Back
to Basics 2008 - Journey Through the Andes
Level by Mikki
Walkthrough by Phil
Lambeth
Begin by sliding down a
snowy rock face toward an ancient temple.
Get those pistols out quickly, as you're greeted by a warrior and a wolf. When peace has been restored, go around the
gallows and find that entrance to the temple is barred by two sets of closed
doors, one requiring a pair of keys.
Off to the east are two more areas that are closed off by spear doors,
but you can pick up a large medi-pack on
the semi-enclosed structure near one of them.
Pull down the wall switch at the end of the SE alley to open the other
spear door and enter the small cave. Pull
back the skeleton from the SE corner and jump over it to collect the first TEMPLE KEY of the two you seek.
Exit the cave and cross
the clearing to the west wall. There's
a crawl space there, partially obscured by a bush. Crawl inside and find yourself in a new outdoor clearing. There's a wolf
prowling about on the other side of the small lake, so take it out from your
position of safety. Jump into the water
and pull the underwater lever in the north wall. Pull out on the west bank and locate another crawl space in front
of you. Crawl through to find yourself
confronted by another warrior in the dark
room. Kill him, then take the second TEMPLE KEY from the pedestal for your trouble.
Return to the temple area
and use the two Temple Keys in their receptacles to open the left set of
doors. When you enter and venture
further inside, they close rudely behind you.
Take an additional step or two to trigger a lingering flyby that takes
you through the vast interior of the temple and highlights the several tasks
laid before you. These tasks, which
require you to collect four masks, can be accomplished in no particular order,
so here they are in completely random fashion:
FIRST MASK
Turn right from where you
stand and run down the west stairway, over a golden tile, until you reach a
long room with a checker-board floor and two rows of pedestals. Beware of the raised tiles along the east
wall, as they're all spike traps. (At this
point, or perhaps earlier, you may be annoyed by a constant repetition of the
familiar "danger alert" sound.
If so, simply rename or delete 000.wav in your audio folder for instant
relief.) The lighter colored vases on
the pedestals can be shattered. Shoot
the nearer one and get up on your tiptoes for the SECRET
STAR. You'll find a
receptacle for it in the west alcove.
Insert it to open the spear door to your left. Enter the passage for SECRET #1
and pick up the CROSSBOW as well as a
quiver of arrows.
Go back out and shoot the
jug on the pedestal against the south wall.
A TORCH falls to the floor, so
pick it up and light it with the nearby flame.
Light four of the short pedestals (all, in fact, except the one that
housed the torch) to drop a trapdoor above the ladder in the north wall. Climb the ladder and pull up onto the second
story. Shoot the pots on the ledge
ahead for additional goodies: another CROSSBOW,
two quivers of arrows and the LASERSIGHT.
Pull up into the opening in the south wall, and you'll see and hear the
nearest ledge being raised in the room below.
It's a timed sequence, of course, so arm yourself with the crossbow
combined with the lasersight and save your game.
Slide down the slope and
jump off near the bottom to land on the first ledge. Turn quickly to your right and shoot the giant medallion hanging
in the niche. Turn back to your left,
take a standing jump forward to the next ledge, turn to your right and shoot
the next hanging medallion. Needless to
say, if you don't do this fast enough the ledge you're on will drop you onto
the spike trap below, but you should have plenty of time. You'll see flames shooting forth as you
progress, but don't mind them. When
you've reached the fifth and final ledge and shot the final medallion, the
spear gate in the south wall opens, so take a slightly angled jump into the
opening. Enter the small room and take
the first MASK from the pedestal in the
NE alcove. The spear gate ahead lifts,
so you could leave by this passage if you wished. However, there's a second mask close by, so let's collect it
first.
SECOND MASK
Safety drop from the
opening back down to the long room, climb the ladder again and prepare to run
the ledge gauntlet a second time. But
this time, simply take standing jumps from ledge to ledge until you reach the
fourth one. Then turn to your right and
take a running jump and grab to the niche (the only one of the five that's not
spike protected). Pull up and run past
the still-swinging medallion and pick up the small
medi-pack just in front of a series of floor blades. Pick up a second small
medi-pack along the way, as you'll
likely need it. At the bottom of the
stairway locate the second MASK on the pedestal. When you pick it up, the spear gate around
the corner to your left lifts, so use it as a short cut away from this
area. You can exit either by running
the ledge gauntlet again to the passage you opened by taking the first Mask, or
you can climb the ladder and go all the way around to a spear gate that lifts
as you approach (both ways take you to the second story area), or you can
simply go back up the stairs that brought you down here. If nothing else, the areas in this temple
are freely accessible.
THIRD MASK
Let's resume on the first
story area, so if you're upstairs simply safety drop to the eye-pleasing
central pool area. If you look south
beyond the waterfall you can see four barred alcoves. This is where you'll place your masks after you've collected all
four of them, and there's nothing to do or find in the pool in the meantime, so
save this area for later. For now, exit
the pool area through the east opening and bear slightly to your left. Continue until you come to an alcove with two
pedestals. Take the small medi-pack and crossbow
arrows from them and turn north.
You'll find a smaller alcove with a wall, but don't pull it yet. First explore the adjacent room west. The central pillar is raised and lowered by
the wall switch. There are two moveable
pieces, in the SE and SW corners, that you must raise to the second story and
place appropriately. Now that you have
the lay of the land, go back and pull down the wall switch to lower the pillar. Pull the SE piece onto the square formerly
occupied by the pillar, then push the wall switch back up. Get upstairs by using the SE stairway and
loop around to the right (passing a wall switch next to a closed door, which is
irrelevant to the present task).
Move the piece onto the
brown tile in the SE corner. You'll
know you've made the correct placement by the flames that shoot forth
overhead. Safety drop down the central
hole and pull down the wall switch again.
Move the SW piece onto the target square and raise the pillar. Get back upstairs and move the piece onto
the other brown tile against the west wall.
The spear gate lifts in the north wall, but save your game before
picking up the third MASK. When you do so, the trap door releases to
plunge you onto a slope with a boulder chasing you from behind. The most reliable way to avoid being crushed
is to jump off the slope near the bottom with a right curve to land in the side
passage. Continue to your right and hug
the north wall, and the second boulder that's released can't reach you there
(even though it appears to bounce off your back). When all is quiet, jump over the boulder and head up the south
ramp. Pull down the wall switch to
release the trap door above, and climb up the ladder. When you pull up, the trap door closes again, and you find
yourself in a familiar stairway.
FOURTH MASK
You're through downstairs,
so let's get up to the second story.
Return to the central pool area and go up the steps to your right just
past the east opening. Remember that wall
switch in the NE corner you bypassed earlier?
Make a mental note of it for your next task, but continue into the
pushpiece room where you got the third Mask.
Stand in front of the open trap door, and you can see a crawl space down
below and to your left. Take a standing
jump slightly NW and grab the opening.
Pull in, crawl through and drop down the other side for SECRET #2.
Take the small medi-pack from the
pedestal and crawl back out. You'll
need to drop down and slide back to the boulders, but just run up the south
ramp and push the wall switch back up to open the trap door above. Climb the ladder and return to the second
story. Go back to that still unused
wall switch and pull it now to lift the door to your right. Run down the passage and the door slams shut
behind you. In the next room, don't
step forward past the first raised tile.
Look to your left and you'll see a number of similar raised tiles that
are illuminated by sunbeams. Carefully
jump to those raised tiles only (flames will erupt from each one as you leave
it), without stepping onto the checker-board floor, and the spear gate in front
of the fourth MASK will open.
Before leaving, pull up
into the alcove near the SW corner, occupied by a pedestal with a pink
vase. Turn around at the edge, jump up
and grab the opening above. Pull up for
SECRET #3 and a large medi-pack.
The exit gate has
re-opened, so return to the landing overlooking the central pool. You now have all four masks, so dive into
the water and pull out into one of the south alcoves. Place a Mask, attend to the pedestal inside (you have a large medi-pack, two empty pots and a jug that
won't break) and turn around to activate the overhead jump switch. Do this four times. When you activate the fourth jump switch you
get a cut scene showing the outer doors opening.
Swim back across the pool,
pull out and run up the north stairs, and deal with the raptor that's wandered inside. That done, continue north and find yourself
outside in the beginning area. The
other doors on the far side of the temple are now open, but you have more to do
before you can go there. Run straight
ahead to that covered shelter and see that the gate in the east wall has
lifted. Enter a new outside area and
prepare to do battle with another raptor
that sneaks up from your left. Don't
try to climb on either of the blocks to get a better view, as they're both
spike trapped. There's a wooden bridge
spanning the river, but the gate across the way is closed. Don't jump into the water, or you'll be
swept to your death by the current.
Go to the south wall,
right at the steep bank, and hop back twice.
You'll land safely on a ledge.
Walk through the cascading water into a small cave and use the crawl
space to access a cell-like room. Pull
down the wall switch to open the gate across the river. Get back up onto the east bank, go across
the wooden bridge, but just before you reach the final rope supports, stop and
take an angled standing jump over the rope to a flat spot in the rocks. You'll see an opening under the bridge, so
jump SE to get there and crawl east for SECRET #4
and a small medi-pack. Crawl back out and simply step back onto the
flat spot. Take a standing jump back to
the bridge and continue east to enter what we'll call the Temple Annex area.
Two wolves attack from your left, so kill them, then
go through the opening in the large wooden fence in the NW corner and enter the
opening there. A warrior was sleeping inside until you awakened
him, so dispose of him and then push the cage forward. Step back to pick up the
CROWBAR, then exit this area and go to
the open NE doorway. You have your
choice of two sloped pillars inside, each one faced by a ladder. Ignore the one on the left (the north
one). Jump up to grab the left side of
the south ladder, take a rolling back flip from there to land on the first of
three sloped pillars. Jump off each one
in turn, without sliding (except maybe a little bit from the last one), and you
should land safely on a ledge. Step
forward and use your crowbar to pry the GEM
off the wall. Go back and take a
standing jump NW over the slope to the entrance.
Go outside, take a left,
and enter the Temple Annex through the other east doorway. Go around the central structure and find
another GEM embedded in the wall of the
east alcove. Pry it off and go all the
way back to the main temple area, where you began this level. Enter the other open doorway of the main
temple and head down the stairs. On the
way you'll trigger a flyby that carries you through the room below. Continue down the stairs and turn to your
right just inside the room. Place the
two Gems in the beetle receptacles to open the spear gate between them. Go inside and take the GEAR from the pedestal. Reverse roll and run to the cogwheel contraption on the east wall
and place the Gear on the leftmost peg.
The contraption spins to
life, as does the water wheel near the south wall. Barriers are also lowered in the central structure, so go face
the turn wheel from the east side. Turn
it six or seven times, and you can see the spear gate ahead lifting ahead of
you. Angle to your right (or lef), take
a standing jump forward and run around the central structure toward the open
gate. When you get near, stop and roll
beneath the closing gate.
Step forward and trigger
another flyby of the next room. You see
a gold artifact on a spike-protected pedestal suspended seemingly in mid
air. However, there's a solid but
transparent floor in the room, so step inside without fear. Loop around to your left and see a wall
switch beneath your feet near the SE corner.
Stand over the switch and hit the control key. Lara's switch-pulling animation will activate and you'll hear the
spike trap being triggered. Go over to
the pedestal and take the GOLDEN AMULET. The door ahead in the west wall opens, so
run forward and down the stairs. Slide
down the slope toward a waterfall to end the level.