out the location of this jumpswitch.

Return to the previous path and resume your circuit around the mansion. After you've gone only a few steps, turn to your right just past the second kitchen window and step into the sandy area beside the path, facing the mesh overhead that lines part of the obstacle course structure ahead. Angle to the NW and take a standing jump toward the mesh, then jump immediately off the slope and grab the mesh above. (If you miss and fall into the water, just pull out and try again.) Monkey swing into the opening ahead and step forward into SECRET #3. Pick up the THIRD ARTIFACT - LEFT GREAVE.

Step forward, pull up onto the slope ahead and slide down onto a trash heap. Go down to your left to the opening in the south wall, combine your revolver with the laser sight, and blow away that sentry gun that was poised just outside Lara's front door. The other sentry gun in the garden is pointed in your direction, so you need to make a long trek all the way around the house to position yourself to take it out. It's worth it, however, so go ahead and do it now. As you near the pool area you'll trigger a cut scene of the next artifact perched on the pool's glass roof. Continue around the house past the hedge, and as you round the corner you'll hear another burst of action music. Use that combined revolver and laser sight to explode the second sentry gun, then run through the garden to the front door of the mansion and pick up the revolver ammo near the portal.

Go back the way you came, toward that giant hedge to the south. Note the closed door in passing, then turn left and run along the path adjacent to the house with the hedge to your right. Look for the crawl space at ground level and use it to access a new area within the obstacle course. Get that revolver out and get ready to kill an SAS weaving his way through the alley to your left. Take his revolver ammo, then wait patiently for a second SAS to arrive. This one drops a small medi-pack. Don't continue further into the alley, as you'll walk right into the path of a sentry gun's bullets when you round the corner. Exit the alley and take a standing jump to the top of the mound of dirt to the west. Slide down the other side, go past the closed door you saw earlier, make a horseshoe turn to the left and you'll come out into a clearing behind that sentry gun. Use your combined artillery to blow it away, then run forward toward the motorbike it was guarding. A brief flyby shows what you need to do next.

But first, let's get that fourth artifact we saw earlier in the cut scene. Continue east past the motorbike and past the obstacle course itself. Make your way up to the dark NE corner beyond the grass and pull up onto the top of the hedge. Take a running jump to the glass roof over the pool and step forward toward the artifact as the chimes of SECRET #4 sound. Pick up the FOURTH ARTIFACT - LEFT GAUNTLET. Turn around and take a running jump and grab from the ledge surrounding the pool back to the top of the hedge. Pull up and return to the motorbike.

Mount the motorbike, turn it around and drive west. Look for the ramp going up to your right, just beyond the lone crate, and follow up ramp up and around until you're able to drive down a slope into the other section of the obstacle course. Continue straight ahead and up the next slope to clear the hedge. If you wish, you can drive over the glass roof of the pool without fear of breaking it. When you return to ground level beyond the pool, turn left and follow the path around the house in a counterclockwise direction until you reach that crated area to the west that you saw in the flyby.

There's an opening in the SW corner that's blocked by a barrier. Don't go that way. Instead, locate the nearby ramp that ends near a breakthrough tile in the north wall. Circle around so that you start driving up the ramp with a good head of steam, and your momentum will carry you through the opening as you shatter the tile.

You're about to embark on a devilish maze. If you don't know exactly where to go, you're liable to spend hours wandering around in here. But the correct course is deceptively simple, so pay attention. Continue north up the sandy slope and make a slight dogleg around a pillar. Turn left just beyond that, then another quick left, and drive south up the slight slope. Turn right at the crossing and continue past another crossing to the next wall. You have to turn right there, so drive up the dirt slope and make a little dogleg to your right. Continue north along the wider path and take the first right. Go past the crossing up the slope and make another little dogleg to your right at the top. Continue driving east a short distance, then turn right and drive along the dark and narrow path. Turn right at the end and you'll see an opening leading to a bumpy ride down through a wooden barrier. Continue until you see a closed door on your left, then stop and dismount.

If you wish, you can retrace your steps on foot and learn of the fate you may have met if you hadn't meticulously followed the route set forth above. You'll soon come to another wooden barrier that you might have stumbled across and been tempted to smash through if you hadn't taken that last dogleg. However, if you'd done so you would have been torched by the sentry gun posted inside the small room beyond.

Go back to the motorbike and go around the large square marble structure opposite the closed door. You can use either the north or the east path; it makes no difference. Locate and activate the jumpswitch on the west wall of the structure, near the NW corner. This opens the door right around the corner in the north wall. Draw your revolver and go inside. Greet the SAS with a few well-placed rounds and pick up the extra revolver ammo that he drops. Watch out for the flaming tiles to your right as you go up the stairs. As you near the top of the stairs, turn around to shoot two more SAS who were trying to sneak up on you.

When the coast is clear, stand on the top step facing the north wall, and from the back of the step jump up and pull down the overhead trap door. Step forward and pull up into the room above. Shoot the empty ceramic barrel, then turn around and hop into the dark area next to the south wall for SECRET #5. Shoot the bat, pick up the FIFTH ARTIFACT - RIGHT GREAVE and throw the floor lever to open the door where you left the motorbike. Vault over the crates and shoot another bat, then drop down the hole and go back downstairs. Exit this building and return to the motorbike. Drive it into the open doorway for a shortcut back to the area where you smashed the breakthrough tile.

You're now through with the motorbike, so you can park it and leave it. Run east along the path beside the mansion, and enter through the kitchen door. Go through the kitchen and into the hall. Turn to your right, and you'll see that in your absence someone has posted a new sentry gun just inside the front door. You would have gotten a mighty nasty surprise had you chosen to come back into the mansion through what you thought was a safe front door! Use your combined artillery to blow that sucker away.

Now that this distraction has been dealt with, continue through the hallway into the gymnasium. You'll see that a rope has magically appeared, so use it to swing up to that platform up on the south wall. You get a quick cutscene of a closed door out in the foyer. Throw the floor lever to open that door, then safety drop from the left side of the platform to the block below. Go to the foyer and throw the floor lever in the north alcove. The door in the south wall opens, so reverse roll and cross the foyer.

Here's the easy and peaceful way to finish the level. Go inside the new room through the south doorway and go straightway to the lower level, avoiding the radar equipment higher up in the east wall. If you wish to snoop around in the area around the radar screens, save your game here and go satisfy your curiosity. Locate some revolver ammo near the SW corner (although you no longer have any need for it), then go around the structure to the east end and locate an open doorway with a sphinx head design on the floor in front of it. Ignore the footsteps of the SAS above you, climb down the ladder into the hole, reverse roll and step forward to slide down the long slope. At the bottom you'll be treated to a brief flyby through the room ahead, marked by three electrified platforms bearing the same sphinx-head design, and a large centrally-situated tiled rock. Run forward onto the tile, and the level ends.