RETURN TO THE TOMB

Level by TRLE Maker

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth, with the help of Doggett TV's video walk

Lara drops down into a small cave with a closed door. Follow the S crawl space to an area where you can hop down for flares and shoot a scorpion. Push the floor lever in the short SW passage to open the door in the first cave. Return there and follow down to an underground lake and another closed door. Jump into the water, swim into the N opening and go around to pull out left in front of another floor lever that opens the second door. My, isn't this exciting?

Return to the lake, swim NE and pull out left. Hop to the opened door and go up the ramp to a passage lined with breaktiles. Run over all three of them and enter the room ahead. Shoot the jackal and the NW jar for the SHOTGUN. Note the closed door and return to the breaktile passage. Hang from the first hole, release and allow Lara to slide down several connected slopes as you hear a trap door opening. When you reach the bottom, jump over the lava hole and keep jumping back and forth about a dozen times until the trap door closes again and you can slide down safely.

Pull into the S crawl space, stand up and climb the long ladder to a dark passage leading to SECRET #1. Shoot several bats and roam the area for a small medipack, a large medipack and 3 x shotgun ammo. Drop down the SE hole into the underground lake you explored earlier. Return to the room where you got the shotgun as described above, jumping over the breaktile holes this time, and use the raised block S to pull up to the higher ledge. Go around left and use the W reach-in switch to open the door below. Safety drop to the floor, enter and come to a wide bridge that crosses a lava pool.

Go toward the other side, look down right to find an extended ledge in the lava and jump down to it. Climb the S ladder, take a rolling back flip near the top and grab the N ledge, pull up and run forward to find a wall switch that opens a gate somewhere. Go back, jump to grab the ladder, climb down to the ledge and jump the blocks in the lava toward the W wall. Take a running jump NW to the corner ledge and enter the crawl space. Pull up right three times and come to a passage guarded by a flame blower. Time a run past the blower and follow to an opening. Take a running jump over the lava to the bridge down below, turn left and find the opened gate.

Shoot two bats inside, pick up the small medipack, note the closed door E and the nearby pushblock in the S wall for later, and go through the W opening and up the ramp to a hub room. Turn left and go through the N opening up to a room guarded by two jackals. Note the spike-protected ledge in the upper wall and find shotgun ammo near the NW corner. Pull down the W wall switch to raise a timed block behind you in the E wall, run to it and jump onto it to reach the upper ledge, time a running jump to the spike-protected ledge, followed by an immediate jump to the NW corner ledge. Pull down the wall switch, go back the way you came and continue around the upper perimeter of this room in a counterclockwise direction to the SE corner.

Pull up N onto the ledge, go around clockwise this time and jump to the column when the flames are down. Hop forward to the W ledge, pull up left and take a running jump SE to grab the ledge there. Pull up in front of a wall switch that lowers a trap door above the previous ledge, jump back there via the flaming column and pull up N to the uppermost ledge in front of a closed door. Jump the ledges E for flares, return and make your face to the SE corner where you can pull down a wall switch to open the NW door. Go there, side flip past the blade-trapped hoop and pull up right or left into one of those gigantic circular rooms with the roller blade going up and around.

Starting E, make your way up to the top of the room while avoiding the rolling blade on its circuits. When you get to the top, pick up the small medipack and drop down W while staying close to the wall. Stand jump over the gap and continue down the ramp. Turn the corner and stay left. When you hear the burst of action music, run down and jump over the spike pit as two spike balls roll down behind you. Enter the next room and take CARTOUCHE PIECE 2 from the plinth. Go back up the ramp, slide down left and drop down into a trench. Go up S, side flip past the blade-trapped hoop and emerge overlooking a familiar room.

Use the ledges to make your way down to the floor. You can probably target and shoot two or three of the four jackals prowling about below from the safety of the first row of ledges. Exit S to the hub room and turn left into the W opening. You'll come to a room with shimmering floor tiles. Without stepping on any of them, shoot two jackals and go around right into the S side room with burning reach-in switches and a shallow water hole at the end. Save your game before proceeding.

Turn right (E) and use the dormant switch in the middle. Wait for the flames in the left switch to subside and reach in for a large medipack. Hop back, turn around, face W and use the switch on the left. Hop back, turn around to face E again and wait to use the switch on the right. Finally, face W and use the right and middle switches. Return N to the room with the shimmering tiles. There should be a sputtering blue light in the ceiling. If not, you did something wrong in the room with the reach-in switches and will have to reload and try again.

Turn left, then right and face the tile W that now has a different appearance (second row from the right, second tile in). Stand jump onto it and side flip right onto the ledge. There are two more similar tiles. Run W to the closed tile, turn around and hop onto tile #2. Stand jump NE onto tile #3 and hear the sound of the door opening. Jump back to tile #2 and from there toward the opened doorway. Enter to find a scorpion and the RA CARTOUCHE. Exit to the tile room and E to the hub room. Turn left and enter the S room for an interesting color-based puzzle.

Make a note of the colored floor tiles and their order as you progress through the room: blue, white, white, red, blue and blue. Turn left at the last floor tile into the S side room and note that you have three choices. Go through the middle alcove, corresponding to the first floor tile you saw, and you'll magically face a similar scenario. Repeat five more times, choosing the proper alcove in its order. If you've done it right, you'll emerge after the sixth such foray in a room with a chain that opens the door in the hallway with the colored floor tiles. Exit N to the hallway, turn right and go past the opened doorway for CARTOUCHE PIECE 1. Combine the two pieces you have to form the BA CARTOUCHE.

If you want to take a brief detour for a secret, return to the S side room and go through the alcoves in this order: white, red, red and white. You emerge in a room with three jackals and an awakening mummy that you can easily avoid for SECRET #2 (if there was a clue for this, I missed it). Pick up the extra SHOTGUN, shotgun ammo, 2 x small medipack and flares, exit this room and loop around left past the colored floor tiles to the hub room. Turn left and follow E to a previous room with the SE pushblock that was noted earlier.

Pull the block into the room three times, then move it W four times to rest beneath a ladder. Use the block to reach the ladder, climb up to the S opening and hop down into a dark room with a statue. Turn left, side flip past a blade-trapped hoop in the passage and turn right at the W wall. Follow up to a hallway where two scorpions attack. A jar in one of the side alcoves contains flares. Turn around at the end of the hallway and stand jump to grab the ladder. Climb up to an upper alcove, jump up to grab the ceiling and monkey swing past a couple of flame blowers. Drop down into the short W passage and use the reach-in switch with no indication of what if anything happened (but a door has opened).

Safety drop to the hallway and follow the passage N to the opened doorway. Enter the next room, use the reach-in switch to open another door and pull up into the dark W crawl space for a small medipack and shotgun ammo at either end. Go across the room, pull up into the E crawl space and follow to drop down onto a ledge in the pushblock room. Follow the ledge around for flares and save your game in front of the wall switch for a timed secret. Pull it down, hit the look key to kill the cut scene, safety drop to the floor, reverse roll to exit S and sprint across the bridge, turn left at the end into the next room and turn left again to dash past the timed SE door for SECRET #3 before it closes. Collect flares, 2 x shotgun ammo and a small medipack as your reward. Use the wall switch twice to re-open the timed door and exit to the bridge.

Go back across to the room with the pushblock, turn right and go past the opened E door. Follow the passage to a room with a sarcophagus. Place the two carotouche artifacts in the S receptacles, not to open the door between them but to raise blocks in the passages leading to the E and W side rooms, each of them containing a pushpiece. Move one statue into the main room and place it on an ornate tile so that it faces the sarcophagus. Move the other statue into the main room and place it on the other ornate tile. The S door opens, so enter to take the ANKH from the plinth and watch the concluding flyby.