BACK TO BASICS 2011

Steampunk Level 8: LOST IN THE CANYONS

Level by tombraiderxii

Walkthrough by DJ Full

 

THE HUB CANYON

Kill a dog (this is a rather tough one, so don't just stand and shoot). The factory door opens on approach, so just pass through and enter. Behind the far waterfall, there is a cave, and You can retrieve a large medikit from there. There is also a trapdoor in the pool... for later use. And a keyhole for a nearby door. To start Your quest for the necessary key (and the other ones), go down the ladder inside the masked hole on the left of the red keyhole portal. Dropping without loss of health is impossible, and the author warns about it in the readme.

LOWER CAVE: 1ST TIME

One corridor and one ladder later, pull the crate on Your right three times, in order to get it out of the hole. This does two things:

1. Reveals a switch - so pull it.

2. Creates a higher spot to reach the shelf above You - so get on it and shimmy along the grated windows to the far rock, from where You can pick up A Bundle of Keys.

Safety drop and hop on block, the one raised with the switch. Bounce off a slope on Your right, to grab and pull up on the next ledge. Use the recently obtained keys to open the door and get the Factory Key 1 from behind it. You need two more Factory Keys to open the final location of this level. There is no necessity to find them in any order, however in this WT, it's 1, 3, 2 (it's the order I found them in). Remember the switch? Raising the block with it has also hidden a crowbar lever - so now lower the block, as You dont need it anymore, and remember that You will be back here. For now, You have ended Your job in this cave, so leave via both ladders that had led You here.

BEFORE THE STAIRCASE

If You did not do it yet, get a medi from behind the waterfall. Follow the N passage. Approach the door and kill a crow flying out of it. Again, use A Bundle of Keys in the brown keylock. The building opens for You. Get some grenades from the hole and press the switch in there. A certain trapdoor falls open. Now, a crucial crowbar is hidden behind the pipe in the corner - pick it up. Now, do You remember the raising block in the lower cave? It's time to go back there, before You forget.

LOWER CAVE: 2ND TIME

Exit the factory to the waterfall area and go down the first ladder. On Your way to the second one, spot a crowbar door in the left wall. Open it for a Red Key. You probably remember a red keylock above... but first, You want to get down the second ladder and pull the crowbar switch to reveal SECRET #1 - Uzis from the lowest point of the pool now belong to You. Finito totale. Get out of the whole cave location.

UPPER CAVE

It will be faster to place the Red Key above the upper ladder now, and this is why the order of finding Factory Keys is quite messed up in this WT (see three chapters earlier). Behind the Red Key door, watch out for falling ceiling fragments inside the accessed cavern (when it collapses three times, it's over). From the far end, get some flares. Hop on the block next to the door, runjump/grab/climb the ladder and pull up on the pillar. The next runjump must be done close to the wall, and the yet next hop has to be ended on the slope, for Lara to bounce off it and land on a solid shelf. Next jump is the easiest. For now, ignore the passage in front of You. Here, You can notice a monkey swing on the ceiling - but it is not that necessary for You to be able to runjump on the final shelf. Follow the rocky bridge to the switch at the very end and use it to open a trapdoor in the familiar pool...

UW MAZE

Follow the right wall for a small medi. Recommended to resurface at the starting point. Now follow the left wall to pull a switch. It hides an UW raised block. Continue along the left wall to enter the part of the corridor containing the ex-obstacle. Swim, swim, swim... on the upper elevation, and finish in the air pocket. Whoah! That was a loooong dive!

THE BROKEN BRIDGE

I remember this flyby being an introducing one not so long ago... When You behold the view, use the ladder to drop into the pit. Pull the jumpswitch and a hole in the opposite corner is revealed. Get there to kill a snake, find some normal shells and push the block out. Move it towards the pillar to make it accessible, and climb on this column. Hop on the following shelf, go along it, through a crawlspace and left around the pillar for a small medi on the ledge of the triangular rock. Grab the ladder and shimmy left to the last part. Climb up and on the shelf on Your right (sometimes, to reach it, You might need to free Your legs and put them on the bars again).

THROUGH THE DOOR

You are on the other side. The railway leads through a door, but of course You won't follow it so easy! On the other side of the track, there is a block. Climb it. Follow the ledges all the way around this canyon. When You see a rope, swing it on the last shelf and pull the jumpswitch. It seems it's a steam-powered mechanism what raises the door. You can descend back in front of it and pass to the other side. Follow the railway. A crow attacks! Probably You have been hearing it for a long time already. Now You can finally get rid of it. Enter the mine.

THE MINE

Follow the left track for some shells and kill a snake. On the right of the right railway, there is a switch. Pull it and go through the open door. Just before a moveable crate, the floor collapses and You get trapped in a small cave. Do not try to avoid this - You are supposed to fall in. Pick up the torch, light it and it all gets comfy at once. Follow the corridor and time the blade (keep in mind Lara turns faster if she holds a torch). TIP: a good way to pass this trap with no scratch is to stand in the corner in front of it, listen to the blade sfx and sprint through the trap right in the moment when it goes silent. Pull a crowbar switch on Your right and pass the next blade (doing it the same way and from the same distance as previously is highly recommended).

Continue following the corridor, through a heavy metal door (probably, the last switch is responsible for its open state). Stick close to the left wall until You can stop next to a mysterious, white thing. SAVE THE GAME. The curious block is actually a fireplace - light it and - advisably - immediately roll and draw uzis in order to ice a raptor that has sniffed You among dark corners of his domain. When the dino dies, go back to the metal door and notice there is another one close to it - and it's now open as well, with a jumpswitch uncovered behind. Pull it, re-pick up the torch and proceed along the rest of the corridor. On Your way, You will pass a circular door, opened with the last jumpswitch, and leave a similar portal on Your left. At the end, pull a lever to hide a block somewhere back in the corridor. Watch out - when You pull an uncovered crowbar switch, another dino will appear on Your right. If it gets stuck in the wall, it may become immortal until You come closer to lure it away.

LAVA CAVE

Behind the second circular door, You will face a lava pit. Hop on the central platform, then on the W one, and, from its right end, jump into the metal portal. Drop on a lower block behind this opening and kill a raptor at the bottom. Next to the rock You are standing on, there is a shelf. Descend in there and use the next one (close to the right wall) to find a lever switch behind it, in the NE corner of this cave. Pulling it opens a trapdoor in the NW one. Climb through it using the ladder and backflip on a ledge behind You (optionally, with a midair roll). From the far alcove You can runjump into, get a large medipack - SECRET#2.

Back at the bottom, pick up some flares and continue through the exit slope, leading to the lower pit filled with lava. Hop on the rocks forming the base of the central pillar, get on their top and slide on the other side (don't fall into the lava!). Hop across the magma and use a turn switch to let some steam off... or in... anyway, this results in opening a door above You. Swing two ropes to land next to the slope leading to the upper pit. Back in there, climb the block in the SW corner to grab the bars and swing back to the initial rocks. Get back through the metal portal and return on the W rock. From here, continue following the same wall (hopping on the next ledge in the meantime), going along it till You are at the just open door. Go through. Dive and follow the left wall for two medis, one of each kind. Swim to the very end, resurface and get out. Exit over a hidden block (if it is raised, pull a lever switch to lower it). Welcome to the load screen area.

THE LOAD SCREEN AREA

Notice crucial points the flyby shows You: two tanks, red and blue, a fireplace and a grassy ledge. When the camera fades out, either climb the block on Your left, then follow the ladder and hop on the green shelf, or simply go right and bounce off a slope to land on the mentioned ledge. Find a torch lying down on it. Light it with a campfire and SAVE. Approach the red tank, in the meantime waking up some ice wraiths resting in the blue one. Burn the red tank to set fire wraiths free and let both kinds confuse each other. Now go around the building, because there is another fireplace to light behind it. Doing so grants You access to the interior, but...

BEFORE YOU ENTER

Get on the railway bridge and to its N end. Follow the nearby shelf and jump on the next one. Grab the edge of the roof and shimmy right. In the next corner, go around it and not a single inch further. Pull up and bounce off with a midroll, curving the jump right as far as possible, in order to land on a shelf, protruding as far as it is necessary for it to be accessible. Get SECRET #3 from there - some super grenades, a large medi and uzi clips. Again, grab the roof and shimmy right to stand on a walkable part. Turn right and spot a Cog lying on another ledge. One more runjump and You got it.

THE MILL

Enter the building. As it has a turbine on the roof, I assume it's a kind of mill. Runjump on the block on the top of the far container and press the jumpswitch above it. Drop to the floor and pick up the Factory Key 3. Either climb the ladder or jump on the boxes to get away with it.

OTHER PART OF THE MINE

Continue along the newly accessed part of the railway, obtaining some flares on Your way through the mine. When the tracks turn, kill a snake and get some more normal grenades. Also, following the right wall You will find there are shotgun shells (normal) in the pool, and a medikit nearby. Exit via the only corridor without a dead end and find the slot for the Cog in there. Place the item and You can find Yourself in the canyon again. Don't get off that shelf too soon - a raptor is awaiting You beneath it, so You can inflict some serious damage on it from here. Then, drop next to the green slope. Use the familiar block and the high shelves to get back over the broken bridge. Now there is no other way than to dive and swim back through the whole underwater maze, to the first of all pools.

THE STAIRCASE

Go to the place where You have obtained the crowbar, and upstairs to throw a jumpswitch. Enter the staircase. On its two elevations, You can find two crowbar doors. Start with the lower one.

STORAGE: CRATES'N'TABLES

Solve a pushable. You need to clear the corner to reveal the lever switch and press it to raise a certain block. Note from Moderator:  The following detailed solution to this puzzle was provided by manarch2:

Head ahead and push the N table into the NW corner. Turn around and pull out the block in the SW corner once, climb over it and pull it to the far E wall, in the gap. Now go to the Nw corner and pull the table out once again. Go to the S wall and pull out the table twice. Climb on the table, turn W and push the block once. Climb over the tables into the NW corner and push the E block once. Climb over the tables, turn right and pull and push the E table once S, then pull and push it to the E wall. Pull out the big pushable on the N wall twice. Climb over it, then push the N table once W. Go to the E table and pull and push it out twice, then push it to either side. Now you can pull or push the big pushable into the gap, climb on it and then pull out the SE box. Press it to raise a block in another chamber, where you also might have opened a trapdoor yet.

THE KITCHEN: TABLES ONLY

Behind the higher crowbar door in the staircase: press a switch covered by a shatter window (to raise a block in the room preceding the staircase) and follow a crawlspace to find a switch allowing You to explore the kitchen. Inside: kill an evil dudette (she won't cover if targeted manually), turn a valve switch (a block raises over a lava pit), climb the ladder through the once opened trapdoor for SECRET #4 - a shotgun in the top alcove - and move the table under two wall levers in order to access the valve wheel in the adjacent room. Move the table towards the wheel and turn it to see a block raise above the lava. Back in the room where You have once found the crowbar, push the crate on the raised block and turn a switch to watch the last platform go upwards, completing a way across the lava pit.

THE SECOND LAVA PIT

Go the whole way down the staircase to press a wall switch and open the last door in here. Follow the corridor to get in the cave. Using the three raised platforms, hop across the lava. On the other bank, approach a circular door and move a crate placed to the left of it towards the high metal opening, the one located to the right of the portal. Climb into it for a switch to open the door below You. The door is now covered by the crate, so You need to move it away to obtain the Factory Key 2 from its lockup. Now get on the crate again and hop on the metal window. From here, access the rocks in the corner and drop in the stone passage running through them. At the other end, jump off a slope to stand on a walkable upper shelf. Runjump on the next shelf, climb a ladder and backflip with midroll to land in the almost highest part. One more pull-up and You are free to pull a switch uncovering the circular door behind the lava pit. This is a secret of patience, so either backtrack all the way through the rocky passages, or repeat the lava platforming behind the crowbar staircase. When You are back at the door, step through it to check SECRET #5. 120 more uzi bullets are now Yours.

ENTERING THE FACTORY

Go back to the cavern behind the red keyhole door. Repeat all the platforming here, except one thing: now choose the closest opening in the rocks and follow the pipe corridor to face a keyhole. This one is for Factory Key 1, and the two ones revealed when it is placed are correspondingly for keys 2 and 3. Place them all and enter.

THIS FACTORY IS SEALED BETTER THAN I THOUGHT

You are likely to wonder what about that ledge above the 1st pool area. It seemed accessible... What is more, there was a jumpswitch above it... Don't worry - we'll handle it in few moments. For now, just throw a cog switch (three times would do) to open the entrance. Crawl under the pipe to access the left passage (ignore the second cogswitch, it's for exiting only). Proceeding through it, pick up a small medi from a side alcove. On At the other end, You can see two conveyor belts. Use them to speed Lara up... or slow her down, if You are one of those who like to run through moving stairs in the opposite direction. Anyway, there are two more alcoves to the left and to the right of the belts... Both are accessible from a solid metal linker placed in the middle of everything. Inside the alcoves, press two switches to open the exit. WAIT! Don't get out of here yet! Apart from that You have something else to do here, there is a boss fight behind this corridor, and, as long as it's quite memory-eating, it's not recommended to be triggered until You have one more fuse.

Just before the exit, turn left and spot a crowbar door. Push it wide open and throw an additional switch. A camera shows You a small door opening in a crawlspace near the 1st cog switch. It's time to turn the second one now. Give Yourself some more time than at the preceding cog switch - as exiting the place requires crawling under the pipes again. Behind them (and the shutting factory entrance), get a Fuse from the crawlspace. WAIT! Remember what I said about something we have to handle? It's here - even though well hidden. Look at the ceiling. There is a small ring in it - turn away from the wall it is next to and hop upwards in order to grab it. A trapdoor is open and You can climb into a hidden crawlspace above. Behind it, drop next to the raised block. Notice it covers a grenade gun. This is SECRET #6. Time to make it obtainable - go over the block and through the next crawlspace to find Yourself on a ledge... It may happen You have already noticed it... and a jumpswitch above it. Pull the trigger to lower the block, get back into the secret corridor and finally announce Yourself the grenade gun owner. Through the crawlspaces and the 1st cog switch portal, re-enter the factory.

ONE MORE FUSE

Now don't crawl under the pipes (see the first "WAIT!" remark in the beginning of the previous chapter to know the reason), but choose the right corridor to drop on a low piece of metal, right above a lava stream. This is a classic multi-bounce slope. For total beginners, I'll explain it is all about constant pressing a direction arrow together with jump, until reaching a safe place - but which direction are You supposed to go in this case? Look left (looking from the entrance): there is a deadly lava waterfall. The opposite end is more welcoming, but the answer is: however the author has intended You to visit the waterfallless end first, You start with the opposite one as well. I think this alternative way is faster, however it will prevent You from seeing rotating cogs if You choose it. So I anyway recommend to begin with the end without a waterfall... All in all, this is the intended way... There is a valve switch, so turn it. Nothing happens yet, so bounce towards the entrance, and further, to check the other end - however, still don't try to get across the waterfall, as You will get toasted if You do so. Instead, look upwards and spot a metal grate. Just like the one in the lower caves (described in the beginning), this one is climbable - grab it and pull Yourself up on the higher elevation.

Three huge cogs are standing still in front of You, and these are exactly the ones I told You are supposed to move. Pass through them and kill two... well, let's call them clockwork beetles. At last, their health is reduced to an acceptable two-shell endurance. Don't waste ammo - they fly quite close to the pipes, so it may happen that You hit a static collision instead of an enemy. When those bugs die, reach two more valve switches at the very end and move them to see the machinery turn on. The opposite end is now flooded with raised lava (probably giving this mechanism some turbo power), so drop through the hole in the grated floor. SAVE and - with a "feign grab" - drop on a slope (with a minimal health loss) and bounce back to the ex-waterfall end. Now the flaming death is gone. BUG WARNING: Don't try to climb the ladder again, as You can pass through the closed trapdoor and end Lara's life anyway. Just dive into the pool for the second Fuse and You can get... out... of... Well, this is one of these moments when writing this all in order to explain everything carefully took me more time than it will take You to do BOTH options, saved on different slots.

ALSO, THIS FACTORY IS EVEN BETTER GUARDED THAN IT IS SEALED

It's time to crawl under the pipes again and, one more time, pass through the conveyor belts' room to finally reach the exit corridor... with three mutants defending a crucial Fuse at the end! If You hate mutant fights, I can tell You the ol' good save/load trick works here to get rid of locusts (here: furious crows). Remember: in general, mutants need some time before they can breed fire for the first time - and this is why the very first seconds after the camera turns off are priceless - run for the goodies in the water on Your right (2 x uzi clips & 2 x large medipaks), get out and follow the right wall to reach the next pool (the mutants have probably already started to spawn swarms of crows). There is a revolver to pick up, a lever switch to throw and some revolver bullets to load You up.

Get out and sprint into the final pool, on the other side of this huge boiler room. There is one more revolver (however, You can use one of them only) with next lever and additional bullet pack. Pressing both switches raises a platform above the mutants' pit. Take Your time to visit the last pool, on the opposite side of the entrance than the first one (unless You visit those pools clockwise, unlike me - in this case, the last pool is the first one I mentioned) for some more medis, shells and uzi clips. If You are safe behind some pillar, SAVE. Now the tactics to kill the mutants (yes, in this point of the game I realized they are mortal) are identical with those helping You kill Bartoli in TR2, when he switches to the dragon form - hide behind the pillars, jump out in the right moment and shoot until You fire all revolver ammo, all uzi bullets and most of shotgun shells. I'm not sure if grenades harm those mutant creatures effectively, as the charges sink in the lava before they are close enough to the monsters to cause full damage. So better stick to bullet/shell weapons till the end of the fight.

BRINGING THE FACTORY BACK TO LIFE

Killing the mutants makes the central pedestal accessible again. Another pickup appears there next to the Fuse: it's a Heart of the Beast (it doesn't say which one it belonged to). Pick both items. Keep the heart as a souvenir, and - right after You get back on the solid floor and kill all the alarmed evildoers (four of them) - place the fuses in their sockets located around the lava pit. Watch the final flyby showing You the restored peace and production of... Well, I still don't know what is being produced in this factory. I have no other choice than to hope for a sequel.