TR-CHAPTER LEVEL 2

Level by Sascha Wandelt

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth

NOTE: To start playing after installation, select "New Game" from your opening menu and click on the first appearance of "Ves." However, the level shows up as "Amun's Palaces" in your Load Game screen.

Lara begins facing west on a large balcony. There's nothing to do here right now, although you'll notice a shimmery square near the SW corner, indicative of a rising block or pillar for later use. Also, you'll see an opening in the ceiling high overhead. Go to the east edge and safety drop to the floor below. Pause for the small medi-pack near the NW corner and head for the east corridor. Shoot the small chest in the corner for some shotgun ammo, then turn left in the corridor and go a short distance until you reach an opening to your right. Go inside and use one of the wading pools on either side of the stairs. That way you can avoid awakening the skeleton that would otherwise appear if you were to use the stairs. Pull up, turn to face the east wall and step forward to drop down into a trench partially filled with water.

Take a deep breath, then dive down and swim through the north passage. Follow until you reach a major intersection with three closed doors. The door to your left (N) leads to the TEMPLE KEY, the door to your right (S) leads to more shotgun ammo, and the door straight ahead (E) leads to the next area. All three doors can be opened by swimming right up to them and pressing the action key. After obtaining the key and the ammo, you'll probably need to return via the west passage for some air before continuing. When you're ready, swim through the east opening into a huge underwater area as ominous music plays.

Swim across and up to the SE corner and locate the opening in the "ceiling." Pull up and use the Temple Key in the receptacle at the end of the short passage. (According to many of the reviews, you'll encounter on two occasions what I've dubbed the Key Math Bug: You pick up one key, then another, and your inventory still shows that you have only one key. 1 + 1 = 1. To avoid this, always look for and use a key receptacle for the key you've got, before you pick up another key.) No screen shot, so you have no idea what you just did. Reverse roll and jump back into the water.

Swim over to the SW corner, and this time go down instead of up. You'll see a shallow depression where you'll find the next TEMPLE KEY. Pick it up and go straight up to a companion opening in this corner. Pull up, run to the end of the short passage and use the Temple Key in the receptacle. Hmm, still no screen shot. Reverse roll, jump back into the water again and swim down into the SE corner and locate another shallow depression where you'll find the SHOTGUN. Now swim over to the middle part of the south wall, where the underwater gate leading to the temple has been raised. However, before going inside explore the ledges above for some uzi ammo and three stashes of shotgun ammo.

Swim inside the temple and surface. Pull out at the south end and go to your right down the corridor and enter a neat little maze. Take the first left and note the obvious moveable block in the corner to your left. Don't attempt to move it now, however, but instead turn right at the block and go around to the alcove on the other side of the block. Pull the block once into the alcove, then return to the corner on the other side where the block used to be. Enter the revealed passage and active the jumpswitch on the wall at the end. A screen shot shows a block rising back where you began the level. However, you still need to find a way to get out of here. Reverse roll, exit this passage, turn left, then right, and follow the passage until you reach an intersection where you can turn either right or left. Continue forward and make the left turn to find another moveable block in an alcove. You have room to maneuver here, so pull the block out twice and then pull it away from the passage it was blocking.

Go inside and locate another jump switch. Active it, then return to the wider hallway. Take the north path and follow until you reach another crossing. The left fork leads to a dead end, so turn right and follow to a T-intersection. Turn left (other way is another dead end) and basically follow your nose along a number of twists and turns until you reach another intersection where you can turn either right or left. Look right down the passage and you'll see another moveable block. Go over to it and pull it out once to open up a passage for later. Then reverse roll and return to the previous passage, and follow it a short distance until you come upon another moveable block in the wall to your left. Push it in as far as you can, then reverse roll and go back the other way, accompanied by some tom-tom music that indicates you've done everything just right so far.

Turn right at the T-intersection, then pass the crossing to your left and continue until you reach the next crossing. Take the first left, then make left turns at the next two T-intersections. When you make the second one you'll be looking into the room with your next task.

Go into the room and pull up onto the sloped pillar to your right. Immediately back flip onto the higher flat pillar behind you. Take a running jump and grab to the block ahead. Pull up and use the ladder to access a short passage above. Walk to the end, jump up and grab the ceiling. Monkey swing forward, past the hanging foliage, as an enigmatic tune plays. Follow the ceiling path to the left as the camera angle becomes fixed. Continue until you run out of handholds and drop down to the balcony where you began this level. Climb up onto the raised block and activate the jumpswitch on the nearby pillar. Safety drop back down to the lower floor as you did much earlier, reverse roll and enter the wide passage. As you near the end a flyby gives you a preview of the next room, ending with an upper door slamming rudely shut and a central pool down at floor level.

Shoot the nearby chest for some shotgun ammo and go down the stairs into the next room. Head across to the SW corner and activate the jumpswitch you'll find on the south wall. There's now an opening in the pool, so dive in and follow the tunnel to a small room where you can pull up. Activate the reach-in switch just ahead and back flip into the water to avoid the beetles that pour out of the hole. Swim back through the tunnel to the pool and pull out. Use the raised blocks on the west side of the pool to access the upper ledge. Turn to your left and run to the SE corner, where you'll find another reach-in switch. Activate it for a cut scene showing that upper door opening again, and run all the way around the ledge to the opposite NE corner and go inside.

Follow the passage and shoot the small chest for more shotgun ammo. As you pick it up a harpy is alerted, so put that shotgun to good use and dispose of it. Go past a very interesting statue, pause to admire the wall paintings, and head up the stairs to the north. Follow the passage until you trigger a flyby through yet another huge room. Tis room boasts a bigger pool with a central fountain, and there are openings in the walls on either side of the entrance. The east opening to your right leads to a chest containing uzi ammo at one end and a spiked hallway at the other, for which you'll need one of those wind-up beetle toys.

Turn around, run through the large room and into the west opening. There's a hallway on either side. Take the right passage and enter an area giving you two choices. Straight ahead is an opening to a room with a closed face door, so turn left and be careful of the blade trap at the opening. Once inside, ready your shotgun and open the sarcophagus for some shotgun ammo. A skeleton is awakened to your right, so get on the other side of it and blast it into the small pool with your shotgun. Then activate the jumpswitch in the NW corner and dodge the blade trap once again. The face door is now open, so turn left when you get outside, go up the stairs and into another huge room, this one a little darker than the others.

There's an opening in the north wall that's too high for you to reach at the moment. In the south wall on the opposite side is a short shimmering block underneath a ceiling ladder that crosses the room. Your apparent task is to raise that block so you can monkey swing over to the opening in the north wall. Go the central part of the room and climb up onto the east block facing the entrance. Holy smokes! A coil of fire extending to the ceiling appears around Lara, as well as her clone that magically appears on the west block. What's more, that raised block you were needing has materialized, so go to the south wall, pull up onto the block and use the monkey bars to cross the room.

Drop down into the passage, take five steps forward, turn around, and jump up to grab the higher ledge. Pull up and run out into the huge room. Turn left, approach the center of the room and take a running jump across to the facing ledge. A harpy is alerted from above, so draw your shotgun and get rid of it. Go to the south wall and pull up into the opening. Run up the ramp to your right into a still higher level. Note the passed-out skeleton and shoot the nearby chest for a small medi-pack. That doesn't rouse the skeleton, so continue along the ledge and jump across to the central portion. That does rouse the skeleton, as well as another harpy, so do what you have to do to eliminate them both.

Look around and you'll see a closed face door on each of the three facing walls. There's another passed-out skeleton near the chest in the SE corner, and a jumpswitch to the west that you can reach from here. First, however, take a running jump over to the east ledge and shot the chest for some shotgun ammo. Run back along the ledge to arouse the skeleton, then blast it over the edge with your shotgun. Jump back to the central platform, and make sure Lara has plenty of health before activating that jumpswitch with a standing jump. You'll drop down to the second-tier ledge, so turn around, jump across the gap and go back to the opening in the south wall. Return to the third tier and find that the west face door is now open.

Jump across and enter the west doorway. Activate the reach-in switch at the end of the short passage. Now what did that do? Reverse roll, go back out to the ledge and hop over to the central platform. The area to the east is darker than the other side. Walk up to the edge and look for a similar jumpswitch. You squint, and you look, and you look again, and you'll swear there's not a jumpswitch there, but trust me, there is. Beef up on health, center up and take a standing jump into the gloom, and you'll grab that second jumpswitch. You'll drop down to the second-tier ledge, so get back up here via the south opening and find that the east face door is now open. Go inside and arouse a skeleton. Maneuver it to the edge of the ledge outside and blast it over the side. Then go in and activate the reach-in switch to open the third and final face door in the north wall. Go there and activate the reach-in switch for the WINDING KEY.

Safety drop to the second-tier ledge, then go through the north opening and down to the ground floor, and exit through the east doorway. Go down the steps and turn right to enter the doorway guarded by the blade trap. An underwater passage next to the sarcophagus has been opened, so swim inside and pick up another shotgun for SECRET #1.

Return to the previous room, go past the blade trap and bear right to go up the steps. Follow the passage into the anteroom, and continue across into the south passage. A harpy has been alerted down in the next room, but it may hover near ground level and force you to come to it. Safety drop to the ledge below, which will bring you close enough to the harpy to kill it. Note the shimmery north half of the ledge, indicating a block to be raised later, and safety drop to the floor. Raid the small corner pools for a small medi-pack (SE), flares (NE) and shotgun ammo (SW).

Open the door in the SW pool and swim to the end of the passage. Pull up into an anteroom. Run straight ahead through the opening and the door will slam shut behind you. Endure the tedium of pulling and pushing the large urn in the middle of the room to each of the four dark corner tiles. A block is lowered in the floor near the west wall, so drop down onto the block and hop to the floor below. Use the two reach-in switches in the east wall to raise the door in the room above. Run past the cascading beetles and hop back onto the block. Use the ladder in the west face to climb back up to the higher room while the frustrated beetles scurry about in anguish.

Go through the new opening in the east wall and jump into the water. Swim down and along the passage until you return to the SW pool in the previous room. Go over and jump into the NW pool, and open the door you find there. Swim inside and pick up the large medi-pack and the flares. Return and pull out of the pool. Note that a bridge now spans the room from north to south. Use the ladder on the east face of the column to access the bridge. Pull up, turn to the right and jump into the north opening. Pick up the MECHANICAL SCARAB, which alerts a harpy outside. Jump back down to the bridge and dispose of the harpy. Then turn to face east, and you'll see that the block has been raised on the ledge. Take a running jump and grab the ledge to the right of the block, then climb up onto the block and use it to exit this room.

Go through the passage to the anteroom and turn right into the room with the large pool and the central fountain. Go around the pool to the other side and go through the east opening. Turn left and stand on the scarab tile in the narrow hallway. Combine the mechanical scarab and the winding key and place the device on the tile. Your little toy will trigger the spike traps in the hallway and come to rest on the other scarab tile at the end. Go through the hallway and pick it up, then continue into the next room.

Draw your shotgun and kill the harpy, and note the closed doors in the NE and SE corners, with a pole receptacle near the latter. Raid the tomb between the two doors for the PHAROS KNOT, then go up the stairs in the NW corner. Step forward into the next area and you'll alert another harpy ahead. Run down the north hall to engage it in battle, and note in passing the face door to your left requiring two keys to open it. After killing the harpy, continue around the hallway and stop to pick up the large medi-pack past the large plant on your left. You should have known that this would alert another harpy, so turn around while drawing your shotgun and kill it.

Go through the opening in the west wall and enter a room filled with greenery. One would think you could jump to the upper opening to your right, but Lara's feet seem to sink into those steps and you can't quite reach it. Go down to the other side of this L-shaped room and activate the jumpswitch you'll find on the wall near the NW corner. This raises a door, a block and a skeleton in your immediate vicinity, and the skeleton will begin gleefully to hack you to bits unless during the flyby you turn to your right and hop onto the block, then take a standing jump to the crack in the north wall. Shimmy to the right around several corners, with the skeleton dogging you all the way, until you reach that opening near the entrance to this room.

Pull up inside and shoot the two chests to your left. One contains a small medi-pack. Go up the ramp through the opening in the north wall, and mind the blade trap at the upper end. Raid the tomb for the ORNATE HANDLE and escape before the skeleton you arouse has time to do significant damage (it won't follow you down the ramp). Hop down to the room below and run past the first waiting skeleton to the open doorway around the corner. Mercifully, the skeleton won't follow you inside to the next room.

Inside are three hallways where you can put that beetle toy to use. Start with the hallway in the north opening and neutralize the spikes. Be sure to pick up the scarab at the other end and continue into the next room. Go up the ramp past the north opening and don't pause before entering the next room at the top, as there's another blade trap guarding the entrance. Pillage the tomb ahead for the GATE KEY. Remembering the Key Math Bug, let's go back right this minute to that closed face door you saw not long ago. The spikes you've already activated remain inert, so don't worry about them. The skeleton, however, will follow you to the face door, so put as much distance between yourselves as you can before approaching the lock next to the face door and using your key. Nothing happens, because you need to find another key to place in the lock on the other side of the door. Leave the skeleton in your wake as you dash back to the safety of the spike trap room.

Go back down the now-safe north hallway and go through the west opening in the next room. Follow until you reach another ramp guarded by a blade trap at the upper end. Raid the tomb inside for a second PHAROS KNOT, then go back down the ramp. The opening up the steps to your right leads to the next hallway with spikes, but there's no need for you to waste your scarab toy on it (you can only use it one more time). Instead, take the long way around to your left. When you get back to the entrance to the spike trap room, go across and locate the third spike hall just past the small pool in the SE corner. Hop over to the scarab tile and place your wind-up toy. Pick it up at the end and continue into a small room for SECRET #2. A cut scene shows a section of flooring falling away somewhere. Step forward and raid the tomb for some flares, a large and a small medi-pack, and scads of shotgun ammo. Before leaving this area, try using your mechanical scarab in the useless west hallway and watch it blow up.

Go back to that room with all the greenery where you left the skeleton, but if you're lucky the skeleton will be off exploring elsewhere and won't be alerted by your presence. Drop down into the opening you created in the SE corner and pull up onto the ledge for SECRET #3. Shoot the chest for a large medi-pack, then take a standing jump and grab the floor's edge. Pull up into the room and retrace your steps (at this point the skeleton will probably show up, so you can blast him into that hole in the floor if you wish) to the area where you found the first Pharos Knot. The door in the NE corner is now open, so go inside to enter a large, dark room. A flyby accompanied by eerie music gives you a foretaste of what's to come.

Go to the urn at the south wall (noting the closed face door in the SE corner) and push it onto the dark tile in the SW corner. This raises a block against the north wall. Climb onto it and push in the moveable wall block as far as it'll go. Turn to your right and push the next moveable block as far as it will go. Reverse roll and go back along the passage. Just before you reach the lone yellowish block to your right, stop and push the first two brown blocks one time each. Then turn right and pull the next brown block out once. Run around to the revealed passage and activate the reach-in switch. Now return to the previous room, and you'll find that the central portion of it has been lowered. Safety drop to the lower section and locate the bay of four reach-in switches in the west wall.

Counting the switches from your left, starting with 1, activate the switches in this order: 3, 2, 4, 1. (Thanks to eRIC for this information. He says that these combinations also work, although since the first one worked for me I didn't try the others: 2, 3, 4, 1; 2, 4, 3, 1; and 2, 4, 1, 3.) Use the ladder in the NW corner to climb back out, and go around the ledge to the open face door in the SE corner.

When you emerge through the passage in the next room, Lara begins acting as if she really wants to go primp in front of that huge mirror off to her right. However, there are disguised spike traps in between that are visible in the mirror but not to the naked eye, so you need to be careful. The main problem is getting Lara's attention away from the mirror. Run straight ahead, down along the back row of the lower tiles of the mirror room (where Lara loses interest in the mirror), and turn right to run along the east tier of the lower tiles. Stop when you reach the third tile from the end. In the mirror you can now see the reflection of a key, so turn to your right, take a standing jump over the adjacent tile (which is spiked) and land on the tile with the second GATE KEY. Pick it up, jump back to the previous tile and retrace your steps to the entrance to the mirror room.

Go through the passage to the reach-in switch room, and leave via the west opening. Follow the passage to the next room, bear right and head up the steps, and place the Gate Key in the unused keyhole next to the closed face door. The door opens, so go inside and shoot the two chests against the west wall for some shotgun ammo. Shooting the third one will just release a plague of beetles. Now open the tomb against the north wall to gain the HATHOR EFFIGY and awaken the nearby skeleton. You remember where the receptacle is, so run out of this room and back down the stairs to the right. Stand in front of the receptacle (at a slight angle), combine the Ornate Handle and Hathor Effigy, and place the PORTAL GUARDIAN in the receptacle. The door to your right opens silently, so go on inside.

The chest at the foot of the steps is empty, so continue around to the right and go down the ramp into the next room. Walk up the stairs and approach the throne, whereupon a flyby freezes your movement while two doors open to release a pair of DEMIGODS, one of which immediately starts firing at you (the other remains inert until you kill the first one). As soon as camera control is restored, draw those fully loaded shotguns and blow the first demigod away, then do the same to the other one.

Go into the east chamber vacated by one of the demigods, raid the tomb for some flares, then turn around and place one of your Pharos Knots in the wall receptacle. Then do the same thing in the west chamber (shotgun ammo here instead of flares). An opening has been revealed in the area in front of the throne, so drop down inside, run toward the darkness to the south and slide down the slope to end the level.