BACK TO BASICS 2011

 

Steampunk Level 09: A RIFT IN SEDONA

 

Level by chronicles5

 

Walkthrough by Mytly

 

 

Watch the flyby showing Lara dropping down into a parallel universe, and a ninja android running through a circular portal. Go to the room the android came from (watch out for the steam emitter), get the flares on one crate, then pull the central crates out of the way. In the next room, get the crossbow bolts from the crate right ahead, then move the leftmost crate on the middle level and drop down into the grassy bit behind it. Kill the snake. Crawl through the hanging greenery and spot the crowbar on the top of a crate, but resist the urge to pick it up for the moment. You can’t go back the way you came, so you have to open up an exit route first. Climb the higher crates, pull out a crate, drop into the pit, get some poison crossbow bolts, climb out and push out the next crate, turn around and push the first crate. Now get the crowbar. The pit is now filled with spikes, but you can walk past them and return to the room you came from. (If you get the crowbar first, it is possible to jump over the spike pit to the exit, but much harder.)

 

Climb up to the upper level. The blade traps are now active, but they can be easily bypassed. Grab the crossbow from the top of a crate. Use the crowbar on the crowbar switch to open the circular portal you saw in the opening flyby. Return to that room, get poison crossbow bolts from the depression to the left of the portal, and then go through the portal.

 

Follow the broken railway tracks, jumping over the first gap. Deal with the two flying beetles, then jump over to where they came from for a small medipack. Cross to the ledge on the opposite side of the room (watch out for the falling rubble), then take a running jump to the ledge near the tracks on the far side. Walk up the slope carefully, as the android releases rolling balls. Roll, run and jump to the ledge on the right, and wait till the balls are safely past, then go up the slope again to see the android disappearing through another circular portal. Go around a corner, and get crossbow bolts from the northeast corner behind a plant. Jump over to the ledge with railway tracks hanging over it.

 

Enter a long room with crates. Go into the room on the left to be ambushed by two ninja androids. Kill them, then get shotgun ammo from a crate on the right side of to room. Open a crowbar door on the opposite side. Use the switch on the lower level to raise a rising block. Climb the block, and take a running jump-grab to the next side, avoiding the swinging chain. Drop down in a hole (avoiding a spinning wheel), grab the Shipping Area Key, and climb back up (the best method is to grab the ladder when the wheel is behind you, then immediately backflip).

 

Return to the second circular portal and open it using the Shipping Area Key. When you enter the room beyond, an explosion destroys the floor of the room, sending Lara sliding down a slope above lava. Slide to the end of the slope, jump to the next one, keep jumping over the gaps and jump to the left when the slope turns. Keep jump pressed down to jump over the blocks (and roll in mid-air if you’re not facing the right way), and finally grab a ladder. Climb to the top, then jump back off it with a roll to grab the ladder behind. Climb up and around the right corner and drop off. Follow the corridor till you reach a cog switch. Pull it 4-5 times to open a door near the ladders. The door is timed, of course, so make your way there quickly. The best method I could find is: run past the lava fall and take a running jump to the sloping ledge beyond the first ladder. Shimmy quickly to your right and to the door, crouch immediately and use the crawlspace roll move to get under the closing door (press sprint while crouching).

 

Note the closed door ahead of you, and another at the far left of the room (with a blue keyhole). Get a small medipack from a crate on the right, and shotgun ammo from one on the left. Climb a crate opposite the latter, and pull up into the hole above. Kill two snakes. Get flares from the top of a crate. Use the crowbar switch to open the closed door you noted previously, and start up a whole system of conveyer belts. Drop down through the now open trapdoor next to you, and go through the door.

 

Run along the conveyor belt, or just stay put for the ride. In the room at the south end, note the switch to your left, but don’t pull it yet – first go for a secret. Climb the crates to the very top to get some crossbow bolts. Run along the conveyor belt and run off it to the right to land on the middle conveyor belt to reach the second level of the eastern glass-walled room. Drop down to the lower level. Get revolver ammo from behind some crates, then explore the back of the room to find a shadowy path behind the crates. Crawl onto the crates to reach it, get the Ammunition Room Key, and crawl back out.

 

This is the key to the blue keyhole you saw earlier, so you have to return there first. Climb back up to the second level, then run along the conveyor belt in the opposite direction to its motion – it’s tough to make much progress, but just keep moving, and take running jumps whenever you can, or otherwise press sprint. Once you are over the lower conveyor belt, jump down to it, and run opposite that too, to the door you entered this area from. Use the Ammunition Room Key to open up a room which houses Secret # 1 – a stash of weapons and ammo. Get the revolver, some ammo for it, then pull out the crate opposite the door to get some multiple detonation grenades and wideshot shotgun ammo.

 

Return to the southern glass-walled room via the conveyor belt, and now use the switch you saw earlier. This is a timed run to a rising block in the eastern room. There are two ways to get there – the first is the same method you used to get there before (i.e. climbing up the crates, and down one conveyor belt), but obviously you must be very quick about it. The second is shorter, but much trickier. Pull the switch, turn a little to the left and take a running jump to the conveyor belt. Run-jump along it until you reach the middle conveyor belt, then try to grab it and pull up. (This is the tricky part, and will take a few tries. If you can’t get it within 2-3 tries, don’t bother, as the rising block will have lowered by the time you get to it.) When you reach inside the eastern room, run-jump off the conveyor belt to the left onto the slightly higher crates, then climb up the rising block, and backflip off it to the third level of the room.

 

Get revolver ammo behind the crates on the far side. Climb some crates to reach the fourth level. You’ll see a cutscene of fires lighting up and blade traps starting up along the next conveyor belt. You can try the “hero’s” method by trying to jump over them all, but it’s very tough, and you will certainly lose a lot of health. I recommend the “coward’s” method instead: Take a standing jump to the conveyor belt straight ahead, and grab the edge. Shimmy as far right as you can go, pull up, take one step ahead (you’ll move off to the left because of the motion of the conveyor belt), roll and grab the other side of the conveyor belt. Shimmy left, repeat the process, shimmy right till the corner, pull up, and take the running jump with a grab to the stationary floor on the opposite side. Phew!

 

Now you are in the western glass-walled room. Take care of the two flying beetles that greet you, then climb on a crate at the far end and grab the nearer rope. Swing to the second rope, the up to the highest level of this room. Climb a crate and use the swingpole to get to the opposite side of the room. Get explosive crossbow bolts from behind the crates in the middle of the floor (and be careful – some of the floor isn’t solid). Now for more tricky conveyor belt action. The next one is in 5 pieces, so you need to jump the gaps. Take a standing jump onto the conveyor belt, then running jumps over the first three gaps, and either running or standing jumps over the last two (depending on how far from the edge you land). It’s a lot easier said than done, and you’ll probably die a lot, but keep trying, and you’ll reach the safe spot in the far corner.

 

Climb up through the open trapdoor. The flyby shows you three ninja androids in this room. Once again, you have a choice between the coward’s way (i.e. sneaking past them over the tops of the crates and killing them from safety) or the hero’s way (going in guns blazing). Either way, make sure you prevent the androids from getting to a button near the first stack of crates, otherwise Secret # 2 will be blocked off. [Thanks to the builder for pointing out to how to access the secret.] If you do alert them, a fourth ninja android will join the fight, and will drop a big medipack when she dies. Get a small medipack from the top of one of the crates.

 

Get crossbow bolts from the gap between two crates in the room with the railway track. Note the well-camouflaged ceiling trapdoor on the eastern side of the room. Find the moveable block and move it under the trapdoor (one square before the trapdoor will do as well). Get the Auxiliary Power Fuse from the upper room and a shotgun.

 

Return to room with the androids, and go to the one beyond. Use the fuse on the holder there. A door and a circular portal are seen opening up. Go up the ramp and get the Explosives Area Key. Return to the room with the railway track and use the key at the yellow keyhole. This is Secret # 2: a grenade launcher and explosive crossbow bolts, and in the next room, a large medipack (this is the room whose floor is destroyed in the explosion earlier in the level). Go back to the room with the railway track and go up the slope. Dodge a rolling ball and kill a ninja android. Return to a familiar area and go through the circular portal at the far left end.

 

Cross a cave with a small pool of water, and breathe fresh air outside … and get ambushed by two wolves. Get the Gazebo Courtyard Key in the bunch of poppies in the southwest corner. You can find poison crossbow bolts in another bunch of poppies under the roof. Swim through the waterfall and get a torch from the right ledge. You can swim on the surface with the torch in hand as long as you wade into the water (not jump into it), or you could also simply jump on the blocks in the corners to return to the outdoor area. Go to the cave with the small pool, and light the torch at the fire in the next cave. Light three piles of wood in the outdoor area and see the trapdoor under the roof opening. Jump in to get the Gardener’s Spare Key. Use it to open the door in the northern building.

 

Kill two crows. Collect some goodies in two corners of the courtyard: revolver ammo and a large medipack. Then note the single door in the southwest corner, and the patterned tiles on the ground. Go stand on the northeast tile, and you should be just about be able to see the door opening (beyond the plant to the left). Now you have to jump only on the patterned tiles to get to the door. If you step on to the plain tiles or the grassy central part, the door will close. The fixed camera makes it difficult to see where you’re going, but if you explore your route beforehand, it shouldn’t be too hard. Take diagonal standing jumps left, alternating between the tiles in the corners and the ones in front of the double doors. When you get to the southwest tile, take a diagonal running jump towards the door (though you won’t be able to see it). A small tip: Turn off the music in your settings, and turn up the sound effects. That way you can hear the door opening and closing.

 

Leave through the door and go left to use the Gazebo Courtyard Key. This is Secret # 3. Shoot the walls of the gazebo, and grab the multiple detonation grenades, explosive crossbow bolts, a large medipack and revolver ammo. Leave the courtyard, and follow the path around the central building (the fenced-off courtyards you can see are inaccessible). At the far end of the path, get some wideshot shotgun ammo and kill a wolf. This is a dead end, so turn around and go right, into a room stacked with crates.

 

Get more wideshot shotgun ammo on the southeast crates, then climb the ones in the opposite corner. Take a running jump to the opposite stack, then to the ones in the dark alcove, then a running jump-grab to the ones diagonally opposite, and finally to the ones in the southwest corner. Turn and use the jumpswitch. Go into the nearby room with weapons drawn. Four ninja androids appear. Kill them and get the Transport Tower Key one of them drops. Leave the crate room, use the button opposite to open the double doors and leave via the south doors. Go back to the cave beyond the waterfall, and use the key to open the circular portal.

 

In the room beyond the vestibule, pull the switch to raise a block for a timed run. Turn left and time a run-jump over the flames, then run past the pounding hammer, two blade traps, another hammer, jump onto a block, and then to the raised block and immediately grab the monkey swing above. Stay to the left to avoid the steam emitters. At the end of the monkey swing, drop, then climb up the ladder.

 

Another timed run awaits you, but if you like, you can first explore the layout of this room and get poison crossbow bolts from the corner. (But don’t break the breakable tiles as yet!) Pull the switch and a block rises behind you. Run over the breakable tiles, onto a block, time the flame and run-jump-grab the next block, then another (look out for the chain), climb the higher block on the left, grab the rising block. Pull up into the room above.

 

A ninja android confronts you (presumably the one you saw at the beginning of the level). Kill her and use the Quantum Energy Disc she drops, on the holder on the eastern side of the central block. A transporter activates on the block, so climb up on it, and be transported back to the real world. But as the flyby shows, you still have a treacherous slope to navigate. Slide down, jump over the gaps, and watch out for the falling rubble. As you near the bottom, the level ends.