LARA CROFT MANOR

 

Level by Buda Andzselika (Human)

 

Walkthrough by OBig and Phil Lambeth

 

Begin with a short flyby through the rather palatial manor that Lara calls home.  Turn right, go to the front door and open it.  Go outside and take a stroll through the lovely inner courtyard, admiring the snazzy sports car for which you don't yet have the keys.  Before leaving, go to the S wall and locate the tile with the plain circular design.  Stand on the W side of it and open the well-disguised trap door.  Use the ladder to climb down into a tunnel, and follow it to a small room with a tall pedestal where you'll find the first GUARDIAN KEY.

 

Climb back out of the tunnel, return indoors to what I'll call the main hall and go toward the massive staircase.  On either side is a moveable piece.  Pull each one back once to cover an unsightly brown tile, and a trap door is opened in the floor near the NE corner.  Go there and drop down, follow to a lower room surrounded by an aquarium.  Search the treasure box for the second GUARDIAN KEY.  The two trophy cases are moveable, but there seems to be no point in moving them.

 

Return to the main level. You can start opening doors around the periphery of this huge room and run around in circles, but let's do things in their proper sequence.  Begin by opening the NE door near the trap door you opened earlier.  Run down the hallway and push open the door at the other end.  Enter the pool area and run across to the N side.  There are two vases nestled in alcoves.  Pull out either one onto the tile with the oval design, and you'll get a flyby showing a door opening in the opposite upper balcony.  (Pulling out the other vase seems to have no effect.)  Get up to the balcony via the stairway in the W wall and go around to the alcove on the S side.  Pick up the third GUARDIAN KEY and go back downstairs.  There's nothing in the pool, so exit this area and return to the main hall.

 

The NW door leads to the bathroom, but there's nothing to do there.  The SW door leads to an empty kitchen.  The SE door reveals a short hallway with another closed door at the far end.  Open it and step into a large, virtually empty room with many closed doors.  This is where you'll eventually use your Guardian Keys, but you first need to locate two more. 

 

Exit this room to the main hall and go upstairs.  Turn left at the landing and open the NE door.  Follow and you'll come to a W hallway with three closed doors on either side.  The first room on your left has a chest in the corner where you'll find the fourth GUARDIAN KEY.  The other rooms are interesting, so check them all out.  The library is beyond the second door on your right.  Pick up the book lying on the floor and place it on the nearby empty pedestal (where it's revealed as the GOLDEN VRAEUS).  A flyby takes you back through the manor and ends with a view of an opened trap door in a trophy room.   Finally, there's a chest with the CROWBAR in the last room on your left. 

 

Go back the way you came and cross the landing at the top of the stairs.  Open the SE door and you'll see the scene from the flyby.  Follow the hallway and open the second door on your left.  Enter the trophy room and drop down into the hole revealed by the open trap door.  Pick up the fifth GUARDIAN KEY and exit this room.  You can check out the other five rooms in this area to satisfy your curiosity, but there's nothing to do or find in any of them.  Return to the second story landing and take an optional trip to the outer balcony W overlooking the inner courtyard for a nice view, then head back downstairs.  Go to the SE room and place the five Guardian Keys in the receptacles beside the closed doors.  Each time you do so, a door lifts to reveal a moveable block.  Pull each block onto its matching tile.  When you've finished, a sixth door lifts above the block against the W wall.  Go there, climb up onto the block and pull down the wall switch in the alcove.  A flyby takes you all the way back to the room where you got the crowbar.  In the wardrobe beyond the beaded veil a door opens.

 

Go back there (last room on the left, remember) and enter the revealed area.  Pull back the block onto the matching tile for a long flyby taking you into the hallway across the second story landing and showing a door opening at the very end.  Go there (don't you wish your house was this big?), head down the stairs and turn left into a hallway with fountains.  The gate ahead opens as you approach, and when you enter you'll trigger another flyby that carries you through the next room with its many ledges and floating blocks.

 

Enter and approach the lone block resting on the floor.  (The vases in the corners can be moved, but they serve no function.)  Climb up onto the block and jump W to the nearest floating block.  Work your way around the room in a counterclockwise direction, taking running jumps with or without grab as necessary, until you reach the block against the E wall.  Jump N to the block next to the ladder.  Climb up the ladder and back flip onto the block behind you.  Jump SW to the ledge and use your crowbar in the device.  You hear the sound of nearby iron gates opening.  Go to the NW end of the ledge and jump N to the next block.  Continue winding your way up and around the room, this time in a clockwise direction. When you reach the upper ledge in the S wall, go through the opened gateway into an empty room and pull down the switch in the far wall.  A lingering flyby takes you back through the manor and shows a door opening at the opposite end of the building, where you've already been.

 

Make your way back down to the floor, taking advantage of the short cut near the ladder in the E wall.  Safety drop three times to reach the floor without even breaking a sweat.  Exit this room and go all the way back to the main hall, then continue across into the NE doorway and continue until you reach the opened doorway.  Before going down the stairs ahead, turn right and enter the bar where you see an unattended pool table.  Draw your pistols, jump up and shoot the picture hanging on the E wall.  This opens a trap door N underneath the TV set.  Hop down into the hole for the only SECRET of the level and pick up what looks like a BLUE CRYSTAL. 

 

Exit this room, turn right and go down the stairs into another hallway lined with fountains.  The iron gates at the end open upon your approach.  Run across the bridge toward another pair of iron gates.  Alas, these refuse to open for you, so go back and climb down the ladder on the E face of the central structure.  When you reach the opening, shift left and around the corner.  Drop down into the passage and pull down the wall switch at the far end to open those gates above you.  Get back up by hanging from the opening and shimmying to your right until Lara's feet find the ladder.  Pull up at the top, turn right and go through the opened gateway.  Take the SUN TALISMAN (which looks a lot like those car keys you've been looking for) from the tall pedestal.  

 

Return to the main hall, go down the stairs and outside through the front door W.  Use those keys to fire up the sports car, and take it for a spin toward the exit gates.  As you approach the gates, they open and the level ends.