BACK IN TIME

Level by Sirio

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth

Begin by dropping onto a slope and sliding down in the darkness. When you reach the ground, light a flare and run forward a short distance down the passage. You'll come to an open area with a large lava pit in the middle, which you can cross with a simple running jump. Run forward and climb up onto the funny-face block, then turn to your right and take a standing jump over another lava pit. Run forward across two collapsing tiles, pull up quickly into the crawl space and mutter "aha" as you crawl past a small room with modern ductwork. Turn around and lower Lara down the other side, then release and fall down a deep shaft into a pool of water.

Pull up onto the block and quickly hop away from the line of fire of two SAS shooting at you from the west and north passages. Kill them as quickly as you can, then go down the north passage and make a hairpin turn to your right. Push the button to open the door to the bathroom. Pick up the RELEE (which looks like a detonator to me) from the floor and go back the other way. Turn right again and push the button to open the door behind you. Reverse roll and enter a small room with the UZIS and three stashes of uzi ammo.

Return to the central area with the pool and go down the west passage (there's a locked gate barring the south passage). Go all the way to the far room and push the button on the wall to your left to open the trapdoor leading to the research laboratory. Climb down the ladder in the east face of the shaft, reverse roll when you reach the bottom and draw your uzis. Kill the SAS who has stepped forward to challenge you, then run forward and down the west passage (about where the SAS was standing). Turn to your right at the opening and push the button to open the door to the "old laboratory." It seems to be too early to be thinking about leaving, but take the passage marked "to exit" and you'll soon come to a door that, as you might expect, is locked. A little farther to the north is a pit with a floor that's burning in three quadrants.

As you're facing the pit, jump up and grab the ceiling. Don't monkey swing forward (north), or you'll soon drop and slide down into the frying pan. Turn to your right and monkey swing east, staying close to the wall. When you reach the corner, turn left and monkey swing north until you reach the far corner. Drop down onto the triangular ledge and push the button to turn off the flames below. Then slide down and jump off before you reach bottom so you won't step on the NE square, which is actually a disguised trap door. The trap door will open as you leap over it, so climb down the ladder in the south face of the shaft and pick up the REVOLVER at the bottom. Push the button on the north wall for SECRET #1, then climb back up the ladder.

You've raised a block in the SW quadrant, so use it to get back to the exit passage. Step forward and open the "to exit" door by pushing the button in the west wall, then enter the blue-tinted room to the west with a very deep central shaft. Step forward to the opening in the fence, then angle Lara to the left and run off (not jump off) the opening onto a small ledge in the NW corner. Pick up the TIME FLUID 1, then take a swan dive into the water far below. Follow the short east passage to an opening where you can pull out. Step forward and use the climbable surface in the west wall of the dark shaft to climb back up to the blue-tinted room. Be prepared to kill the SAS waiting for you on the other side of the room, then turn left when you get outside and follow the passage to the Old Laboratory. Turn left there and go across the hall. Push the button to open the south door. Kill the SAS inside and pick up the EXIT CARD that he drops.

There are several cages in here that are as yet inaccessible, so return to the main hall and turn left. Follow the passage past some additional cages and head down the stairs. Draw weapons to deal with the SAS, then continue into a room strewn with barrels. Throw the floor lever and go back up the stairs. Ahead you'll see an open door leading to a pool in the west wall. Don't go there yet, however. Turn left and go down the hall until you see an open doorway to your left. Go inside and push the button to drop a nearby trap door. Now return to the pool and take a standing jump onto the block into the corner. Pull up into the duct and crawl forward until you reach the other end. Lower Lara down into a small room and throw the floor lever. Return to the pool room via the duct and you can get to the hall area without getting wet by taking a running jump with grab.

Head south up the hallway, turn left at the bend and continue to a new room to your right at the end. Vault up onto the block and pick up the small medi-pack, then use the ceiling hole in the corner to pull up into another duct. Crawl forward until you reach the end, then lower Lara down into another small room with a floor lever. Throw the lever to remove a protective screen in the Old Laboratory. Crawl back through the duct and try not to stare at the alien corpse down below. Lower Lara down into the previous room and go back to the hall. Head west and take the first right into the Old Laboratory. Crawl through the dark tunnel to a room where you'll find some revolver ammo and a floor lever. Throw the lever to open the door to your left and go inside.

Push the button on the wall to release the trap door, then use the ladder in the south face of the shaft to climb down into a dark room. Light a flare and locate the SW passage. Pull down the wall switch for a cut scene showing a door opening elsewhere. Reverse roll and go through the north doorway into the next room, where you'll find the doorway you just opened. Go inside and find a small room with a fenced-in pit. Use the break in the fence to drop down into the pit, then drop down the hole in the NE corner. Use either one of the crawl spaces, as your ultimate direction is east. Lower Lara down into the hole at the east end, then turn around and jump into the water.

Swim down, forward and up, and pull up into a passage much like the one you just came from. Step forward, pull up into the crawl space and go to your right (the passage to the left leads to a water hole, which you can neither cross nor lower yourself into). Continue east and turn right at the bend. Stand up when you're able to, turn to your right and jump up to grab the floor of the pit above. Pull up and walk around to the raised ledge facing north. Take a standing jump and grab the edge of the flooring where there's a break in the fence. Pull up into a room with a checkered floor. Ignore the west doorway, as there's nothing you can do down there yet. Instead, locate the partially-obscured crawl space in the south wall and crawl inside.

Bug Alert: Go ahead and save your game before using the crawl space, for reasons that will be explained shortly.

Crawl through the duct until you reach an open area and start hearing spooky music. Safety drop to the area below and walk over to the SW between the two gray rock formations. Step out onto the slope as a leap of faith, and you'll slide down into some water below that you couldn't have known was down there. You now have a choice of directions to take. If you swim through the east passage you'll come to a room with a receptacle for a key you don't have yet. Therefore, swim through the west passage and pull up into a dark room with a wooden floor. Run north over a grate spanning what looks like a lava pool, and continue into an area with an irregular dip in the center of the floor. Keep going north down the passage and turn right through a break in the gate opposite a closed door, and pull down the wall switch you'll find inside.

A mild earthquake ensues. When it's over, go south back up the hall until you reach that irregular dip in the floor. There's now a hole in the NW quadrant.

Bug Alert, continued: A number of gamers have found that the hole remains closed after the switch has been thrown. The problem seems to lie in having restored from a savegame in this area. If this should happen to you, you must exit the game and the level editor, restart and play from your previous savegame mentioned a few paragraphs back. After you complete this area, it should then be safe for you to save routinely for the remainder of the level.

Use the climbable surface in the north face to climb down into the hole, then shift to your right until you're past the deadly lava below. Drop down into the passage and pull down the wall switch to open the door in the hall above. Reverse roll and walk out to the edge of the passage. Take a standing jump and grab to the ladder, climb to the top and pull up into the hall. Turn to your right and right to the open doorway. Go inside and pick up the GATEKEEPER'S LODGE KEY. Exit this room and go to the north end of the hall. Enter a dark and creepy room with bones scattered here and there. Use the crawl space in the north wall and go to your left (the way to the right leads only to more bones). Continue until you come to another creepy open area with more bones.

Climb up on the structure in the east wall and enter the crawl space ahead. Lower Lara down the other side and drop into a room dominated by the now familiar funny-face design. Use the crawl space in the SE corner and go to your left for a small medi-pack. Head the other way and continue past the skeleton on your left until you reach an open area patrolled by a lone SAS. Kill him and run through the east passage (being careful not to drop down through the hole in the NE corner), turn right and run past more bones until you reach a closed door in the south wall. Turn to your left and jump into the shallow hole in the SE corner and use the Gatekeeper's Lodge Key in the receptacle. The nearby door opens, so go inside, kill the SAS and pick up the RUSTY KEY that he drops.

Remember that other keyhole you saw a little while ago? It's time to get back there, so retrace your steps past the bones (not sure what the pit in the NE corner is for; maybe we come back here later) in a generally westerly direction until you return to the pit with a couple of skeletons and a closed door in the east wall. Use the crawl space in the south wall to get back to the hall with the checkered floor, then run south (being careful not to drop down into the hole in the irregular dip) until you reach the water hole in the SE corner. Jump into the water and swim east all the way into the opposite passage. Pull up at the end and step forward to insert the Rusty Key in its receptacle. A trap door opens behind you, so turn around and take a running jump to the ladder. Climb up and shift to your right at the first landing. Pull down the wall switch in the NE corner to close the nearby trapdoor and open another one higher above.

Resume your climb upward. When you reach an area that should look familiar to you, look for a continuation of the ladder and climb up some more.
Shift to your left when you clear the floor above and drop down into a small room. A cut scene shows a door opening with the hint of flames just beyond it. Climb down the ladder and hop to the steaming floor. Run over to the east wall and pull up onto the ledge. Run forward and use the crawl space to return to the room with the fenced central pit. Turn to your left and go into the west doorway and down the stairs. Pull up onto the wooden floor to the south and turn right to find the door you just opened.

Go inside and pull the wall switch in the far right corner to douse the flames behind you. Reverse roll and run to the other corner. Pull the wall switch there to open a trap door outside this room. Before you exit, note the triangular opening in the west wall. You'll be on the other side shortly, having taken the long way around. Leave this room and turn to your left. Use the ladder underneath the opening in the fence to climb down through the trap door hole into a partially flooded passage. Vault up at the other end and pull the wall switch in the SW corner. What you've just done is flood a nearby area, so climb back up the ladder, back flip when you near the top, run up the stairs to the room with the large central pit, and jump into the hole in the NE quadrant that's now filled with water.

Swim down and follow the narrow passage north, turn left and then right and then left again. There's a passage leading down; this is the hole that blocked your progress when you were crawling earlier in this area. Swim down and up and pull up into a small dark room. Pull the wall switch ahead for a cut scene showing a door opening elsewhere. There's nothing else to do in this room, so jump back into the water, return to the flooded passages and head back east, turning right at the end to reach the large central pit. Pull out, turn around and take a standing jump and grab to the flooring where there's a break in the fence. Pull up and return to the room west. Climb down the ladder to the partially-flooded passage and pull the wall switch back up to restore the water level to its former state.

Now retrace your steps to climb back up the ladder, head to the NE quadrant of the central pit and this time crawl north through the dry passage. Turn left at the intersection to bypass the water hole and continue your crawl west until you reach the opening. Turn around and lower Lara into the passage, reverse roll and jump into the water, continue swimming west and up until you can pull up into the passage. Continue crawling generally west until you can stand up. Jump up to grab the ledge and pull up into a companion central pit. Use the break in the fence in the SW corner to pull up into a dark area facing an open door.

Enter the south doorway and turn left to enter a dark room with a partially veiled opening in the east wall. (On the other side is the room with the two switches that you visited not long ago.) Go around it to the open doorway in the south wall. Turn around and climb down the ladder, then step back and pick up the BATTERY. Climb back up the ladder, exit this room via the west doorway and go around to the left to the ladder in the south wall. Climb up the ladder and return to the lab area.

Run forward into the next room and use the crawl space in the SW corner to return to the room with the "old laboratory" sign. Go through the south doorway and take the first left. Continue forward, bear to the left and climb the ladder to the room with the "research laboratory" sign. Run forward until you reach the central area with the pool. Head down the south passage and use the Exit Card in the receptacle to your right to open the iron gate.

Enter a new area with three levels. Your immediate problem is an SAS to your left. Kill him first, then try to locate and kill from him the other two SAS that are posted on the level above you and the level below you. They're protected by the fencing, however, which makes your job extremely difficult, so you may want to wait until you visit those levels in due course. Run around the perimeter of this second level and note the closed door in the west wall. Continue around to one of the openings in the east wall and run down the stairs. Follow the crawl space to the other end and lower Lara down into a lower passage. Push the button on the wall to your right to drop a trap door near the head of the stairs.

Go back the way you came, and when you reach the top of the stairs you'll see the lowered trap door. Pull up to the highest level and kill the SAS now if you didn't do so earlier. As you explore this area you'll find passages in the NW and SW corners leading to climbable poles that don't take you anywhere. Enter the large alcove on the south side and push the button on the wall to open the adjacent double doors. Go in and shoot the SAS, then push three wall buttons to open three cell doors. In the east cell is a crawl space leading to a shaft. Push the wall button and return to the cell to kill yet another SAS. In the left cell in the south wall you'll find some uzi ammo; the right cell appears to be empty.

Return to the balcony area and cross over to the north alcove, where the double doors to your right are now open. Go inside, vault up onto the extremely ugly conference table and pick up the TIME FLUID 2. Hop down, locate the receptacle in the NE corner and insert the Relee there to open a door elsewhere. Return to the balcony area and enter the east opening. Drop back down to the second level and cross over to the open west doorway. It's possible to side flip over the railing to the brown central square down on the first level, but you're obviously not intended to do so as the game crashes when you move away from your landing point. Enter and vault up into the small control room. There's a flaming tile ahead and to your left, and a receptacle on the wall to your right. Insert the Time Fluid 1 in the receptacle, and you'll hear a trap door dropping. Climb up onto the west wall and drop down on the other side. There's a trap door opening in the SW quadrant of the pit ahead, so safety drop into the passage below. Go to the other end of the passage and pull the wall switch to open the door. Drop down into the room below and kill the SAS, then insert the Time Fluid 2 in the wall receptacle.

Pull back up to find an open trap door above you. Use the ladder in the east face of the shaft to climb up into the green-tinted room above. Insert the Battery in the contraption near the opening to end the level.