THE VALLEY TEMPLE

Level by Osvaldo

Walkthrough by Treeble

You are given two options when booting this level: "Ver.2" features a different playable character and customized items. According to the author, there are no changes to level design so this walkthrough should cover both versions. Thank you, Osvaldo, for the confirmation.

The first half of this level is very reminiscent of Nevada Desert, from TR3, but vastly expanded. From the starting point, walk past the shallow water puddle and grab the SHOTGUN from the one just beyond. Follow the canyons sticking close to the left wall to find a narrow opening leading West, dealing with the small scorpion that comes along.

Just after the bend, notice a pushblock in a small alcove to your right but there's no need to do anything with it just yet. Proceed through the higher ledges and when you arrive at a gap, grab the edge from the platform in the middle and drop to climb into the crawlspace just below. Follow the new path to find SECRET #1: flares, a medipack, and the REVOLVER down the hole. Climb back up and move that one block out of the way, then proceed past the gaps.

Use the monkey swing to get across the water pit and follow the pathways to emerge on an upper level of the canyons. A scorpion scuttles through the bush ahead, just past it make a hairpin turn to the left to find a narrow water tunnel. Swim to the other end and get out of the water into a junction of cave tunnels. To the right is a locked shack and some TNT crates, but do a quick recon run to retrieve a large medipack and shotgun shells at the end as that area will be caved in when you return. Get back to the caves and take the East tunnel.

The next series of canyons might also strike a déjà vu feeling. For now, avoid falling into the water and follow the high ledges around the perimeter. Be careful that after the second jump a boulder will roll down, so roll as soon as you land and jump back to safety to dodge the trap. Cross the natural bridge and up the jutting rocks to reach a crevice on the wall, then shimmy all the way right. You want to get to the source of the river, so carefully jump over the rocks and shimmy around crevices until you get to dry land.

A ninja carrying a small medipack will attack you from the other side of the stream. After killing him, go to the NE corner, near the wooden house, and crawl underneath the rocks to locate a hidden shaft. Climb up and claim SECRET #2: two medipacks and a scorpion. Climb back down and find the water pit near the black edges of the dam waterfall.

Just around the bend, an underwater lever rewards you with a large medipack. Further down the underwater passage, pull another lever and fill your lungs in the nearby air pocket. Dive deeper into the tunnel and pull another two levers as you swim to the other end. The switch opens that wooden building we've just seen, so swim back there and head inside after dispatching the red ninja.

As you cross the door threshold, another ninja attacks. Go to the three empty bookshelves to your right and pull them around to find SECRET #3 hidden below the one in the corner: another SHOTGUN and revolver ammo. Climb the ladder in the corner to stumble upon another ninja and get the BASE KEY behind the pillar.

We're done here, for a quick retreat just take a dip and let the currents take you down the waterfall. There are some supplies underwater and a pack of flares atop rocky ledges on the NE end, but most important is a small passage leading E. As you swim in, a mystery tune plays, so make a mental note of the colored tiles on the wall: white, red, blue. Climb out of the water on the ledge near the waterfall and jump and climb your way back to the cave junction, heading North now.

Use the base key on the small building, kill the scorpion and shoot the grate in the corner to reveal a crawlspace leading to a warehouse. Kick open the door and deal with the dog inside. Now, there are five doors you can open, each leading to a small room containing supplies (and one red ninja will strike at some point). Once all is said and done, head down to the end of the hallway for another door, and press the button to raise the gate blocking the next crawlspace. The crates are empty, and you can press the button to turn on the lights, but most importantly, flick the switch on the generator block to blast those TNT crates. Retrace your steps back out of the small shack and head North to find the new tunnels we've just created.

Mind the two sets of falling rocks and hop over the wall in the back to find yourself just outside a military camp. Go around the fence, noticing a small grotto with a burning barrel along the way. Follow the tunnel and when given a choice, take the left branch to find a trapdoor you can open on the ceiling (the path South leads to the end, but it's not safe just yet). Climb up and drop into the water, pulling an underwater lever behind the black pillar. Swim through the open trapdoor on the SW corner and pull another lever along the way before emerging up on the water tower.

Get the medipack from the corner and heal yourself, if needed, before doing a running jump over the fence to land on the wooden block just behind it, losing about 20% of your max health in the process. A bunch of ninjas and a dog are within the premises, so deal with them and get their loot drops before doing anything else.

We need to restore power, so find a small shack SW, just around the first shack you came to, and flick the switch near the generator. Another ninja later, let's explore every single building. The one right in front of you has a button, which raises a trapdoor. Use the nearby wooden block as a stepping stone to get to the trapdoor and get the DOOR KEY on  the roof. Open the shack with the dish satellite and dispatch the red ninja by the blue billiards table.

Next, flick the switch on the fence to open the gates. Watch out for an attempted ambush from a ninja coming from the garage, then head inside it and kill another ninja lurking in the shadows. Take the TORCH and go into that grotto you saw, just outside the fenced area, to light it up, then go back to the building with the dish satellite and use the torch to trigger the sprinklers above the billiards table (no further use for the torch). This opens the next door, from where another ninja strikes. Use the door key to release a dog and get your grubby fingers on that pretty TEMPLE KEY.

Time for more backtracking. This time, you want to go all the way back to the opening canyons. Kill the ninja, head West through the open gates, through the blown tunnels to the right, past the shack and left when you get to that cave junction, finally swimming to the upper ridges of the canyon again. Carefully drop to the bottom and find the single passage leading East, near the shallow puddle where you found the shotgun.

Follow the tunnel to a deep cave and head under the rocky overhang to the left. Slide-jump to the collapsing platform in the corner and quickly turn to the right, jumping to the next row of broken tiles and to a natural rocky ladder in the back. Climb up and monkey swing to the other end, turn around and spot the next collapsing platform. Jump to it and immediately grab the crevice to the left, shimmy around the corner for the next platform and finally jump to safety.

Place the temple key into the snake receptacle to open the door. Follow down the tunnel, kill the bat and get the flares as you make your way to the back end. Negotiate the series of jumps to clear the deep pit and get to the main temple plateau. There's a side passage to the right just before the main area, but it's a way back for later.

Get rid of the skeleton by pumping it into the void, then climb up the ladder. Remember that colored pattern we saw much earlier on? Yup, activate the huge panels on that same order: white, red, blue. This opens the door just below you, so head all the way down to find four receptacles guarded by a pesky skeleton. Above each receptacle is a different color sequence for the huge panels; you can use the binoculars to make them out but, for your convenience, they're spoiled below. You can do these challenge rooms in any order.

Red, NE door (red, blue, white): this is a string of timed doors. Step on the ornate tile by the entrance and rush down to the door while also avoiding the tiles marked with squares on the ceiling. After the first door comes a set of two tiles, so two doors but same procedure. At the end, examine both of the reach-in holes when the flames are off to retrieve the STONE OF MAAT and open a trapdoor. Throw the lever in the adjacent room and climb the ladder. As the doors are now closed, use the half-sized pushblock to reach the next opening in the ceiling and work your way back to the main temple plateau.

Pink, NW door (white, blue, red): a simple dash with a boulder on your heels. When you spot the lever in the distance, be ready to hop over the spike pit! Throw the lever, get the STONE OF ATUM and head back up the slope.

Blue, SW door (blue, red, white): find the ladder in the back corner and work your way all the way to the top of this shaft. It's not particularly difficult but it will require a few shimmies around corners and twisting backflips off hanging pillars; just be patient and save often. At the top, monkey swing the crawlspace and find the STONE OF RE after throwing the lever. Crawl back out and mind your way down safely.

Green, SE door (blue, white, red): swim through the tunnel and get the flares as you climb out of the water. You need to get across this seemingly empty tunnel, and the only way to do so is using the three invisible floating platforms. Use flares or the binoculars to spot them; the first one is three blocks away from the South wall. On the other side, flick the switch to flood the room. Swim through the crawlspace to find the chamber with the lever and the STONE OF KHEPRI. As you pick it up, two ninjas break in, so dispatch them.

For the final secret, you need to input any wrong sequence (eg. red, white, blue) to open a fifth door South in the deep pit. It's a maze, so follow this map:

In addition to SECRET #4 (small medipack and shotgun shells), there's also a switch to reset the panels, should you ever need it.

With all four stones in your possession, head down the door below the huge panels and place them in their receptacles to open a side passage. Drop inside, kill the bat and slide down to a room with a ceiling trap. Immediately interact with the three reach-in holes to make good your escape. Time your jumps past the squishing blocks, kill another bat, and finally claim the McGuffin, aka THE SERPENT STONE. A ninja opens a door back in the military camp, so let's check out what he's hiding.

Go through the newly opened side door and flick the switch to lower a trapdoor just before the slide. Retrace your steps back to the temple plateau and enter the tunnel to the left of the red challenge room. Take the first left and climb the rocks until you reach an apparent deadend; the red floor tile lowers a block to provide a shortcut. Follow the rocky ledge to the left and upwards to exit the temple.

When you get to the rocky platform over the deep pit, jump to the passage to the left. A lever will lower another block and bring you right back to the entrance of this area. Head left and climb up the rocks and you're back at the canyons from the very beginning of the level. Remember how to get to the camp? (If not: make a hairpin turn to the right and find a narrow passage near the SW end of the canyon, past the gaps and the monkey swing to reach the upper ridges and down into that narrow water pit. Head North in the caves, past the blown TNT, and you're in the settlement.)

The ninja will be waiting for you in that very first shack, the one with the raised trapdoor by the rooftop. Inside, flick the switch and a flyby will show mines being blown up as Lara's motif plays. Get back outside the settlement and follow the fence back to the water tower access, but instead of heading up the open trapdoor, head straight South and through the narrow pathway where the mines used to be to reach the end of the level.