SPIDER TEMPLE

TR2 Level by Opaque79

Walkthrough by Treeble

Lara slides into a dark cave... and she's readily greeted by three spiders. When the cave opens up, grab the shotgun shells to your right, cross the boarded manhole and take the pathway to the left. Past the breakaway floor, you'll come to a room with two catwalks and a switch at the end. Problem is, there are spinning blades rotating back and forth on each of the catwalks, so time your jumps across and pull the switch in the back, then retrace your steps back to the cave and go straight ahead to find the recently opened trapdoor.

Underwater, find some shells to your left and swim around the rock to find an underwater lever. Pull it to open the double gates across the room, and just as you enter the next area grab the small medipack to your immediate right. Surface and find another small medipack and shells behind the pillars. On the right hand side there's a springboard, line up to the rooftop of the temple and run towards the springboard to be safely propelled up there.

Get the uzi clips and throw the switch at the end to open the doors below, but don't drop down yet. If you turn around, you'll notice a shimmering object on the far corner of the room. Getting there is quite easy: approach the wall near the spring board and jump to the bright flat surface, from there to the end it's a straight line, jumping over the occasional slope, and you'll claim SECRET #1, a gold dragon. Now, it's time to enter the temple...

What was it called again? Ah, yes. Three spiders plus a giant spider show up. Surrounding the dragon statue are two locks for keys we are yet to procure. In the back of the room, get the small medipack and flares and throw the switch by the latter to open the first set of doors in the room. Past the mechanical statues, drop to a lower ledge to gun down the two eager barracudas in the water, then swim around to gather flares and uzi clips. Behind the central pillar is a closed underwater gate, so let's get it open.

Climb back the ladder on the ledge and face the pillar. It's topped with a pair of springboards, so you need to hit it with the right momentum. Hop back once and take two additional steps backwards to an optimal line up, then do a standard running jump. Push the button at the top and the gate opens. Before dropping to the water, turn around and jump to the support beam for more shells and a small medipack.

Through the underwater gate, use the alcove to the right to disarm the boulder right in front of you, then proceed to the next room. You could do it the croft way, by dodging the swinging spikes and the boulder that'll be hot on your heels as you jump to the key in the back, OR you could just take it easy and drop to the edge and shimmy safely all the way to the end of the platform. Once there, a standing jump will get you to the edge of the platform with the SAPPHIRE KEY. The second set of doors in the first room opens, so simply work your way back (again, shimmying past the spikes in case you didn't trigger the boulder), down the ramp to the water tunnel and up the ladder.

Another giant spider has been alerted to your presence and, when you cross the next set of doors guarded by the mechanical statues, a bald eagle wants in on the action too. Get the flares on the left and follow the ledge up to the right, where you'll find a row of uneven breakaway floor tiles. Quickly navigate past them and jump to the ladder ahead and pull up at the top. Before crossing the bridge, inspect the corner ahead of you: behind the overhanging rocks you'll spot a small alcove housing the silver dragon. Take an angled running jump from the bridge and claim SECRET #2, then jump back to the bridge and cross it to the other side.

Climb down the ladder and jump over the bubbling lava, but don't stand still when you land. Run towards the shells and you'll be safe from the incoming boulder. In the tunnel beyond, four giant spiders will ambush you. After that is done, inspect the area to spot a trapdoor in the corner and uzi clips near the dark crevice they all came from. Pull up on the rocky pillar in the middle and in the ledges above you'll find a large medipack and the UZIS. Go around the webbed nest and throw the timed switch in the corner to open the trapdoor below, quickly drop safely to the ground and into the water pit below. Get the clips and the GOLD KEY and the gate ahead of you opens upon approach and you're back at the beginning; swim through the passage to your left to find the temple again.

Two giant spiders are roaming free, you can lure and bait them from the water, they don't seem to like it (and if you're lucky, they might even drown themselves trying to get to you). Proceed to the dragon statue in the back and use both keys in your possession to open the underwater trapdoors. Get the uzi clips in the underwater passage and climb out on the other end, where you'll find more uzi clips and flares next to some skeletal remains. Run through the opening to stumble upon a giant spider, then proceed to collect the uzi clips in the corner and light up a flare. You'll easily spot a locked door and a pathway on the side, but right next to this pathway you can climb up on the rocks to an alcove in the ceiling housing SECRET #3, the jade dragon. (If you've gotten all three secrets, you're rewarded with a GRENADE LAUNCHER and a handful of grenades, which will prove to be useful soon.)

Step into the trapdoors near the curtains in the back and they'll fall, dropping you to a trap room below. The spiked wall will remain in place until you throw the switch, which also opens the safe alcove nearby. Quickly get in there and wait until the spikes slide by, then run up to the springboards which were behind it to land on the upper floor. The second spiked wall is already moving, so don't linger around and get to the next alcove where you'll find the DRAGON KEY. The exit door opens, but you might want to grab the extra supplies from behind the wall.

Slide down with your weapon of choice in hands and slaughter the seven giant spiders below. One of them leaves the EMERALD KEY behind; it's your ticket out of this webbed arena. Run in a straight line towards the water pit in the end and none of the ceiling spikes will hit you. Pull out to a new massive room, head right around the pillar for a large medipack (you'll be needing it in a minute). Jump across to the switch in the back, the wall mounted blades will remain off until you throw said switch.

The way back is a hurtful one. You need to line up to land on the central platform with enough room to do next running jump back to the starting position. Watch your health and use medipacks if necessary. Past the gates and over the lava, another giant spider awaits. Shoot it down and jump to the next platform, then go up the ladder. Slide on the roof to grab the edge, shimmy all the way to the right and backflip to a taller platform. Ignore the ladder for now as it's barred by a trapdoor, and instead jump to the nearby pillar and through the opening in the wall to find a switch.

Be prepared to go back to the sill as soon as you throw the switch as a spike wall will move from the side. Behind where it was, you'll find another platform to jump to, and just around the corner is a timed switch to turn off the flames to your left. You need to be quick here, as you need to hop across to the switch on the other end and back before the flames come back up. The trapdoor is now open, so retrace your steps back to that first pillar and climb up.

At the top, you'll be squarely facing a boulder. Run towards it and just wait as it drops through the hole in the floor. Around the corner, save your game. Another boulder, but this one has a buddy ready to surprise you from behind. Run up to the edge of the next hole, wait for a second until the boulder drops and do a standing jump across before it's too late. Keep moving forward and, before you know it, a springboard will propel you up to a ladder, climb it all the way to the top and you'll find yourself back at the temple entrance.

With the dragon key in hands, get back inside the temple, through the trapdoor in the water pit beneath the dragon head and through the rocky tunnel. In the next chamber you'll find the receptacle to the right, use the artifact to open the exit gate. Run up towards daylight and this adventure comes to an end.