ATLANTIS 5: ESCAPE FROM ATLANTIS

Level by Justin

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth


The level begins in a noisy, rumbling lava room with an earthlike boulder hurtling down harmlessly to Lara's right. Zig and zag your way forward along the rocky path and enter the tunnel in the far wall. Wait for the live coals to stop spewing flames, then quickly jump over them and run into the next room.

Turn to the left and walk toward the blue-tinged tunnel entrance. You can run into the tunnel, but it's safer to take a standing jump with grab to land inside the mouth of the tunnel and avoid the risk of sliding down the slope into the lava. Draw powerful weapons while running down the tunnel. Inside the next room a giant scorpion will attack from a dark area to the left.

After dispatching the scorpion you can inspect this area at leisure. The two dark alcoves to the right and left disguise parallel tunnels that bend at the rear and meet at a pedestal upon which a movable block is perched. If you push the block out of the way, from either direction, you'll see that access to the inner area is blocked.
But near the end of the right tunnel is a landing with a wall switch. Make sure the block at the rear is pushed away from the opening, toward the left tunnel (or E). Then light a flare and push the wall switch. You'll hear the sound of another block in this area moving forward, but you don't have time to worry about that right now. The switch is on a brief timer, so immediately hop back, turn to the right, and dash left around the corner and left again through the opening before the door slams shut.

In the small room ahead you'll see slowly revolving scythes, one at knee level and one high over Lara's head. Avoid the deadly lower blade while picking up the EGYPTIAN KEY STONE on the right side of the central pillar. Continue forward around the pillar, vault up onto the N ledge and hop down to find another movable block. Push the block forward and pick up the large medi-pack it was hiding. Run back down the N tunnel. After returning to the rumbling lava room, run across to the other blue-tinged tunnel and enter it in the same manner (jump/grab) as you did the first one. Stop at the end of the tunnel, draw weapons and shoot the croc swimming lazily in the waters below, so it won't be nibbling at Lara's toes as she completes the next maneuver.

But first, jump down into the water and explore a bit. Locate the flares near the N wall, and note the cage blocking your way to an underwater lever in the E wall. Return to the tunnel entrance in the S wall and pull up.

Turn around and take a running jump to the block ahead, then angle Lara to the left. Note the darker areas in the sloped wall. Jump over to the wall and grab the edge before you slide into the water. Shimmy to the far right and around the corner, and pull up onto the blue waterfall. Turn left and walk forward as far as you can, then take a standing jump to a flat surface on the waterfall and immediately run forward two steps and then side flip to the left to avoid the boulder that starts rolling down toward you. You'll land in a small indentation where you'll be safe for the time being. Look to the left and you'll see more such indentations dotting the sloped wall, explaining the darker areas you noted earlier. With Lara's back still to the water, step back into the right corner, then turn to face SW and take a running jump up to the next indentation. This will trigger another rolling boulder, so the instant you land take a standing jump forward to land in the third indentation. No boulder trap here, so turn Lara to the left and locate the next indentation slightly below. Take a standing jump to it, then turn back to the right and locate the next indentation in a dark area near the S wall. Walk to the edge of the one you're in, face SSW, take a standing jump up to the next one, then immediately back flip to avoid a third boulder trap. When the coast is clear, jump back to the indentation next to the wall, light a flare and angle Lara to the right. Locate the final indentation nearby, jump up to it and claim the second EGYPTIAN KEY STONE (which raises the cage that was blocking your way to the underwater lever below).

Many thanks to David Biddle for the following information in the next paragraph leading to the first secret.

Allow Lara to slide backwards down the slope, and grab the edge. Shimmy to the right as you did before and pull up onto the waterfall ledge. Stand at the corner and face SE. Take a running jump, with a slight right curve to get over the nearby slanted block. Lara should hit the somewhat hidden slope angled to the S (the right side of the further block), and immediately jump to the secret area where she can stand. These are easy jumps and can be done on the first try. Note that the slanted blocks in the middle of the pool are red herrings, a tease. Nothing can be done with them. The fissure in the wall is also irrelevant. Don't you love authors with a warped sense of humor? Pick up the GOLDEN SKULL for SECRET #1.

Jump back down into the water and swim over to the now-accessible underwater lever in the E wall. Pull it, then swim back to the tunnel entrance S and pull up. Run down the tunnel and slide down the ramp into the larger room. You'll find that although the earthquake is still rumbling unabated, the lava has been converted to clear, harmless water. Splash your way W toward the tunnel, pull up onto the entrance area and run inside.

You'll see what looks a lot like one of those egg hatcheries from Atlantis 4. Make a hairpin turn to the right upon entry and use an Egyptian Key Stone in the golden receptacle. Turn around, draw weapons and run down the central spinal cord. A harpy will explode from the egg to the right, so kill it quickly before it has a chance to spew fireballs at you. At the intersection near the middle of this room, take a right and run to the other golden receptacle below where the harpy came from. Use your other Egyptian Key Stone to open the door at the W end of this room.

Turn around, run back up the side path, take a right at central spinal cord and run to the open doorway. At the entrance you'll see a slope leading down to a brown block in another lava room. Slide down the slope, causing the door to close slowly behind you. Walk forward to the end of the block and angle Lara to the right. Take a standing jump to the longer block ahead, then start running and take a running jump to the next block and another running jump to the next to land inside a short tunnel leading to the next room. You have to do all this rather quickly, because when you first enter the lava room the lava level starts rising until it's flush with the tops of the blocks. Still, you can make it with several seconds to spare, which makes one wonder whether the lone block to the left has any importance. . .

Anyway, the next room consists of a large pool with multi-colored electric sparks sputtering from futuristic devices suspended overhead. Ahead and to the left are three openings into other areas. Note that above each opening (including the one in which you're standing) there's a ledge supporting a ball of colorful energy. These ledges will become important later on. But for now, kill a croc swimming about lazily in the pool, then run down the left side of the pool landing and shoot the vase for a small medi-pack. (The vase at the other end is empty.) Return to the entrance and look forward to see two reddish balls hovering over pedestals at the NE and NW corners of the pool. Combine the desert eagle with the laser sight and shoot the ball at the NW corner, revealing a GOLDEN SKULL on the underwater block to its left for SECRET #2. (Shooting the other ball will get you nothing, but doing something else later on will.)

Now swim over to the opening in the S wall. Pull up, run down to the end of the tunnel and you'll find yourself overlooking a deep pit. Drop down onto the breakledges and run across them quickly to the central square before they crumble away. Then turn to the left and take a running jump and grab to land inside the open tunnel. Inside is another lava room. To the left is a wall switch for you to throw. To the right is an underwater lever set against the wall. Oops, at this point it's not underwater, so let's ignore it for now. Near the right wall you'll see a translucent pink ledge above the lava. Walk along the rock ledge until you're directly opposite it, then turn to face it squarely, step forward to slide down the slope and jump at the last instant to grab the pink ledge. (Actually, a simple running jump from the safety of the ledge works just fine, too, but it's not as death-defying.) Pull up, step forward and take a standing jump to the far side. Put a Golden Skull on the empty pedestal (standing against it facing S). A cut scene indicates an object of some kind on an underwater block outside. Turn around, jump back to the pink ledge and take a running jump back to the rock ledge. (You can look across the lava room and see an object on a block near the far left wall, but you'll be coming back for that soon.)

Step back into the tunnel entrance, and you'll see that throwing the wall switch has partially flooded the pit below. Jump down into the water and locate the red-tinged tunnel entrance S. Swim inside, take a couple of left turns and locate an underwater lever. Pull it, then go back and get some air.  I first noticed the flare bug at this point. Return to the S tunnel and this time take a left and then a right. Follow the upper passage around to the left and you'll soon come to an air hole. After grabbing a lungful, resume your trek through this underwater maze. Swim down the hole to a lower area, turn left and then stay to your right You'll come to a narrow opening up to your right, just barely wide enough for Lara to squeeze through. Do so and make a couple of twists and turns to locate another EGYPTIAN KEY STONE.

Leave the maze and return to the central pit. The water level has climbed still higher, so swim into the next higher tunnel W. This is another underwater maze, but it's a fairly simple matter to locate and throw another lever hidden behind a column near the far (W) end and get back out before Lara runs out of air. (You'll be returning to this area soon for another task.)

Back in the central pit you'll find that the water level has risen even more. Surface for air, then dive back down and re-enter the now-flooded lava room E. Swim to the far left corner and pick up the object you noticed earlier, which is another EGYPTIAN KEY STONE. Then flip turn and throw what is now the underwater lever that you had to ignore earlier. A cut scene shows a door opening elsewhere.

Exit the flooded lava room, swim to the surface in the central pit and grab some air. Then swim back down and re-enter the W opening where you pulled the lever behind a far column in the short maze. This time take a left at the first juncture, swim downward a short distance and take another left, then swim to the end of the tunnel to locate a long vertical shaft. Swim up to the top, turn around and pull out W into a tunnel. Run down to the end of the tunnel, turn right and vault up into another tunnel, then turn right to find a timed wall switch.

In the lava room ahead is a conglomeration of ledges across which Lara needs to navigate quickly before the door across the room closes. The way I found it easiest was to pull down the switch, turn to the left and take a standing jump, then a running jump off the first ledge to the long central ledge.  Then a standing jump over the flames, a running jump to the far ledge and a quick dash past the timed doorway.  Once inside the blue alcove, claim the third and final EGYPTIAN KEY STONE. Then turn around, take a running jump out of the alcove to the long platform ahead, then turn left and take a standing jump to the nonburning portion of the ledge in front of the opening.  Take an immediate back flip to avoid the blade trap, then jump back and hop into the E opening. Shoot a bat and use the three Egyptian Key Stones in the wall receptacles.

A door opens to your right, allowing access to a tunnel which leads to the ledge overlooking the central pool room. Walk to the near edge of the blue ledge and take the first EGYPTIAN POWERSTONE seemingly suspended in mid air. As you do so, another door opens in the tunnel behind you. Retrace your steps and turn left at the intersection to find that your way is open to a cave.

As you enter the cave, a couple of giant scorpions will come out to greet you. Dispose of them quickly and run forward to find a well-lit alcove at the far end of the cave. There are two star receptacles on the wall to your left, but you don't yet have the necessary items to open the nearby closed door. However, before leaving this area look for a dark alcove near the SE corner of the cave (not far from the well-lit alcove you just left, and veiled by a spider web). Vault up and take a left to locate the CROWBAR (using a couple of flares in the process). Exit the cave W, take a right at the intersection and return to the ledge overlooking the electrically-charged pool room.

Dive into the pool, swim over to the first submerged red block to your left and pick up the ROCKET LAUNCHER that you saw in the cut scene earlier. Continue swimming to the left and pull up onto the ledge leading to the W tunnel. Run down the tunnel and enter another pool area with geometrically pleasing blue waterfalls scattered here and there. You'll also see little fishies swimming down below, which is a nice touch. Drop down into the water and head left toward the underwater tunnel. The current will carry you along, and if you don't fight it you'll be deposited down a moderately steep pit where you can swim around and locate a SERPENT STONE in the W alcove. Swim up out of the alcove, take a right and allow the current once again to carry you into a cavernous room. Some mysterious force makes it difficult to surface in this area, so keep swimming forward and to the right toward the NE corner of this area, where you'll find a little protected area where you can surface and pull up onto a ledge.

In front of you in the E wall you'll see a row of three receptacles for Serpent Stones. You only have one at this point, so you'll need to go on a search mission to locate the others. Look across the cavern toward the W while the pretty music plays, and you'll see a beach-like area lit by a couple of torches, with a finned croc scurrying back and forth across the sand. You can kill it from this vantage point if you like. Jump back into the water and swim over to the left side of this beach. (You may have to use a circuitous route to thwart the treacherous currents.) When the water becomes sufficiently shallow, wade up while drawing weapons and dispose of the croc if you didn't do so earlier. Then run to the other end of the beach and take the second SERPENT STONE from the pedestal.

Turn to the left and you'll see a wall switch in a small area in the SW corner across from the beach, but you can't access it from here because of the treacherous sloping banks. Instead, jump back into the water and locate the square hole near the middle of the cavern floor. Swim down a short distance and you'll come to a tunnel that leads in two directions, one of which is barred. Head the other way, toward the N, until you emerge with a burst of brilliant sunlight in another cavern. Doggie paddle your way over to the right and pull up onto the E ledge.

Your mission at this point is to make your way up this tall cavern to claim the third Serpent Stone. It's a long way up, and a long way down. Climb up onto the block and face S. Take a running jump and grab to the higher ledge in the SE corner and pull up. Turn to the right and side step all the way to the left. Step forward as far as Lara will go and jump straight up and grab the ledge above. Pull up and shoot that annoying bat. Then turn to the right and take a running jump and grab N to the ledge across the cavern. Pull up and turn to the left. Take another running jump to the sloped ledge across the way, angling Lara to the right in mid-air so she'll slide down the slope backwards. Grab the edge, shimmy to the left, pull up, and wait until the last possible instant before taking a twisting back flip and grab to the sloped pillar ahead. Pull up, slide down the other side and jump off to grab the dimly-lit ledge in the SW corner of the tall cavern. Pull up, dispose of the bat and turn left to face the rocky beam spanning the cavern. Take a running jump to the beam (don't mind the torch, which won't set you ablaze even if you land squarely on it), turn left and run to the other side to claim the third SERPENT STONE. Turn to either side, jump back and grab the edge of the beam, and drop down into the water below. Swim back into the S tunnel, up through the hole, and return to the cavernous room. Make your way to the NE corner and pull up onto the ledge. Step forward and use the three Serpent Stones in their receptacles. The first placement rewards you with a cut scene showing a door opening above; the third directs your attention to your right where a rope now dangles down near the top of the nearby tall block.

Climb up onto the block, jump up and grab the rope. Turn halfway to the right, then swing and release to drop down onto the suspended central platform. Turn to the right and take a running jump and grab to the small platform located against the N wall. Pull up and throw the switch. Turn around and take a running jump and grab back to the central platform. Pull up, turn to the right and walk to the edge of the platform, facing the flame blower W. Jump up and grab the ceiling, then monkey swing your way past the flame blower (when it's dormant), then turn to the left and do the same with the other flame blower around the corner. Drop down onto the red ledge a square from the end and safety drop to the ground below. Pull down the nearby wall switch to raise a door at the end of the beam where you picked up the last Serpent Stone. Make your way back up there as you did before (swim down through the hole in the floor, etc.), and enter the tunnel to the N. Turn right and run up the ramp, hopping your way over a gauntlet of darts. When you emerge into the next area, draw weapons and shoot the ornate vase ahead to claim a large medi-pack.

Jump into the water and swim S down the waterway, fighting the current as you go. At the end, turn left and pull up into a closed area with several columns. This is supposed to be a timed maneuver, but you can beat it without even having to worry about that switch (which turns off the flames atop the column in the NE corner for a few seconds). Just climb up onto the short block against the N wall, turn right and sidestep all the way to the right corner. Take a standing jump and grab to the flaming block ahead. Shimmy to the right and pull up in the corner, and you shouldn't burst into flames. Take a side flip to the right to the sloped surface, and grab the edge as you slide down. Pull up and take a back flip to the sloping surface behind you. Immediately jump off to the ledge ahead. Take a left and run forward to collect the second EGYPTIAN POWERSTONE from the overhanging blue ledge.

Jump down into the water and swim to your left. Pull up into the N opening and run to the far end of the tunnel. A door will open as you approach, allowing access to a red-tinged sandy area with stone columns jutting up here and there. Head to your left, climb up on a block against the W wall and use the crowbar to claim a STAR OF INCA embedded in the wall. Then reverse roll and survey the area before you. Your immediate goal is to locate and drop down into a hole up in a ledge across the cavern against the N wall. This task is made doubly difficult by the mirror effect and the fixed camera angle that you'll experience as you make your way across the chamber.  If you're not averse to using the flycheat in situations such as this, you can locate the hole in question by flying E, close to the S wall, until you find the companion hole with the fire trap at the bottom.  Drop down there and look across the chamber.  You should be able to see the destination hole directly across from the first hole, in the N wall.  Getting there is the trick, as you can't simply hop down and run across the chamber.  The ledge is too high to reach with a jump from the floor.  Life is too short, so I simply flew there.

José has provided the following suggestions for navigating the mirror room described in the preceding paragraph:

Before you begin the task, a good help can be to go W, climb the small pillar near where you pry the star and do the jumps over the next pillars till you find the hole at the top of the platform. Then go back to the entrance and try it in the mirror room.

Once you get the star, go back to the entrance and situate Lara to the left of the pillar in front of it facing N; advance till you find your double and continue some meters more till you find a short pillar to your right, turn right (W) and climb it. From here you have to turn right again and do a running jump to get to the top of the pillar in the first plane in your screen. A good idea can be to drop and grab the far edge of the pillar and climb then so Lara is perfectly aligned to do the jump. Another help can be to light a flare and press the 1 key to draw the pistols and the flare drops over the pillar, so avoiding the flare bug. You can use the binoculars too to see if Lara is well aligned or hit the "Esc" key to see the compass.

Once over the tall block turn right (E) and follow the same procedure as before to align Lara with the next sloped pillar E. Do another running jump and three consecutive jumps when sliding in the three sloped pillars to finally land on the high platform. Don't turn Lara but walk straight ahead till she hits the N wall. Then turn left (E) and run always near the wall till you hear the fall and see the health bar in the upper left side of your screen. It means that Lara has lost some health in the falling and you can press the "0" key now to restore the camera.

Once you locate this devilishly elusive hole, and once camera sanity is mercifully restored to you, you'll find yourself in a short tunnel where Lara seems to be ankle-deep in pulsating gore. Step forward and turn to the right. Head E up a ramp, and as you approach the top you'll experience the rumblings of a subterannean earthquake. Turn to the right once again and step out into a lava room of intimidating dimensions. You need to make your way to the right (W) side of this room and pry loose the second STAR OF INCA. (The flames shooting out from the block in front of it magically cease the instant you step on it. I was tired by this time, and the constant earthquiake didn't help my disposition any, so again I simply flew over there and didn't bother with all the burner tiles, sloped surfaces and flame blowers.) Then make your way to the far (S) side of the room to locate a MAYAN SERPENT in an alcove below and to the left. Go down to claim it, then make your way back up and use it in a dark alcove directly above the place you found it. The door allowing you to exit this area will then open, so simply turn around and take an angled standing jump and grab to the lip of the tunnel, then pull up to leave this area. (This rather nonchalant description is mute testimony of the importance of the flycheat to the faint of heart in navigating this area safely. The more adventuresome of you may attempt to make the moves legally. Feel free to supplement this walkthrough if you figure it all out.)

José has provided these suggestions:

Approach the edge near the lava and do a running jump to grab the N block when the fire has gone out. Shimmy around two corners (try to do it when the fire is out or Lara can burn while moving) and position Lara hanging from the very SE corner (facing N). Wait for the fire and when it's out climb and quickly do a right sidejump to grab the low ledge of the sloped block. Save your game here.

Climb it and do a backflip with twist to grab the edge of the next sloped block behind you; if you are lucky you'll grab the edge when the fire is out, if not, reload and try again. Judge the flames to climb, slide and grab the edge of the next sloped block. Save your game here. Shimmy to the very right corner, climb and slide, and when you jump off the ramp turn left in the air to land on the next sloped block facing E, slide and grab the edge.

The next part is very tricky 'cause you have to go up and do a backflip with twist to grab the edge of the block behind, but the edge is too high so you must go up and jump at the very last moment, just when Lara is about to fall to the lava. If you are lucky the fire in the block behind will be out, if not, reload and try again. You can try this task just without the backflip and twist, simply sliding down the two slopes and trying to jump ahead from the very edge of the second, but that's how I did it.

Once hanging there, wait for the fire and shimmy to the very right corner; when the fire is gone climb, turn NW and do a standing jump to the next flat ledge with a fire in it but beware 'cause the fire can burn you; you can stand up here and save your game; the worst is over. Situate Lara at the very SE corner of this ledge and facing west do one sidestep to the right; angle Lara in a W-SW direction and do a standing jump with a left curve to the ledge with the star, as you touch the ledge the fire is forever gone.

Pry off the star and from the center of the ledge run off in a NE direction to land on the previous ledge, now the fire is gone here too. Approach the center of the W edge and situate Lara in a S-SE direction facing the block with the fire; when the fire is out do a standing jump and quickly turn right and walk a bit to the next safe ledge E. From here you can do an easy running jump to get to the ledge under the stone ladder S.

Once there, face E and run off the ledge to land on the small ledge below near the lava. Pick up the Mayan Serpent, turn around and do a standing jump to grab the rocky ladder W and return to the top of the ledge where you were. Climb the S ladder and when you reach the closed door go left to drop and land over a safe ledge next to the door; turn around the column to the left and place the Mayan Serpent in its receptacle to open the door. The door allowing you to exit this area will then open, so simply turn around and take an angled standing jump and grab to the lip of the tunnel, then pull up to leave this area.

At the end of the tunnel, take a right and then keep running to take a quick left and thereby avoid the boulder careening down the slope toward you. Continue forward and run down the ramp and turn left at the end to collect the third EGYPTIAN POWERSTONE near the end of the overhanging ledge.

Jump into the water and swim all the way over to the other side. Pull up into the tunnel headed S and return to the flooded shaft with the central platform. Jump into the water and swim back to the next-to-the-bottom room off to your right. Return to the vertical shaft by making left turns as before and swim up to the area above. Navigate your way across the platforms to the door in the E wall (not the N wall) and run all the way back, down the tunnel and through the cave, to the well-lit alcove with the two receptacles. Place the two Stars of Inca in them to open the door to your right.

Run up the ramp and emerge in yet another lava room. Make your way, by hook or by crook, to the exit over to your left near the surface of the lava. Again, I was tired, so I just flew, but José has once again provided the way to do it legally:

In this dangerous room there are almost invisible red ledges floating in midair, but they are protected by burners so, from the entrance judge the time for the running jump to the first ledge (NW) between the burners and do it with a small left curve; before the burners resume you can drop and grab the E edge of the ledge and when hanging save your game here 'cause you are safe and can see the next ledge with more burners so you can do the next manoeuvre: once the burners are off, climb, take a running jump to grab the edge of the next ledge; wait again for the burners, climb and take another running jump to the last ledge hitting the wall; here if you are next to the wall in the center of the tile you are safe. When the burners are off, do a jump back, turn a bit right angling Lara NW and run off the ledge with grab when falling to not hit the wall over the entrance; you must land on the safe tile in the exit opening.

Step forward to claim the fourth and final EGYPTIAN POWERSTONE, whereupon the crackling and sputtering ceases and a rope drops down to dangle in front of you. Take a standing jump and grab to the rope, swing forward without sliding up or down, and jump and grab the pole supporting the giant crystal in the center of the room. Climb up the pole, and as you near the top turn around 180 degrees. Take a back flip off the pole into the upper tunnel, then reverse roll and run up the ramp and through the opening to complete the level.