THE CITY OF GODS 3: THE UNEXPECTED (L'IMPRÉVUE)

THE CITY OF GODS 4: THE GATES OF THE FORGOTTEN CITY (LES PORTES DE LA CITÉ OUBLIÉE)

Levels by Claude Gross

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth. My gratitude to Moonpooka for her persistence and skill in ferreting out and conquering that superhuman timed run for the second secret. I also found the previous walkthrough posted here to be extremely helpful as I made my way through these taxing levels.

L'IMPRÉVUE

Lara begins underwater, facing north with no air hole in sight, so you can't waste time sightseeing. Swim straight ahead to the north until the current sweeps you to the oval opening. As you enter a large underwater chamber a couple of sharks come up to sniff out the situation. Continue swimming straight ahead so you don't get caught up in the swirling currents on either side, and before long you'll come to a sunken rusty derelict. When you're about to run into its side, turn to your left and swim down to the corner, where a third shark is now swimming up to investigate.

Locate the small opening into the sunken vessel near the sea floor and swim inside. Just inside to your left is a hard-to-see wall lever; throw it to open a trap door in the floor a little farther on. Just beside the trap door opening is an air hole which you'll probably need to use about now. Then, with the shark nipping at your heels, swim down the shaft and note the large medi-pack at the bottom. Don't pause to pick it up yet, but swim out into the interior of the vessel and turn left (west). In the juncture at the end of the first steel crossbeam is a wall lever to your right. Pull it, then swim forward and turn left (west again) into the juncture at the end of the third crossbeam and pull the lever on the west wall. Now reverse roll and swim back up the shaft for some air. Use a medi-pack if necessary to restore Lara's health from the inevitable shark attacks, then swim back down the shaft and pick up that medi-pack at the bottom.

Hug the right (east) side of the vessel this time, and note the plug for tro-online.com on the wall as you swim by. When you reach the last crossbeam swim up and locate the opening as Lara's theme music plays, signifying that you've done well to get this far and that now we're ready to get down to serious business.

Pull yourself out to find yourself in an enclosure above a section of the vessel that's only partially flooded. Use the ladder at the break in the railing to climb down into the lower area. Splash over to the work desk near the NW corner and pick up the CROWBAR. Hop over the nearby red steam pipes, which will scald you if you get too close, and stand on the right side of the three dark shelves. Pull the first one out two times, then run around, hop over the pipes again and pull back the second one once to reveal a button. Push it, and you'll hear the sound of a nearby gate opening.

Reverse roll, jump over the pipes and splash over to the stairs at the SE corner. Turn right here and find the now-open gateway. Go inside, hop carefully over the steam pipes and climb up onto the block against the west wall. Step in front of the wall switch and save your game for a timed run. Light a flare, pull the switch, hit the look key to kill the cut scene, reverse roll, take a running jump over the pipes, sprint up the stairs and down the hall and scoot into the last doorway on your left before the door closes. As you enter, a cut scene shows a working underwater fan that will suck you in and slice you to ribbons if you jump into the water in this room. The flaming pipes to your right guard a scroll, and if you climb up onto the structure on either side you get a brief remote camera shot.

Climb up onto the structure to your left (north) and drop down onto the ledge on the other side. Turn to face the red dot that's located at about eye level on the side of the structure, draw your pistols and shoot it. Now crawl back over the structure and approach the timed door by which you entered. It opens automatically from this side, so go through and note the now-open doorway across the hall.

Enter and take note of the short burst of action music. Two SAS come out from either side of the pillar with the strange brass sea serpent attached to it. Kill the SAS and pick up the small medi-pack dropped by one and the shotgun ammo dropped by the other. As you do so you note the other brass sea serpents in this area. Go past them into the next room, and Lara's attention is attracted to a burning sea serpent on the wall to her left. Go past the benches and jump into the water. At the bottom of the submerged stairs is a wall lever. Pull it to open the gate to your left, and swim inside.

The two openings, one on either side, are decoy traps, as swimming inside either one will cause you to be sucked into a killer fan. Instead, open the near door to your left as you pass through the open gate, and swim inside. Turn to your left and locate the wall lever. Pull it to trigger a cut scene showing a door opening outside. Before proceeding further, exit this room and turn right through the open gate and up around the stairs to grab some air. Then return and swim through the last door on the right that you opened with the wall lever. While triumphant music plays, enter a larger room and locate two pairs of facing wall levers, one pair in the middle of the north wall and the other in the middle of the south wall.

Pull the NE lever to open the NE door in the hall outside. Since you're probably about to run out of air at this point, return through the open gate to fill Lara's lungs. Then come back to the previous room and pull the NW lever to open another door. Swim back to the hall and go across through the now open NE doorway into what looks like a war room. Swim all the way across, past the large map, and locate the opening in the NE corner. Swim to the end of the short tunnel and head upward until you reach some air. Stop to get your bearings before pulling out into the next room. You'll see the swinging spike barrels directly in front of you, so pull out on the right side.

Turn to your left, time a run past the spike barrel and then turn to your right when you get past it. Pull up onto the crate and note the nearby floor receptacle for your crowbar. Use it to open an underwater door elsewhere. Hop down and skirt the next couple of swinging spike barrels until you reach the north wall of the room. Throw the wall lever for a cut scene of the submerged area that will be drained once you find and throw two more switches. Play chicken with the spike barrels once more as you make your way back to the water hole. (There are no pickups on any of the crates along the way.) Jump into the water and swim all the way back and up the stairs for air before continuing.

Now swim back to the room on the far right of the hallway, and pull the two facing wall levers on the south wall of the room to open another underwater door and a trap door. Then swim to the SW corner of this room and go through the opening there and swim up alongside the submerged ladder until you reach another room. Pull out and quickly kill the SAS, then push the button on the wall to the left of the three lockers. A cut scene indicates this is the second trigger required to drain the area down below. Search the spacious bunks before you leave, for a large and a small medi-pack, some shotgun ammo and the SHOTGUN.

Swim back down the shaft and through the room below into the hall, turn left and re-enter the NW room that you accessed by opening the door earlier. Inside you'll find the trap door that was opened with the wall lever in the previous underwater room. Swim up and pull out into a dark passage. Light a flare and run to the other end to find a wall switch. Throw it for an extended flyby showing that the area outside has now been drained. This includes the area right behind you, so use the ladder to climb back down to the room below.

Go to the north wall and stand in front of the empty shelving on the far left. Pull it out to reveal a crawl space. Go inside and use the ladder at the other end to climb up into a fancy office for SECRET #1. Take the UZIS from the small credenza on one side of the desk, and some ammo for it from the one on the other side. Go into the NE alcove beside the bookshelves and pry the GOLDEN STAR off the wall. Now go between the bookshelves against the east wall and take the crossbow arrows, the revolver ammo and the grenade gun ammo from the small table.

Climb back down the ladder, reverse roll and use the crawl space to return to the now-drained room. Exit this room and cross the hall into the room on the other side. You come to a gauntlet of flame-blowing pipes. Here's how I got across safely. Wait until the first set of blowers subside, then quickly run forward across the pink tile. You don't need to fool around with the second set; simply jump over the pipe on either the left or right side. Stand in front of the third set, wait until the flames subside completely, and run forward across the next two pink tiles but stop before you get to the third one. If you stand here and wait, the fourth set seems to spew out flames constantly. However, I found that if I saved here and reloaded, the flames went out for some reason, so I quickly ran forward across the third pink tile (which makes the final blower set stop emitting flames for a few seconds). Continue forward, push the button and step back quickly before the flames resume. (In case you didn't have a chance to look at the cut scene, what you've just done is to open doors at the top of two ladders, one of which you'll find in each of the two killer fan rooms off the drained main hall outside.)

Getting back is easy; just use either aisle and take standing jumps over the pipe sections. However, don't get too close to them, because they're red hot and will set Lara aflame.

Exit this room, go back into the main hall and cross directly over through the middle doorway in the north wall, into a room where earlier you would have been sucked into a killer fan. There's a ladder just to the left of the entrance, so use it to climb up into a ramped area where you can see a button far across on the north wall. Use the bars overhead to monkey swing over to the other side, then drop down and push the button. A gate opens nearby, so monkey swing back over and locate the new opening in the west wall near the top of the ramp. Enter the theatre and shoot the boxes on the ledge as you make your way around the balcony area to the other side. (The first box contains some grenade gun ammo; the others are empty.)

On the other end of the balcony, go past the doorway to your right for the time being and head down the stairs ahead. A gate opens in the corridor to your left as you near it (and stays up), so go back up the stairs and turn left into that room with pipes and hanging rusty chains. Look around to get the lay of the land. On the ledge to your right you'll find two facing wall switches separated by crates (making it impossible to get from one to the other without hopping down to the floor). In the next alcove to the right is a pipe that you have to hop over to get to the ladder on the wall to your right. If you climb up the ladder you'll find another wall switch at the end of the short passage. All three of these switches are timed. Finally, in the last opening to the right is a pipe spanning the room with a closed door in the far wall. You should shoot the box in the back corner of the main hallway to give you some extra running room for the task to come, although it's empty.

Now go back to the balcony area and exit through the east doorway to the ramped area. Climb back down the ladder and return to the main hall. Go across and enter the middle doorway in the south wall into the other room with a formerly deadly killer fan. Use the tall ladder near the entrance to the left to climb up into a new room. Pull up to face a row of burner plates. Go to your right and vault up onto the safe plate and turn right to face the wall switch. Throw the switch to extinguish the flames for a short while, then reverse roll and sprint across the temporarily dormant plates to the room on the other side.

Face the second wall switch and save your game here. This switch is the key to gaining the next secret, which is a harrowing experience to say the least (as it's combined with another grueling timed run that is necessary for you to conquer in order to progress in the level). If after a number of attempts you decide that getting the secret is simply not worth it, nobody will hold that against you. You may wish to save periodically in different slots as you dash through this timed course. Just remember that you have 90 seconds from the time you throw this switch until the secret gate closes.

Throw the switch, reverse roll and scamper across the burner plates and go quickly back down the ladder (releasing and grabbing, as opposed to climbing down, to save precious time). Exit this room and turn left in the main hall. Sprint up the stairs and in the next hall above take a right just past the first pair of sea serpents through the open gateway. At the top of the stairs turn left into the room with the three timed switches and climb up the ladder to stand in front of the wall switch at the end of the short passage.

Now for some additional timed run fun. Actually, it's one of the toughest ones I've ever encountered, quite apart from the added challenge of the timed secret. You need to throw all three wall switches in the correct order to open a couple of doors and turn off a flame trap in the passage between the two, all for a mercilessly brief span of time. So throw the first wall switch and reverse roll, run forward and don't waste time climbing down the ladder. Sacrifice a little health by running off the edge to the left (to clear the pipe below), reverse roll as soon as you hit the floor and sprint back down the hall, angle a jump to your left onto the north ledge and throw that wall switch. Turn to your right, run off the ledge and make a quick hairpin turn to the right and jump between the crate and the table laden with paint cans and throw the south wall switch. Side flip to the left and sprint forward down the hall to the south end. Turn right, hop over the pipe and sprint through the two-door passage into the next area. TIP: The back door, opened by the third switch, is on the shortest timer. I therefore suggest that you save in a different slot the instant you reach that third switch (without having lost time by stumbling along the way). By so doing, you can reload from that point and devote all your energy to this final concentrated burst of speed.

Don't stop to catch your breath in the hallway beyond, as you're still on a timed mission to get the next secret. Turn right and ignore for now the SAS who immediately comes out to challenge you. Sprint past him and take the second left into the next room before the gate closes, for SECRET #2. Kill the SAS when he follows you inside, then pick up the CROSSBOW, some crossbow arrows and shotgun ammo. You can ignore the ominous footsteps that sound as if they're very close by. (They are, but they're coming from another SAS in the next room, and he can't get to you.) Return to the hall and turn left, run north down the hall and take another left at the bend in front of the closed gate. Keep running and you'll be warped to the next level.

LES PORTES DE LA CITÉ OUBLIÉE

Follow the passage and make two right turns. You come to a pit with goodies at the bottom, but it's guarded by a perpetually burning flame. (You'll earn a SECRET down there if you can find out how to extinguish the flame.) Hop over the pit and run up the incline and through the opening onto a balcony. You'll get a brief cut scene showing an alerted SAS, followed by a lingering flyby of the room beyond that concludes with an awakened dragon while action music plays. The camera then shifts back to the SAS, and you have to hit the look key to restore camera control.

You're engaged in a staring contest with the dragon, so turn right and run to the buckled end of the balcony while a plague of locusts released by the dragon descends upon you. Angle Lara slightly to the left and take a running jump across to the south balcony where you see a break in the railing. Turn left and run to the other end while the dragon belches out another dose of locusts. Throw the floor lever and reverse roll. Go to the south wall and jump up to grab the crawl space. Pull yourself through the grate and crawl forward. Take a left and then a right. When you pass the grate on your left you'll get a cut scene of another alerted SAS. When you pass the second grate you'll be able to stand up, so run forward and use the right side of the ladder on the south wall.

When your hands are on the third (counting from the top) charcoal gray strip, take a back flip into the opening behind you. This short passage is a dead end, so turn to face the wall to your left. Take an angled standing jump with grab to land inside the opening below. Don't move for a few seconds, and wait until the switchblade ball attached to a rope chain drops down and the blades have popped out. If you've jumped to the center of the opening and are standing near the edge, you shouldn't be injured at all. Crouch down and crawl east underneath the switchblade ball, past a grated trapdoor in the floor and the left passage just beyond that (for now, anyway). When you near the active steam pipes at the east end, you get another long flyby as you stand up and run forward.

Time a run past the steam pipes and climb down the long ladder on the south side of the wall at the end of the corridor. Use the crawl space to access a small area where you find a dead soldier still gripping his weapon. Pick up the REVOLVER and some ammo for it, together with the LASER SIGHT, then push the button on the wall at the NE corner (which releases more locusts) and activate the jump switch high up on the fan grill. A cut scene shows the area back in the higher crawl space with the steam blowers, and the fan blades start turning slowly in front of you. Return to the ladder via the crawl space and Climb back up. Run past the first set of steam blowers and note that the trapdoors just beyond are now open.

Take a running jump to clear the steep gap, then hop back to grab the edge of the west wall and climb down to the bottom of the shaft. Hit the look key to restore camera control, then turn to your right and use the crawl space, taking a bend to the right and continuing to a point where you can stand up. Here you'll have to endure another flurry of locusts, but they won't hang around for long.

This next room is heavily guarded. Turn to your right and climb up onto the block and pick up the uzi ammo. You'll probably alert the sentry gun perched to the SE on the other side of the room, but you're near the edge of its range and should endure only a short burst. What you need to do to get rid of it will take some guts. Get as close as you can to it without actually drawing its fire, then make a mad dash across the open floor to safe refuge on the other side of one of the dark gray columns that flank it on either side, as more locusts attack. Then, to avoid the deadly flames that emit from its barrel, I'm afraid you're going to have to endure more punishment as you crawl to the nearest side of the structure on which the sentry gun is perched. When you get there, continue crawling around the structure, hugging the edge for dear life as you go. When you reach the other side, you can stand up safely, calmly combine the revolver and the laser sight, and blow away that bastard by shooting the gas pack mounted on its rear. Then climb up to where it was and pick up the KEY RING as an explosion is triggered somewhere (which actually closes off the crawl space by which you entered this room). Turn to face north and note the receptacle on the left wall of the adjacent structure.

Now go to the other side of this room and climb up onto the similar structure against the north wall. Pull down the wall switch to open the adjacent door and attract yet more locusts. Go inside the next room to trigger a flyby that features a submarine, an underwater iris door, and a facing killer fan. After camera control is restored, turn left and run down the passage and then turn right to run up a wide ramp. Go inside the opening ahead and turn right to head down the dark passage and trigger a repeating cycle of action music. (If you turn left, you'll attract more locusts prematurely.) Turn left at the bend and enter a dark room with a number of crates neatly arranged to your left.

Run straight ahead to the other side of the room, and you'll see a closed metal gate. In front of it is a large medi-pack, which you probably need. Look toward the west side of the room and you'll see a pipe emitting a steady stream of flames. If you approach it you'll start hearing the crazed screeches of the nearby dragon, and its locusts will be sent periodically to plague you. Go back to the entrance and locate the five crates so neatly arranged near the SE corner. You'll find the TORCH on top of the SW crate, so pick it up and take it over to the flaming pipe across the room. Avoid the nearby circular saw, not to mention the locusts, and light the torch (by approaching the pipe from the side and not by trying to use the actual flames) as the dragon protests wildly.

Go around the flaming pipe and locate the sprinkler head mounted on the bottom of a ledge on the north side of the crates. Use the torch to set off the sprinklers, and at the same time you get a cut scene showing a metal gate opening. Hop back and you'll see another cut scene, this one showing a jump switch higher up in this room. Your torch has been doused by the sprinkler, so toss it aside. Go back to the SE entrance to this room and bypass for the moment the new opening to your left. Turn right and run west to the other end of the dark passage (passing a closed gate on your left) and turn right at the bend. The raging sounds of the dragon are getting louder, and that's because you'll emerge on a balcony in the dragon's lair.

Quickly draw your combined revolver and laser sight, and blow up the nearby sentry gun to your right. Then duck back to safety in the passage before the dragon can spew you with its fireballs. Then run back out to the other end of the balcony and throw the floor lever there, and reverse roll immediately and dash back to the passage. Now return to the entrance of the room with the crates and turn right into the new area you bypassed just a minute ago. Stop to pick up the large medi-pack, then turn left and push the button to activate an elevator.

When you stop rising, note the closed door behind you and then run along the passage until you come to an opening overlooking the crate room. Jump to the alcove to your left, and then to the adjacent one to your right. If you're the cautious type, you can turn around, hop back to grab the edge, and shimmy around to the adjacent alcove without risk. The next alcove is a little trickier, though, because you'll encounter one of those large swinging hooks. However, you can easily evade it by pulling up to the left or side side. Then simply walk straight forward, turn around and repeat the shimmying procedure to reach a ledge guarded by another swinging hook. Carefully pull up in the corner and turn to your left. You'll see a lone ledge against the west wall, and above it is the jump switch you saw in the cut scene earlier. Wait until the hook swings back, then take a running jump and grab to the ledge. Pull up and activate the jump switch as more locusts attack in a fury.

Retrace your steps to return to the elevator. The door that was closed earlier is now open, so go inside, use the crawl space and lower Lara down the other side to be warped back for some unfinished business in the first level.

L'IMPRÉVUE

You drop down into a corridor you've already visited. You now have the key to the door ahead, but for now run past it and go south down the long corridor. Turn right at the end and use one of your keys to open the door. You now meet the source of those ominous footsteps you heard just before you warped to the second level, so draw your weapons and eliminate the SAS. Go inside and take the LABORATORY KEY from the small credenza with a brass sea serpent on either side. Now go back to the closed gate at the other end of this corridor and use one of your remaining keys to open it. When you go inside you get a flyby showing a number of alcoves with buttons to push, but it doesn't seem to be important that you push them in any particular order, as will be explained shortly.

On the cement ledge you're standing on, there's a closed door in the east alcove. There are also three ropes strategically located to give you access to the button alcoves. (There's also a presently unmarked ladder going down to the room far below from the NE side of the cement ledge, but you're not supposed to know that yet.) First, walk out to the north edge of the cement ledge and angle Lara to the right. Take a standing jump into the alcove slightly above you and push the button. Jump back to the cement ledge. You can use the first rope to swing across to the first alcove in the west wall for some revolver ammo, but if you push the button there you'll summon a giant flying bug. Wait until it's in the alcove with you before you kill it, for it's carrying a large medi-pack. Then take a running jump back to the rope, swing back to the cement ledge and release. Walk out to the NW corner and face the second rope. Take a running jump to it and grab it, then turn Lara so that she's facing the second alcove in the west wall. Swing toward it, jump off and land inside the alcove. Push the button there, then reverse roll and take a running jump and grab back to the second rope.

Turn to face north, swing forward and jump off to grab the third rope, then swing forward again and release to land on top of the large structure with a work table on it. Sidestep in front of the work table and pick up the JACK HANDLE. Finally, walk to the east end of the structure, take a standing jump into the nearby alcove and push a third button. Jump back down to the structure and turn left to make a running jump and grab to the nearest rope. Turn to face west and swing toward the alcove on the far right. Release to land inside and press the button. Jump back to the rope, turn all the way around to face east and swing toward the second alcove from the left. Release to land inside and press the button. Hop back, grab the edge and use the ladder to climb down into SECRET #3. Shift either left or right to drop down between the boxes, then shoot them for some crossbow arrows, a small medi-pack and some shotgun ammo.

Step down into the water and you'll alert a silent, giant flying bug. Kill it, then go over to the SE ladder and climb up to the cement ledge you started from. The door in the east alcove is now open, so go inside. (As you’ve probably noted, four of the six alcoves are marked – 1/2, 2/4 and so on – and two are not. I assume that the four marked buttons turn off the killer fan in the area you need to visit next. It's the act of picking up the jack handle that opens the door in the east alcove. The unmarked middle button in the east wall identifies the long ladders that you used to climb down to the secret and then back up to the cement ledge. The sixth button has no function that I could discern.)

After a cut scene confirming that you've indeed shut down the killer fan, you find yourself back in the balcony area of the theatre that you navigated earlier. Turn right, then left, and run forward and down the stairs through the gate you opened earlier to your left. Turn right and go past the mounted brass sea serpents, turn left when you reach the rusty barrels and go down the stairs to the room where you began your adventure inside the vessel. Turn left into the little room, jump over the pipes and climb onto the metal slab in front of the timer wall switch you've already used.

Do so again, and repeat that tough timed run back into the room at the far left of the hall at the top of the stairs. When you get inside, climb up the structure to your left and jump into the water that's now safe. Locate the wall lever next to the killer fan while you enjoy another plug for tro-online.com on the facing wall. Pull the switch to turn off the flames in the blower pipes above. Climb out of the water and pick up the scroll (or, more accurately, the VENTILATION PLANS) that was inaccessible earlier. You immediately hear footsteps behind you, so reverse roll, draw weapons and kill the SAS who's lurking in the doorway area.

Exit this room. Right outside to your left is a closed gate with a small credenza inside. On top of the credenza is a torch. However, you don't have the required key to gain entry, so turn right and go down the hall past the first rows of barrels and locate the door to your right. You do have a key for this one, so use it and enter. You're in a room with many levels, and a flyby shows you a couple of closed gates, some more brass sea serpents and a bunch of crates and translucent boxes.

Your basic task in here is conquering a block puzzle. There are four translucent blocks at floor level that need to be pushed and pulled to their corresponding tiles near the center of the room. Start with the SW block directly in front of you. Push it four times, then run around to the large center tile and pull the block two times so that it comes to rest in the SW corner of the large tile. You hear what sounds like a gunshot, which means you've done the right thing, and the brass serpent mounted on the adjacent column also lights up. Repeat the procedure with the NW block, then go to the east side of the room and do the same thing with the other two blocks. (To do so, you must make room by moving the first two blocks onto the east tiles.)

When you've finished, you find that the configuration of the room has changed considerably. Go back to the SW entrance and locate the nearby climbable surface. Use it to access the next higher level of this room. There are four more translucent blocks here. Just push each one onto the large interior green tile, which triggers flashes of blue electricity each time you do it. (When you push the first two, simply hop back, jump and pull up to the third level, run across the slab to the other side and jump down, and turn around and push the other two.)

When that's done, climb up to the third level again, jump across to the west side, and use the monkey bars to go the rest of the way into the now-open north alcove. Drop down inside and throw the floor lever to open the east gate below. You can safety drop from here if you like, at the cost of a little health, and run toward the open east gateway. Drop down into the water hole inside and swim through the short north passage into an outside area. Keep going straight, and Lara's attention will soon be directed downward toward the ocean floor. At about the same time a shark will come over to dine, so quickly swim down and pick up the CLEF EN ARGENT MASSIF. Flip turn and swim back to the safety of the passage into the vessel. (The shark will follow you inside, but it's too smart to go all the way in where you can pull out and shoot it.)

Pull out, run back through the room where the blue electricity is still very much active, through the west opening and left between the barrels to the closed gate. Use your most recently acquired key to open the gate, then step inside and pick up the TORCH. Hop back, turn right and run west through the room with the mounted sea serpents and into the next room with the benches where you find a couple of lighted sea serpents on the facing walls. Use one of them to light the torch, then go back in the direction you came from and take an immediate right through the open gate and up the stairs to your right.

Back in the balcony area of the theatre, go to the west end and locate two pairs of facing sea serpents in the walls of two alcoves. As you face them, light the left serpent in the alcove to your right, and the right serpent in the alcove to your left (in other words, the inside pair). Now go back down the stairs, through the gate and take a right into the room with the green-tinged pillars with all the mounted sea serpents. Light all four of them, and when the last one is lit you hear the faint sound of a door opening ahead down the east hall, left past the barrels and an immediate left directly across the hall from the room with the flashing blue electricity.

You can toss your torch aside, as you don't need it any longer. Go inside the newly opened doorway and use the ladder to your left to climb up a good distance. When Lara's hands reach the end of the gray, and the rusty color takes over, back flip into the passage behind you. Turn around, and you'll see swinging spike barrels in the distance. Turn left into a passage into the next room for SECRET #4. Take the small and large medi-packs from the small credenza against the north wall.

Leave this room and turn left into the passage. Hop over the deep pit and time a run around the first swinging spike barrel. Jump over the next pit and negotiate a tricky running jump with grab over the next pit while evading the second swinging spike barrel. Pull up and continue forward down the corridor. Turn right at the bend and watch the flyby as you enter the next area.

Take a running jump forward to the ledge in front of the closed gate. Turn to your right and face toward the SW, then take a running jump to the ledge against the west wall. (If you fall into the water, you'll be sucked into one of two killer fans.) Walk around the ledge and pull up onto the block for a large medi-pack. Then take an angled running jump to the higher east ledge. Turn left and hop back down to the ledge in front of the closed gate. Step forward and jump straight up to grab the north ledge. Pull up and take a running jump to the next ledge against the north wall. Make your way around the ledges in a counterclockwise direction with fairly routine standing and running jumps until you reach the ledge in front of the flame blower. (You can use the hang-drop-shimmy technique in this area if hopping to the adjacent ledges makes you nervous.)

Wait for the flames to subside, then jump over and continue until you reach the ledge against the north wall. Turn right to find a gap in the force field that until now has prevented you from reaching the other side of this room. Continue along the ledges (squeezing under the ceiling pipe can be tricky, so save before you try that one), this time in a clockwise direction, until you reach the work bench on the ledge abutting the force field. Turn to your right and take a standing jump with grab to the ledge, then pull up and run off the other side to land on a ledge in front of a button. Push the button to open the gate on the other side, then make your way painstakingly back to where you started in this room.

When you've completed the reverse circuit, drop down onto the ledge in front of the now-open gate and go inside to use one of your keys in the keyhole. A cut scene shows that the killer fans have been disconnected, so dive confidently into the water and locate the opening next to the south fan. Swim inside, through the next room and into the opening on the other side. You've now finished everything you need to do in the first level, but there are yet many tasks awaiting you in the second level. Follow the passage down, turn left and swim up, and you'll be warped away from here.

LES PORTES DE LA CITÉ OUBLIÉE

Pull up out of the water into an area surrounded by flame blowers, while that annoying action music starts cycling through again. The east stanchion is a disguised ladder, so climb onto it and shimmy around the corner to your left. Start climbing down, and shift to your left when you reach a concrete slab that connects the wall and the stanchion. Pull up onto the slab for some uzi ammo, then hop back and grab the edge, shift back to the right and climb all the way down to the floor.

As you roam around this room (if you venture too close to the south side you'll get the dragon's attention and the inevitable rain of locusts) you notice that some of the machines scattered about are equipped with levers. There are two near the NW corner, one near the NE corner and the fourth near the SW corner. Pull all but the one in the SW corner. The one near the NE corner gives you a cut scene of a gate opening in the nearby watery area where the dragon lurks; the other two don't provide any clue as to what you've accomplished.

Go to the SW corner and stop at the threshold to pick up the large medi-pack while locusts fly in and out of your hair. Angle to your left as you run across the next room and go to the other side of the central structure. Go inside the opening where the gate has lifted, and throw the floor lever on the right hand side. Now exit this structure and make a horseshoe turn to the left. Against the east wall, near the SE corner, you'll find a column with a climbable surface on the south side. Use it to climb up (on the far right side) so that Lara's feet are above the railing on the balcony ahead and to her left. You're not completely immune to the dragon's fireballs when you get up this high, so quickly back flip to the balcony behind you and push the floor lever you find there. A cut scene gives you a brief look at an area elsewhere.

Take a running jump over the balcony and grab the ladder. Climb down to the watery floor, then run forward along the east wall and turn right at the NE corner into the room with the switches. Run across to the other end to put yourself beyond the range of the dragon's locusts, and push back up the switch facing the north wall in the NW corner to turn off the flames above on this side of the room. Then locate the climbable column against the east wall, next to the column in the NE corner. Climb up, and shift to the right and around the corner when you've cleared the ledge. Drop down to the ledge and discover that a gate has opened in the west wall. The flames previously blocking your access to it have conveniently gone out, so make your way over there and enter onto a balcony in the dragon's lair. Throw the floor lever you find there and retreat to the previous room as another horde of locusts is released.

Shimmy past the flame blower near the entrance, then pull up and follow the ledge until you reach the SE corner. Push the button to open the adjacent gate, giving you access to the room where you shot the sprinkler head earlier.

Turn around and make your way toward the NW side of the flame blower room, where you find another opening. Jump over to it and look down into the next room. There's a dead SAS off to your right, with a small medi-pack on the floor near his body. However, it's a decoy disguising a deadly mine field, so take a running jump to the ramp ahead and keep moving forward as you hear a series of explosions. Straight ahead is a friendly SAS, so you can safely ignore him while locating and pushing the button in the north wall.

Go through the opened gateway on the south side and step up onto another balcony in the dragon's lair. Throw the floor lever you find there and return to the previous room. Go back to the ramp and take a running jump over the row of skulls. You'll trigger another explosion, but it's harmless. Step forward and pull up into the east opening, then jump back to the central area with the small pool. Continue over to the SE corner and go through the room with the crates and the sprinkler head. Keep running south across the room and exit through the passageway. Near the SW corner you'll find a passage to your left that was formerly blocked by a closed gate. Go inside and use the ladder to access a new area. You're met with a sound that's like a machine badly in need of oiling.

Hop down into the room and place the Ventilation Plans on the central podium. A cut scene shows an unfamiliar and as yet unvisited area. Push the floor lever in the north alcove and a door opens down the stairs to the south. Go there and run past the friendly SAS. In the next room, however, you'll encounter three or four decidedly unfriendly SAS, not to mention a sentry machine gun. Stay on this side of the room as you eliminate your human foes and then blow up the sentry gun with your combined revolver and laser sight. Go to the ledge against the east wall, not far from the NE corner, and pick up the CAR JACK. Combine it with the handle now, before you forget, as you'll be using the assembled part before long.

Return through the SW opening down the ramp to the previous room. The SAS has decided to turn nasty, so kill him. Then go to the pole next to the podium and climb up to near the top and back flip into a ventilation duct. Turn around and crawl forward, turn left at the juncture and use the ladder to climb down the shaft formerly blocked by the large trap doors. At the bottom you'll recognize the new area you saw in the previous cut scene. Step up to the brick wall and press action, and you'll surprisingly be prompted to use the car jack. Don't argue; use it to blast a hole in the wall.

Hop back, jump up to grab the metal grate, and pull up into the crawl space. Crawl forward and turn right at the bend. When you stand up you'll find yourself back in the room where you encountered the first sentry gun. Remember that receptacle on the south side of the central structure? Go there and place the Laboratory Key to trigger a continuous set of raucous explosions while a cut scene shows you a button to push. Move away and the ruckus stops. Go to the north side of this room and vault up onto the metal block. If the door ahead is open, ignore the switch to the left; otherwise, throw it to open the door.

Go inside to a room you've already visited. Jump up to grab the top of the wall ahead. However, don't pull up. As you shimmy all the way to the right, you can see the still active killer fan to your left and the submarine floating on the water below. Pull up onto the small corner platform and hop forward onto the ledge below. Turn right and push the button to open the iris door in the water below and, at the same time, turn off the killer fan.

Jump into the water and swim along the east passage. When you get to the natural, craggy section, swim up and look to the left for a small opening. Squeeze through it and swim up into a new area. Pull up and shoot the nearby crate for a small medi-pack, then step forward through the north opening. Pay attention to the extended flyby through the room ahead, then turn around and hop back to grab the top edge of a ladder. Climb down to the ledge below, then drop down to the floor. Go east into an area featuring four Poseidon statues. Locate the block on the south side of the nearest Poseidon statute and climb onto it. Still facing south, angle Lara slightly to the left and take a standing jump and grab to the higher ledge. Pull up, walk forward and throw the floor lever. A cut scene shows an underwater trap door opening.

Note the huge carved stone head beside you. Your next task is to gain entrance to the interior of that head, so go back north to the edge of the runway you're on, and take a running jump and grab to the large ledge overhanging the water. Pull up and make a hairpin turn to the right, hopping to that portion of the ledge where you're closest to that huge flat red tongue. Take a running jump toward the stone creature's snout. Slide down and grab the edge of its nose, then release and immediately grab that unusual square tongue. Pull up into the creature's mouth and crawl forward into its gullet. At the other end, turn around and lower Lara down into an indoor pool area. Reverse roll and jump into the pool. Locate the opening you created in the near left corner and swim inside.

Follow the tunnel until you reach the first intersection. Turn left here, then make two more left turns. Next you make four right turns in succession and locate the nearby shaft which leads you up to air. Pull out into a dark room where you'll find a floor lever. Throw it for a cut scene revealing one of the four tridents you need to locate and collect.

Jump back into the water and swim down the shaft. Exit this area headed east, then turn right and make another immediate right. Continue following the tunnel as it bends to the left, and when you reach your first intersection continue swimming north down the long straight portion to the end. Turn left and look up to locate the opening. Swim up the shaft and pull up into another dark room where you'll a ladder in the north alcove. Climb up into a passage that leads to a ledge overlooking the area with the Poseidon statutes. Activate the jump switch in the south wall to open a trap door in the opposite corner of the large indoor pool you jumped into on the way to the underwater maze area.

Thanks to Lizard Queen for this helpful correction: This jump switch actually does not open the second trap door in the pool, but rather a trap door in the main area leading to another SECRET in the NW corridor of the north beast head. Climb the ladder there for a large medipack and revolver ammo.

Go back through the passage, climb down the ladder and jump back into the water. You now have two means of getting back to the indoor pool via the underwater maze, so choose the one that suits you best and return to the pool. Pull up onto the central fountain and pick up the first TRIDENT (it's easier if you stand at a slight angle), then swim over to the north side and pull up out of the pool. Crawl back through the stone creature's gullet and turn around when you reach the end and hang from the tongue. Drop down into the water, climb out and place the trident in the nearest Poseidon statue. You'll be rewarded with a cut scene showing an iris door.

Turn to the west, jump into the water and pull up next to the block that you used earlier to access the floor lever. Climb back onto it and take a standing jump and grab to the south ledge. Turn around for another running jump and grab to the central ledge. Pull up and go forward to another stone head on the north side. Enter its mouth in the same manner that you entered the other one, and crawl through until you reach the end. Turn around and lower Lara down into a room with a swimming pool and flame blower holes in a central structure. (The east and west faces each have two blower holes, making a total of six.) Since the south flames blow continuously, start with the east face and wait until the flames subside in each hole, then reach inside quickly and make your way around the structure in a counterclockwise direction. When you get to the south face you find that the flames have gone out, so reach inside twice. (Why twice? Maybe for good luck.)

Climb inside the central structure from the south face. (It's very hard to convince Lara to grab, but be persistent.) The fire that was burning in the central shaft has gone out, so climb up the ladder and pick up the second TRIDENT in the alcove. Climb back down and exit through the south opening (as the other blower holes are still operable). Pull up into the south crawl space and return to the former room. Place the trident in the nearest Poseidon statue as you did earlier, and you'll see another static cut scene of the iris door.

Face toward the SW, jump into the water and return to the same climbing block you've used twice already. Use it once again and return to the central ledge, and when you pull up turn left to face west. Enter the third stone beast's maw, using the same technique as you did with the other two. Turn around at the end and lower Lara into a room where a flyby shows the third trident behind a series of closed gates. It's time for another timed exercise. Make a circuit around the central pyramid and you'll see a wall switch on each of the four faces. Begin by facing the west switch with the closed gates behind you.

Throw the switch, hop back, angle slightly to the left and jump over the corner. Run forward and turn back to your right and throw the second switch. Repeat in a similar fashion until you reach the fourth switch (which opens the gate nearest you). Jump over the corner, turn slightly to the left and sprint through the corridor until you've passed all the open gates. Vault up onto the platform ahead and pick up the third TRIDENT.

Many thanks to Alarable for the following tip: After the 4 timed switches, when you reach the third Trident...In the back SW corner there is a jump switch. If you use it then on your way out after passing the second gate, the sidewalls are transparent and you can jump on a block on the left side and get a SECRET consisting of the crossbow, large medi and something else.

Reverse roll and go back the way you came, as on the return trip the gates open upon your approach. Return to the previous room via the stone beast's mouth, and place the trident in the nearby Poseidon statue. You see another cut scene of the iris eye, same as before.

Now make your way to the east end of the room, where the fourth stone beast sports a wall switch on its snout. Use the block to the right to get into its mouth, and crawl forward through its gullet to the other side. Lower Lara down onto a ledge and drop down to the floor below. Locate the climbable surface on the pillar near the west wall and use it to climb up, shifting to the left as necessary to continue your progress. Then shift around the corner to your left and pull up into a dark corridor. Follow the corridor around to the right and climb up onto the ledge at the end. Step forward and you'll find yourself on top of the stone beast's head. Turn around and slide down backwards onto the bridge of its nose. Continue hopping backward until you come down in front of the wall switch. Throw it for a cut scene showing a door opening in a flame blower area.

Stand at the apex of the stone beast's nose, hop back, then take a standing jump forward to land on the bridge area. Run forward and repeat to get to the stable surface between the ears, then take a standing jump forward with grab to get past the ears to the other side. Hop down to the corridor and return to the other side. Turn around and climb back down to the floor. Locate the open doorway in the NW corner and go into the hallway. Time runs past the three flame blowers in the hallway and emerge in a room with a central pillar.

Climb up the pole, and when Lara's feet reach the pink portion, back flip to the top of the column. Turn around, pick up the fourth TRIDENT, then turn around again and jump back to the pole and slide down. Go past the flame blower gauntlet into the SW corner of the previous room. Pull up into the stone beast's gullet and crawl back through to the other side. Place the final trident to open the nearby iris door up in the north wall.

Climb back onto the adjacent block and use it to access the mouth of the east stone beast once more. Crawl through the gullet to the other side, drop down into the dark room and use the climbable pillar to reach the top of the stone beast's head. Slide down to the bridge of its nose and walk out to the NW corner facing the new opening. Take a running jump down to the opening and run forward to end this enjoyable and most challenging level.