ACCESSING

 

Level by Noe

 

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth

 

 

Slide down to somewhere in the Ural Mountains. Hop down N and deal with a yeti waiting down below. Hop into the shallow pool and crawl N to an outdoor area where it's snowing heavily. Continue N and ignore for now the opening to your left. Turn right there and run under a rock bridge.  Loop around right past a fenced area and hop up SE onto a snow bank to attract a vulture.  When it's dead, locate the E opening near the spot where you hopped up and enter a ramped passage.  Shoot a leopard and a large bat in the lower cave.

 

Pull up into the NE crawl space and drop down the other side for a KEY of some kind.  Go back and run up the ramped passage to return outdoors. Slide down N, loop around left and run W to that opening you bypassed earlier. Loop around left once inside and use the Key to lower a trapdoor next to a closed gate.  Drop down three times and shoot two rats.  Stand facing N as close to the middle as possible and save your game.  Slide down the slope and jump with a roll over the blades so you land facing backwards. Two boulders are pursuing you by now, so grab the edge and stay put while the boulders tumble overhead. 

 

Climb down and enter the crawl space.  When you can stand, hop down into a passage and jump N over the openings (it doesn't matter if you miss).  Step out into a lava room with poisonous air.  Use the ledges to make your way quickly to the other side and crawl forward to emerge in clear air. Take the large medipack from the raised slab for SECRET #1 and return through the lava room the same way you came.  Climb the ladder and take a rolling back flip to grab the N ledge.  Pull up for a small medipack and step out into the opening that overlooks the lava room (at this height the air is clear). Take a running jump NE to the first sloped ledge, slide and jump three times in succession and curve right from the third ledge to land on a flat surface.

 

Stand back in the corner and jump slightly NE to grab a crack in the wall.  The air is poisonous here, so quickly shimmy right around two corners and pull up N.  The long ladder leads to a dead end at the top, so climb up about halfway, hang left and take a rolling back flip to grab the S opening (there's a crack behind the ladder to help you). Pull up and follow around to a small medipack.  Pull up W, back flip off the slope and jump off the slope behind you to grab a ladder.  Shift right and drop down into a higher passage with a jump switch.  Save, then activate it to open a timed gate at the bottom of the N passage.  Hop back while turning slightly left, turn back right and jump to grab the opening, pull up and don't jump, but allow Lara to slide down the slope.  Run forward upon landing to get past the timed gate.

 

Run along the stone bridge toward an iris door.  Before you reach the end of the bridge, turn left and run off into the freezing water below.  Quickly turn left and swim S to where you can pull out.  Someone may or may not be shooting at you.  Run toward the W cave and shoot two giant bats. Inside the cave, locate a pushblock on the ledge overlooking a lava trench and pull it S to reveal a second pushblock. Push the first block S and pull back the second block. Shimmy around the second pushblock and drop down onto the ledge in the far corner. Push the second block S, get up on it and find a third pushblock. Pull it N, jump up to hang from it and shimmy around right to the other side. Drop down onto the ledge and proceed down the E opening to a wall switch.  Pull it down and return. Push the third block to reveal a crawl space that allows you to get back to the area with the frigid water.

 

Jump into the water, swim forward and turn left past the broken W fence. Surface and pull out to shoot a rat. Pick up the KEY on the ledge and swim back past the broken fence.  Turn left and swim through the narrow opening where the water is no longer freezing.  Continue NW until you can pull out into a small cavern for SECRET #2.  Grab the UZIS and uzi ammo and return to the freezing water. Swim straight across S and pull out where you did earlier. Turn around and save your game for a tricky running jump to that rock outcropping ahead. The idea is to jump off the sloped rock and grab a crack in the E wall.  Shimmy left to a raised cage, pull up onto it and run off left into the dark N opening.  Use your Key to open the gate and proceed N.

 

Note the closed gate ahead and turn right to find two pushblocks in a side passage.  Pull the one to your right (S), return to the main passage and find a third pushblock (with the tell-tale circular piece).  Push this one two times and go around to the side passage. Push block #2 back to its original position, go around to the main passage and pull block #2 to the spot originally occupied by block #3.  Go around again and push block #2 into the main passage.  Finally, go around and push block #2 S toward the entrance to get it out of the way.  Go into the side passage and pull block #1, the one you haven't touched yet, two times. This reveals a passage with uzi ammo at the end.

 

Go out to the main passage and push block #1 two times back to its original position. Step to your right and pull block #3 two times. Go around it to find a revealed passage with a wall switch. Pull it down to open the gate at the end of the main passage.  Proceed.

 

Climb the N ladder and shoot a couple of giant bats after pulling up. Take a running jump over the waterfall and grab to pull up into an alcove. Save your game, use the ladder to shift around left through a fixed camera to the other side of the pillar, back flip (with Lara's feet on the bottom rung of the ladder) onto the waterfall after checking out of the corner of your eye that the W flame blower is off, slide and jump with a right curve onto the slope and immediately back flip onto a flat surface before the flames return. 

   

Turn around and hop up NW into the alcove.  Grab the crack in the wall and shimmy left over the flame blower. Pull up into a crawl space and crawl forward to greet two rats at an intersection.  First, crawl forward W for a large medipack. Return to the intersection and head S to find a crawl space on either side. Go right (W) and drop down into a lower room guarded by a bat.  Pull the block out of the way and pull down the wall switch to lower a trap door. Get up onto the block and pull back up into the crawl space. Return to the intersection to find the lowered trap door at the N end.  Before going down, enter the crawl space to your left (W), drop down and shoot a bat.  Pull the block back to reveal the CROWBAR.  Replace the block, climb back out and return to the intersection.

 

Drop down through the opened trap door and shoot two soldiers. The middle cell E contains a rat. Pull back the skeleton so you can pick up the SHOTGUN and shotgun ammo. Go to the S end of the cell block to find a pushblock in the wall just to the right of the suspended cage.  Pull it back twice and go over it into the revealed passage. Drop down through the crawl space at the end and shoot a bat in the sewer.  Follow past a closed gate on your right to a waterfall and pull up left into the crawl space partially obscured by foliage.  Draw pistols and shoot a rat before crawling forward.  When you can stand up, use the crowbar to pry the pentagonal MIRROR off the wall and to open an underwater gate.  Return through the crawl space to find an opening in the E sewer wall that wasn't there before.  The opened gate is just beyond, so swim into the passage and follow around until you reach an underwater lever to your left (N).

 

Pull the lever (no cut scene, but it lowers a cage in a previous area) and go back for air.  Return along the sewer to the crawl space by which you entered.  Pull up inside, run along the passage and hop over the pushblock, turn right and locate the wall switch revealed by the lowered cage.  Pull it down (sound of a gate opening), turn to your left and loop around right into the short E passage.  Pull up right at the end into an opening and follow the winding steps up to the opened gate. Go on through to engage a soldier.  Enter the SW opening and shoot the barrel in the W alcove for uzi ammo. Stand at the S opening that overlooks another room and shoot another soldier down below.

 

Hop down (the opposite S opening is for later) and run SE across the room.  Pull down the wall switch to open the large wooden doors to your left (again, for later).  The W wooden doors require two gems, so pull back up into the N opening and return to the previous room.  Pull down the wall switch to the left of the fireplace and go through the opened gateway into a room containing a plinth guarded by an electrical system.

 

Stand on the raised platform facing W and step back until you trigger a fixed camera. Jump up to grab a ladder on the ledge spanning the room.  Shimmy left to a jump switch, where the camera returns to a normal view.  You're slightly below the jump switch, but if you release the action key for an instant and press it again, you should activate the jump switch and open the E gate behind you.  Go outdoors and shoot a soldier to your left. Pick up the small medipack he drops. Enter the NW opening and go up the ramp to alert another soldier. There's a closed gate at the top of the ramp, so hop down and find a ladder leading downward next to the S wall. Climb down, hop into the shallow stream and follow it around to another closed gate.  Go back a bit, pull up onto the E ledge and find a wall switch (faint sound of a gate opening, but not the one you just saw).  Go back to the ladder, climb up to the previous area and go all the way up that ramp.  Voila! The gate at the end is now open.

 

Enter the next room.  Shoot the SW barrel for uzi ammo and shotgun ammo. Go to the NE corner, face E and jump up to grab the crack in the wall.  Shimmy right until you can pull up into a crawl space in the SE corner.  When you can stand up, run S and drop down the crawl space at the end. Push the floor lever to open a gate within earshot.  Use the monkey bars overhead to get back to the crawl space.  Return to the previous room to find that a trap door in the floor is now open. Face W at that side, hop back and press the action key to glide down onto a stable surface. Run forward and turn right to pull down a wall switch that floods the area below.

 

Go back, run off to drop into the water and pick up the MIRROR SUPPORT on the NE slab. Go ahead and combine it now with the Mirror, even though you'll have no need for it until much later. Surface and pull up into the room above that displays more electrical activity. Go up the S steps and climb the ladder until you can back flip into an upper passage. Run forward, turn left and pull down the wall switch. Reverse roll, loop around left and slide back down into the water.  Pull out once more into the electrically-charged room and this time climb the N ladder. Back flip near the top and go around to find a wall switch that lowers a trap door next to a ladder.

 

Go back, climb down the ladder and find a one-eyed demigod on the electrically charged platform. You need to lure it off the platform before killing it. When it dies, the platform remains electrically charged, so hopefully it was somewhere else when it died so you can pick up the KEY it dropped. Go up the steps into the W opening and use the Key to open the gate. Run along the familiar trench and pull up left to the ladder at the end.  Climb up to the outdoor courtyard and loop around left into the room with the electrically protected plinth. Continue across through the W doorway, angle left and cross the room to the SW opening, hop down into the room and up through the S opening, turn left and find an opened trap door.

 

Use the ladder to climb down and drop to the floor below.  Reverse roll and follow the passage around to an opening just before the closed gate ahead. Enter and pull down the wall switch, then pull up into the crawl space for a large medipack. The gate remains closed, so go back the way you came, pull up into the alcove, back flip into a higher alcove and jump to grab the ladder. Climb up and shift right to drop down into the upper passage. Hop down N to the room below, turn right and go outdoors. Step a bit to your right and jump up to grab the monkey bars on the underside of the bridge and draw the fire of a soldier down below.  Drop down, dispose of the soldier and then monkey swing E to the other side.

 

Drop down, hang from the wall's edge near the tree and release to grab the disguised crack below. Shimmy right around two corners and drop down next to a shallow stream. Follow the stream and crawl through to a confined area.  Pull back the skeleton and pick up the HAND OF ORION (1 of 2). There's a small medipack in the W barred alcove, together with a wall switch on the right that opens the large wooden doors above you.  Return through the crawl space and stand at the edge of the waterfall.  Take a running jump slightly NW (no grab) to land on the weeds growing on the rock bridge. Go N toward the iris door, then W to the ladder. Climb up to the balcony and monkey swing E back to the other side.  Go through the opened wooden doors.

 

In the next room is an empty barrel to the left, but shooting and approaching it attracts the attention of a soldier in the far corner. There's a fixed camera in the central part of the room. At the E end is an opening that overlooks a large underground room. Step onto the threshold, turn around and face the wall at the left corner.  In an earlier version of this level you were able to jump up to grab a lowered section of the overhead ledge, thereby enabling you to avoid some of the intended gameplay in this room.  That option has been removed in the revised version, as you can see if you now attempt to jump up and grab the ledge.  Stand at the NE corner of the lower ledge and take a running jump NE to grab the ladder just above the hanging vines on the corner block.  Climb and pull up onto the block.  Turn around and jump W to the ladder on the next block.  Climb up a bit and shimmy left around two corners to the other side.  Back flip onto a ledge near a jump switch.

 

Activate the jump switch to raise the platform across the room in the SW corner. Both the switch and the platform act as if they're timed, but not to worry.  The platform will indeed drop after a few seconds and the jump switch will return to its original position, but if you continue to wait you'll see the platform rise once more and this time stay put.  Jump E to grab the ladder, shift right around two corners and make sure Lara's hands are slightly above the lower edge of the gate to her right.  Take a rolling back flip and grab the crack in the E wall.  Shimmy right and drop down onto the ledge. Hop to the smaller S ledge and turn right.  Wait until the flames subside and take a running jump to the raised platform. Crouch to avoid the returning flames. When they subside once again, stand and take a running jump NW onto the upper ledge.  Vault up onto the platform and take the first EYE OF ABYSS PIECE to open an underwater gate.

 

Take a running jump (to avoid the ledge below) into the water. Look under the W ledge for a small medipack and swim into the opened SE gate. Turn right into the second alcove and squeeze past the triangular opening. Surface for air in the underground room and take the left (SE) passage to come to a fork.  Take the left one (SE) and wade out into a passage. Follow around to your right for SECRET #3 and go down the stairs. Shoot the barrel for a small medipack, return to the water and loop around left. Swim into the SW opening and surface. Wade out into a small courtyard, turn around and take a running jump to grab the vines in the N wall. Climb and pull up to an outdoor area and a fixed camera as Lara's theme music plays.

 

Hop down to restore camera control and locate an opening near the NE corner. Jump N over the slope and go down W and then N to find a wall switch. Pull it down to open a nearby but out-of-reach gate.  Return to the outdoor area the way you came and pull up S onto the ledge to get that fixed camera again. Run forward and left to drop down into the deep water. Exit this area and loop around left to pull up into the W opening.  Shoot the leopard from the entrance and step forward into an underground room. Enter the opened W gateway, loop around left and pull up into the higher opening. Continue climbing until you reach a ladder. Climb up to an icy outdoor area.

 

Take a running jump SE to land on a small flat surface. Stand jump S and walk toward the S wall as far as you can.  Take a curved running jump W from there to the brown triangular ledge.  Run forward into the freezing water and quickly swim around left, down the hole and through the broken fence into a pool where the water becomes warmer. Loop around right and pull the underwater lever near the NW corner. Surface for air, then swim back through the broken fence into the icy water, up the hole and loop around right to return to where you started.  Jump NW over the water to a flat corner ledge, turn right and stand jump SW to the slope inside the tunnel, slide and jump S to land in the window ledge. Turn around and take a running jump NW to a ledge on the other side of the brown slope (the current will grab you if you miss), followed by another running jump W to a flat surface.  Hop up S where the weeds are and note the overhead monkey bars.

 

Watch out for the illegal slopes in this area. Face W with Lara's heels next to the slope behind her, side step right and back flip onto the slope. Without sliding, jump and grab the monkey bars.  Monkey swing W and drop at the end.  Climb up right, turn to face slightly SE and jump to grab the ledge. Pull up, turn to face SW and jump to grab the top of the icy slope.  Pull up and slide down into an outdoor area.  Shoot the soldier on your left and run E toward the closed gate.  Hop up SE onto the ice ledge and follow to the lone tree.  Turn left and find the crack in the wall.  Take a running jump to grab the crack, then shimmy right around the corner and drop down onto the ledge. Hop down N into the courtyard and shoot the soldier.  Pick up the KEY he dropped and approach the W gate to open it.  Don't exit, but go to the pushblock in the N wall and pull it two times.  Go around it into the revealed alcove and use the Key to open the trap door in the corner to your right.

 

Use the ladder to climb down past the opened trap door. Drop the rest of the way to a familiar underground pool.  Go around the ledge to the plinth and pick up the HAND OF ORION (2 of 2). Go back to the NE corner (you can reach the ledge against the S wall, but there's nothing to do or find up there) and jump up to grab the ladder. Climb back up to the previous room and exit W through the opened gateway. Loop around left past the dead bush and slide down to a lower valley.  Find the W opening and enter.  This time the trap door is closed and the NW gate is open.  Follow the N passage and side jump over the swinging blade. The gate at the end is closed, so pull up E to find a wall switch.  Pull it down to open the gate.  Get down and slide down the slope. Jump over the blade and slide down to a familiar spot.

 

Use the timed jump switch to get past the N gate once again, then run across the rock bridge toward the iris door.  Turn left and use the ladder to climb back up to the terrace.  Enter W through the opened wooden doors and run across the room to the closed wooden doors.  Insert the two Hands of Orion in their receptacles to open the doors. Go on through to trigger a flyby through the next room.

 

Jump into the water, swim N toward the raised cage and loop around left to find an opening. Swim past the broken gate and follow the passage to a room where you can wade out.  Shoot a bat and take the cog (here called the HAND OF SIRIUS) from the plinth. Return to the water and swim back to the previous room.  Pull out, jump to the ledge with the raised cage and walk E over a brown tile (actually a rising platform) toward the cog structures you can see in the far wall.  Turn left after the brown tile and hop to the N alcove.  Pull up right into a crawl space hidden by the weeds and crawl a short distance to an opening. Drop down the other side and go around to find a second cog (HAND OF SIRIUS). Go back through the crawl space and in the previous room jump E to the cog structures.  Insert the cogs on the vacant poles to lower the platforms behind you.

 

Jump over to the alcove in the S wall and place the Mirror on the stand (brief screen shot of the area behind you).  Move the stand N past the lowered platforms onto the marked tile to lower the cage to your left and allow access to a jump switch on the N wall. Get on a nearby ledge and take a running jump to activate the jump switch. A platform lifts up the Mirror, which in turn extinguishes the electric force field guarding the second Eye Piece that you encountered much earlier. All you have to do now is find your way back there, but it's not far away.

 

Exit this room E, hop up left into the N opening, turn right into the room with the fireplace. Continue across diagonally to your left and exit E to the next room.  The second EYE OF ABYSS PIECE is there for the taking.  Go back the way you came and in the main hall (the one with the large wooden doors at either end) turn left and exit E to the outdoor balcony. Turn left and climb down the ladder.  Jump NE down to the iris door. Combine the two eye pieces and place the EYE OF ABYSS in the receptacle.  Run forward into the passage to end the level.