20x20x20 CHALLENGE - EXPEDITION DEEP FREEZE

Level by: Dennis Wigbers aka TheTiger
Walkthrough by: Mytly


Note: Lara’s movements are somewhat different in this level, with her jumps being especially limited. She also has some new moves, which will be explained in the walkthrough.


Lara slides down onto a frozen pond. Before doing anything else, get a secret. Just to the left of where Lara dropped down, there’s a sloping opening in the wall (behind some rocks). Climb in, turn around and drop down, keeping hold of the edge, shimmy left and climb up. Crawl through a tunnel until you reach a cave with two wolves. You can kill them, or avoid them if you prefer. Get into a crawlspace in the far corner (Lara can climb into and out of waist-high crawlspaces in this level) and jump out. Take one step into the corridor ahead, then immediately jump back to let a rollingball pass. Get the shotgun (Secret # 1). Return to the frozen pond the way you came.

Head inside the building opposite. Get a small medipack from an alcove near the stairs. Go through the first room and into the second. Pull a pushblock twice so that it falls through a trapdoor and into the room below. (Save and reload as per the onscreen instructions.) Jump down, and move the pushblock onto a marked tile. A ladder appears in the room above. Use the switch to open the trapdoor above and climb up. Climb the ladder till Lara’s hands are on the fourth rung from the top, then backflip to land on the ledge behind. Get the flares, then go to the next room. Use the switch to open a door in the room with the ladder. Drop down and go to the open door. Get the Pearl Key. Go through the second room and climb the stairs to a balcony. Use the Pearl Key, then use the switch (shaped like a shield) inside to open a door in another building. Return outside to the frozen pond.

Walk onto a snow-covered triangular bit of land, and run-jump and grab the snowy rock opposite (remember Lara’s limited jumping capability). Three wolves start wandering around below you. You can shoot them from safety now, or tackle them face-to-face later. Jump onto the next rock, then run-jump-grab the crack on the wall to the right of the door. Shimmy around and go through the doorway.

Pick up the Ruby Key on your right. Note the two swingpoles and the doorway blocked by a flame beyond. Jump down to the side of the spikes (or climb down the nearby ladder and backflip). Use the Ruby Key to open a door. Note the switch high up on a wall. Shoot the pots below it. Move a pushblock so that it’s under the switch, and climb onto it. Save! The switch turns off the flame in the doorway above, but it’s timed. Use the switch, sideflip right, sprint, turn right when you enter the building, climb up the ladder and backflip with a twist when Lara’s head emerges just above the floor above. (If you have done the run correctly so far, save – in a new slot!) Turn left and run-jump-grab the first swingpole. Press jump to jump to the next one. Keep jump and action pressed to land in the doorway, and quickly run inside. If you hit the rotating trap between the two swingpoles, wait a second on the first one before jumping to the second (don’t press jump, but keep the up arrow pressed, so that Lara keeps swinging). If you can’t do it, you’ll have to redo the whole timed run, and hope the trap is in a better position this time.

Get the spear (crowbar). Watch as the flyby shows you where to go next. Crawl under the flame and stand up at the edge of the door. Either jump diagonally to the floor below or to the ledge on the left and then drop down. Get uzi clips in the corridor to the left. Jump into the water below, and then immediately climb up onto the nearby ice floe. You’ll notice a freezing meter while Lara is in the icy water; if she stays in there for more than a few seconds, she’ll start losing health rapidly. If you want, you can get some flares in the water in the SE corner, but you’ll have to swim very fast to avoid freezing.

Swim to the ice floe in the NE corner, near the fence. There’s an underwater tunnel opening just below it. Swim down and through the tunnel as quickly as you can, and make sure you don’t hesitate or bump into walls, or you won’t make it to the next ice floe before freezing. Get shotgun shells and a large medipack from the bottom of the pool (one at a time, getting back onto the floe each time). Swim down a channel to the W, and climb out on the left. Turn around, grab a crack and shimmy left. Climb up and use the crowbar lever. The camera shows some trapdoors popping out of the wall.

Get back to the ice floe, then jump to the snow-covered rock on the E, and climb up to the ledge above. Note the platform above you – you’ll lower it momentarily. Use the trapdoors to get to the other side. Save before you use the switch, as it’s timed. Go back over the trapdoors and get onto the lowered platform, and let it take you to the upper level. Turn to the W and run-jump-grab a rocky ledge ahead. Climb the rocks to find another switch. Return to the platform. Jump over to the rocks on the N side. Climb as high as you can, then run-jump-grab the longest icicle hanging from the ceiling. Turn to face the next icicle, and jump to it (new move), and jump again to the ledge ahead. Go through the door (which you opened with the switch a few moments ago). Use the switch, then safety drop down from the right side. Get the Omega Symbol. A door opens up elsewhere. For a secret: Climb the grey ledge and get into a tiny hole above it in one corner. Get the Golden Amphora (Secret # 2) and some uzi clips, and return to the previous room.

Jump into the water, and climb out at the ice floe in the middle. Swim to the next ice floe. Quickly swim through the tunnel next to it and get onto the next floe. Swim to the cave opening on the SW side. Get into a crawlspace and crawl along a tunnel. At the end, turn right and climb up. Crawl out to the right (if you go left, you’ll eventually come to the spot where you went for the first secret; you don’t need to go that way if you have been following this walkthrough). Go around some rocks, and you’ll emerge where the three wolves were (or still are, if you didn’t kill them earlier). Go through an icicle-filled cave and through the door you opened. Drop down into a hole.

Jump over the icicles, and slide down a slope. Make sure you’re facing upwards (jump with a twist if you aren’t), so that at the end, you can grab the edge and shimmy to the left. Get into the crawlspace and use a switch to open a door above. Hang from the edge of the crawlspace and press down. Lara will jump backwards and land on a ledge behind her. Climb the ladder. Get the uzis from the far side of the room, then go through the open door. Your prize awaits: the Seahorse Statue. When you take it, two warriors rise up. Kill them, and then go through the open door to end the level.