THE RESCUE

Level 11: The Hidden Experiment

Level by Pascal Ducey (MagPlus)

Walkthrough written by Ted Simpson (Tombaholic)

4 secrets (42 - 45), including two Golden Stars

Note: This walkthrough [as first posted] does not map out every move, assuming a certain basic ability on the part of the player. Secondly, it omits the mention of many enemies, since they make themselves known on their own. Finally, and most importantly, it does not point out every pickup, so the player needs to explore on her/his own for these. Following the walkthrough word-for-word will result in missing some items. What is included is solutions to the major puzzles and the locations of all the secrets. So, the real intent of the walkthrough is to help the player get "un-stuck" if need be during the course of independently exploring the level. [If the looping ambient music becomes unbearably annoying during the course of the game, either rename or delete 106.wav in your audio folder for some quick relief.]

Shoot out the center pane of glass in the west window and crawl through to the other side. [Shoot the dog that attacks from your left, then] jump up and through the purple portal straight ahead. At the top, [turn left, shoot the dog and] find the hole in the ground near the path and follow it underground. Inside, [go past the barred opening] and find the CROSSBOW in a dark corner [opposite the opening to the next room]. (NOTE: if you don’t have this from level 10, make sure you get it now, as you will need it to finish the level.)

ROPE ROOM WITH ALIENS

Place Lara in front of the opening over the ramp, so that she is lined up with the rope below. Select pistols, then re-holster them. Slide, jump and grab the first rope. [A reliable means of catching the rope every time is by sliding down the slope backward, pulling up and taking a rolling back flip.] Swing and grab the second rope ahead. Directly in front and up, notice the pane of glass which is thinner than the rest. Swing high and jump toward the glass. Draw the pistols and shoot the glass the moment you let go of the rope. Lara should land safely inside the alcove.

Find the two switches and pull them to open a door at the back of the corridor. You must draw both ALIENS into the room with the receptacles before destroying them with explosive ammo (otherwise, you will get a nasty surprise). Place the two GOLDEN SERPENTS into the receptacles to open the other door out in the corridor. Slide down the ramp.

LARGE ROOM WITH WATERFALLS

At the juncture, go right (you will use the other path later to exit this area). Inside, pay close attention to the flyby. [Run toward the east opening,] kill the BIRDMAN and get the revolver ammo he drops. High above are two bridges, one leading north and the other east. Above a door at the end of each is a fuse box. Use the laser sight with arrows or revolver to destroy both. [You can draw a better bead on the east one from a small mound near the SE corner of this area, the north one from a similar mound near the NE corner.] This lowers a cage in the floor at the back of the room (east end, just to the right of the black column against the east wall). Push the button there. The cut scene that follows shows where you began the level. Use the other corridor below the ramp to make your way back to that area. [Turn right when you exit this room, pull up at the end of the ramp and push the button there to open the bars. Exit and make a dogleg around to the right, vault up into the outside area at the end of the passage and return to the alien structure where you started.]

Near the room where you started, jump through the other purple portal [to the south] and head through the door at the top to find yourself on the bridge above the waterfall room. Inside the main structure, take note of the two receptacles on the wall [to your right, one of which is shrouded in darkness]. Go out on the other bridge [the one to the east; the floor inside the structure is solid] and jump to the ledge that circles the main structure. Shimmy left around the corner and continue until Lara can pull up on a flat spot. To get SECRET #42, continue to shimmy around to the rock bridge and past the waterfall to a flat spot. [Take an angled running jump up the slope,] pick up the Secret [shotgun ammo and grenade gun ammo], then return to the flat spot next to the central structure. [You can save some time by using the bridge that separates the waterfall. When you approach the purple glass barrier, turn to your left, slide down and grab the edge, and shimmy to your right around two corners until you reach the flat spot just before the purple glass barrier on that side.]

Make a long running jump [angled just slightly to the left] and grab the ledge on the opposite [south] wall. Look up to find another circuit box in a recess on the ceiling. [Place your back to the wall and look up to your near right. You may have to use your binoculars to find it.] Shoot it to drop a rope nearby. Use the rope [standing jump and grab] to swing and grab the upper ladder on the broken column. Climb up into a duct above. Explore the network of ducts for a couple of pickups, but most importantly, make sure you find the KHEPRI’S GUARDS GEM. [Light a flare when you get inside the crawl space. Crawl forward to the end and turn left. Crawl forward a short distance and draw your revolver to shoot a scorpion before it can sting you. Turn around and go back. Follow the other passage until you reach the juncture. Go all the way north and turn left for a small medipack. Go back to the juncture and do some more exploring until you find some uzi ammo and the gem artifact.] Once you have it, find another opening with a ladder [with some nearby shotgun ammo, but if you get here before getting the gem, leave the ammo for last as there's no way back once you crawl into this space] and climb down. Slide down the ramp.

ROOM WITH BURNING PEDESTAL

Lara is now in a corridor between a closed door, a barred door and a glass wall. Begin by shooting the [center panel of the] glass wall. Inside, walk through the blue portal straight ahead to trigger two of the bars in the room to open. Destroy the MUTANT CROCS that barrel out. (IMPORTANT: DO NOT USE EXPLOSIVE AMMO HERE AS IT MAY CAUSE A BUG LATER.) In one room is a pickup [large medipack in SW room], in the other [NW] room use the crowbar to pry the IRIS OF NEKHBET off the wall.

Head back into the corridor and shoot the circuit box next to the door to open it. Around the [first (the second takes you back to the cavern with the bridges)] corner is a switch to open the bars back in the other corridor. This is a timed run [make a hairpin turn to the right and light a flare so you can see]. Once inside the next room, make your way up the slope, avoiding the SPIKE TRAPS, BOULDER, and LASER TRAPS. [Easier said than done. Vault up onto the first block at the NW corner. Take a running jump without grab to the next block SW. Don't try to run, jump and grab the third block, because it can't be done. Instead, stand at the NW corner of the block, angle Lara slightly to the right and take a running jump and grab over the laser pit to the wall ahead. Shimmy to your left and pull up onto the third block. Don't stop to feel proud of yourself, however, as spikes shoot out from the north face of the block as a boulder rumbles down toward you. There appears to be nothing to do but endure some loss of health. Hop back, grab the edge, wait for the boulder to roll by and pull back up. Turn north and take a running jump and grab over the spikes and laser pit to the next block. Pull up, take a standing jump up the slope west and pull up onto the block to your left. Take a running jump south to the flat spot. Turn to face west and take a tricky running jump with a midair curve to the left and grab the ledge above the laser pit. Shimmy to the right, around the corner and pull up onto the next block.

Stand on the NW corner facing west and take a standing jump and grab to the next higher block. Face SW, take a standing jump to the next block, which is a delayed spike trap, and immediately run and jump forward to the highest SW block.] At the top, activate the switch to open the door and jump on in [with a standing jump and grab to change your trajectory].

ROOM WITH TWO DEMIGODS

Inside the next large room [to the north], kill the two DEMIGODS first (one on each side). One of them [the one on the east side] drops NEKHBET’S GUARDS GEM. Be sure to pick it up. [Look down through the glass, and you see that you're over that hellish room with the two ropes near the beginning of this level.] At the north end of the room is a stone structure with hieroglyphs. On one side of it is a door. On the other side is the switch to open the door. This is timed, so quickly make your way around to the other side of the room and through the door, crossing over two LASER TRAPS along the way.

Once past the door [put on the brakes so you don't drop down into the hole ahead prematurely, then] jump to the ledge ahead and collect the IRIS OF KHEPRI. Drop through the hole. Once again, make your way back [east, then north and into the passage] past the room where the level started, [through the two purple veils] and onto the bridge above the waterfall room. Inside the central structure, combine both GEMS with the IRISES to form the EYE OF KHEPRI and the EYE OF NEKHBET. Place the artifacts in the receptacles on the wall. Look below you to see the dais below has risen to reveal a water opening. Make your way back to the lower level and go for a swim. [Go back along the north bridge, through the two purple veils, left along the trench where you shot a dog earlier, down the hole, dogleg around to where you raised some bars earlier, down the long ramp, left and up the next ramp.]

UNDERWATER CHANNELS

Swim into the underwater cavern and find the opening [in some overhanging rocks near the center of the room] in the ceiling (Lara can get some air here). Pick up the SEARCH FOR APOPHIS and examine it (select Examine in your inventory). Swim back down and around toward the southeast corner of the room and through a narrow opening in the rocks [while the two crocs give chase. There's a small medipack on the floor near the SW corner.] Pull the underwater lever inside to open a hatch nearby. Swim back into the main cavern and through the channel to the south to find the open hatch. [Pull up and take the nearby crossbow arrows. As you exit this room the hatch closes behind you.]

ROOM WITH BURNING PEDESTAL

As you approach the bars, they will open and a MUTANT CROC will attack Lara. (IMPORTANT: DO NOT USE EXPLOSIVE AMMO TO KILL THE CROC, AS IT MAY INTERFERE WITH A TRIGGER.) Head out and around to the room in the NE corner and push the floor switch to lower the cage around the burning pedestal. To put out the flame, shoot the water sprinkler above the pedestal with an explosive arrow (if you’ve run out, you can find some in the room nearby [unless you picked them up earlier upon pulling out of the water]). Take the ENERGY CRYSTALS from the pedestal [and note that the hatch to the water hole is now open again]. The door at the end of the east bridge is now open, so make your way back up and head through the open door [back through the tunnel to the underwater cavern and around the crocs, through the opposite north tunnel and up the shaft to the central structure in the bridge room. Down the west ramp, up the right to the right, pull up out of the hole and dogleg to the right, pull up into trench leading back to the two purple veils, pull up onto the bridge.]

AREA WITH MANY CONTROL ROOMS

As you explore this area, a BIRDMAN will attack. Kill it and pick up the EYE OF NEKHBET that it drops. Slide down the short ramp [toward the NE] and kill another BIRDMAN. Note the closed door [SE corner at the end of the passage]. Jump and grab the ledge near the ramp. Follow the corridor to the end and push the button [in the south wall, which I had to push twice for some reason] to open the door below. Back below, climb on to the ladder to the right of the open door. Shimmy left around the corner and continue until you reach the wall. Position Lara so her feet are two rungs [make it three, to be on the safe side] above the bottom of the ladder. Back flip, slide, jump and grab the ladder opposite [with a midair curve to the right if necessary]. Shimmy right, around the corner and drop. Go through the crawlspace and [drop down on the east side, then go] into the strange looking room ahead and ride an elevator up to find yourself in one of the control rooms.

Pull the lever [at the SE corner] to create an opening in the wall. This also makes another opening nearby. Head out of the room and back toward the ramp. Outside, make a rather tricky running jump to grab the window ledge of the control room you just left and shimmy over to flat ground. Follow the corridor into the NW corner of the room to find the opening by the dead end. To open the door inside, you will need to find the other EYE OF KHEPRI. Shoot the window of the control room opposite the closed door and climb in. Mind the LASER TRAP inside. Jump to the other end [SE corner] of the room and climb onto the control console. From here, make a running jump and grab to the pillar in the center.

Climb into the circuitry duct overhead [south face is the only one that works] and crawl through the ducts [stay to your right] until you find another opening. Drop and grab the ledge, shimmy left around the corner, and pull up into the next duct. Find the next opening and drop into the control room below. Grab the EYE OF KHEPRI and exit via the ducts. Back at the closed door, use the two Artifacts to open it.

ROLLING BOULDERS PUZZLE

Inside [as the door closes behind you], there is a closed door to the right and some bars to the left. At the other end of the corridor is a room with a lever outside. Begin by luring the ALIEN into the room [with some revolver ammo] at the end of the corridor (blowing the critter up will have less than satisfactory results right now). Pull the lever outside to trap it there and also raise the bars at the other end of the corridor. As you walk back notice the other two openings to the right - one narrow and one wide.

In the room below are 4 boulder ramps. At the end of each ramp is a door and a grate. In this timed sequence, you must shoot a circuit box behind each of the four doors to drop the grate. If the boulder gets past the grate and through the door, it activates a LASER FLOOR and Lara dies. This is a good place to save your game.

Attach the laser sight to the revolver (yes, exploding arrows would be easier, but they set off the LASER floor too) and have the weapon ready. Slide down the short slope into the first opening (the one near the door where you enter this area). Quickly shoot the circuit box [using the look key and the crouch key to zoom in on your targets] in the alcove at the bottom of the first ramp. Jump back up to the corridor and sprint to the other end (last opening), slide down and shoot the target. Jump back up and run to the middle (wide) opening and slide down to the platform. Shoot the box in the left alcove first, then quickly target the one in the right alcove.

If you are successful, the closed door near the start of the corridor is open.

[If you simply cannot navigate this maddening sequence in the time allotted and you're ready to admit defeat, then click here for a savegame that will take you past all the aggravation.]

Now, release your grumpy friend from his cell [by throwing the switch in the alcove at the north end of the corridor] and lure him into the room inside the newly opened door [at the SE end. Go slow and allow him to feel your buns along the way, or he's liable to lose interest and go back to his cell.] Once the ALIEN is inside the room, it is safe to blast it to kingdom come and take the GOLDEN SERPENT it drops. Use the Artifact in the nearby receptacle [to lower the central cage behind you], then take the ENERGY CRYSTALS from the pedestal.

A rope has now dropped in the next room [with the rolling boulders]. From the wide opening, jump to the left ramp. Use the rope to swing to the opening in the opposite [west] wall. [Be sure you're lined up so that the top of Lara's head reaches at least to the bottom of the rope before you make your jump.] At the bottom of the ramp [slide past the harmless pink veil], push the button to make an opening in the wall to the left. A cut scene shows you where to go next. Exit the other side of the control room [jump up through the pink veil] and go to the desert corridor outside [to your left] (where you began the level). Across from the hole in the ground is an opening in the rock wall. Climb the rock pillar to the left of the hole and back flip into the opening.

ROOM OVER DARK CHASM

Skip the entrance in the ground and climb to the opening at the left. Use the monkey bars to swing to a climbable rock. With Lara as close to the rock as she will go, let go of the monkey bars and grab the ladder. Shimmy left around the corner and climb up. Across the chasm (west) is a ledge. Make a running jump to it. Climb into the crawlspace and follow it to the end. Drop out and immediately grab the gap below (make sure Lara’s health is fully charged since a DEMIGOD will begin blasting her as she shimmies around). Shimmy until you reach a ledge to drop to. Kill the DEMIGOD [and the scorpion] from here if you like.

GOLDEN STAR #6

Jump to the NE landing under the ladder and use the ladders [taking a rolling back flip from the first to the second, then shifting to the left around two corners] to get up to the next landing next to the bars. Jump over [after shooting the scorpion] and use the floor switch to raise the bars. [It's a tricky jump, in that Lara must not be flush against the edge before making her jump, or she won't clear the slope. Getting back you have the same problem, although it's possible that even if you miss you'll land on a ledge in front of the first ladder, and you can get back that way.] Inside the newly opened door, [pick up the revolver ammo and] climb down the ladder and approach the door ahead. The door opens and you get a preview of the nasty business ahead -- pay close attention to the flyby. But first, make a detour. Climb back up the ladder [using the south face, to return to the previous area where you jumped to the floor switch] and drop to the ledge below. Look down to see a water opening in the floor below. Walk off the [SE corner of the] ledge so that Lara lands in the water. Swim to the other end [through the west passage] and collect the GOLDEN STAR, Secret #43. Use the ladder [in the ceiling hole beside you] to return.

ROOM WITH EIGHT FUSE BOXES

The aim here is to shoot the boxes that will raise the bars in front of the floor switch. You cannot use explosive arrows here because the explosion will cause the grates which Lara stands on to burst into flames. So, the revolver is the only choice. It is not necessary to shoot all the boxes, only specific ones. Read the SEARCH FOR APOPHIS (in inventory) to find out which ones to shoot. [In the likely event that the message in your scroll is rendered in French, here's the English translation courtesy of Sutekh:

Come to me
following my creature,
It moves
using
its whole body.

And when the eagle
seizes it,
we find it again not far
freed by its venom.

[For the riddle challenged among us,] the solution is:

Hint from CC, embellished by Phil Lambeth: Slide down the left side of the slope with combined laser sight and revolver at the ready, and as soon as you land on the grid shoot the fuse that's on the far left and straight ahead of you. A timed grid similar to the one you're standing on is then raised in front of the left hand fuse to your right (east). Run quickly (because you have only a couple of seconds before the spikes are triggered) across the spiked ledge to your right and veer left to take a running jump to that right grid ledge (a swerve in mid-air is not necessary) and shoot the fuse beside you, on the right. Then turn around immediately and shoot the fuse above the barred gate on the opposite wall (that's where you're headed anyway). Now you have to run like mad to get there. There's another timed grid diagonally to your right, which you need to jump to and then use the adjacent spike ledge as you did earlier, to get to the final grid. I'd suggest that when you reach that last grid ledge in front of the raised bars you save your game in a new slot, as you still have to time a run through spikes. You must move as quickly as you can and try to land standing on each ledge instead of grabbing and pulling up, so as not to lose precious seconds.]

Once the bars are raised, carefully time a run past the spikes and push the floor switch. [The spikes have been shut off, so reverse roll and take a running jump to the raised cage over the lava.] Now climb the pole in the center of the room [and back flip] to the level above.

ROOM WITH NINE BUTTONS

The solution is:

West wall: Snake [far right]

South Wall: Eagle

North Wall: Scarab

[Shoot the two futuristic dogs, then] push the floor switch [between the cage-protected artifact and the receptacle] to turn off the LASER BARRIER [but watch out for the new floor lasers in front of each button row] and head [east] upstairs. Push the button there and watch the flyby to see what happens [a tall climbable block is raised outside. Jump off the ledge and grab the east face and] climb up through the nearby opening in the ceiling and move the blocks until you find the GOLDEN SERPENT. [Push the first block you come to as far in as it will go. Pause to pick up the small medipack to your right. Go back to the hallway and pull out the second block once. Go around to its left side and push it forward all the way, temporarily blocking your exit. Go and pull the third block once toward the hall. Go around to its opposite side and push it east once. Go to its left side and push it once into the corner. Go back to the fourth block in the south wall and pull it out once. Go around to the left side and pull it once toward the hall. Go around it into the revealed passage and pick up your artifact. The hole to your right takes you back to previously plowed territory to which you'll return shortly, but for now go back and push the fourth block east as far as it will go. Turn to your left, pull the block away from the entrance, go to its left side and pull it back once to give you a clear path to the entrance. Climb back down the ceiling hole and run back down the ramp to the nine-button room. Bear to your right and return to the small room with the cage-protected artifact.]

After placing the artifact in its receptacle and collecting the ENERGY CRYSTALS, make another visit to the room below. The SPIKES on the north landing [slightly to your left] have retracted, [so take a running jump and grab the ledge, then pull up]. Jump over the short slope in the middle alcove next to the landing to find SECRET #44 [revolver ammo and a small medipack. Back flip onto the slope, slide down and grab the edge, and shimmy to your left and around the corner so you can pull up onto the ledge. Take a standing jump back down to the raised cage.] Climb back upstairs and exit via the hallway where you found the GOLDEN SERPENT. Make your way back outside [via the ceiling hole] to the room with the chasm.

[Climb down the ceiling hole a short distance, shift to your right and drop down into a familiar passage. Turn to your right and, standing one step back from the slope, take a running jump south over the slope to the flat ledge. Turn to your left and take a running jump east into the darkness over the shaft. Grab the ledge and pull up into a crawl space. Crawl forward toward the reddish light, turn around at the end and drop down onto a ledge.]

ROOM OVER [ANOTHER] DARK CHASM

From the ledge under the crawlspace, do a running jump and grasp the rocks above the monkey swing. Shimmy left and around the corner until it’s safe to drop. Make a running jump/grab to the small ledge on the other side of the chasm. Jump [north] to the rocks under the window, slide back and grasp the edge. Shimmy right until you reach a flat spot to climb up to. Deal with the DEMIGOD, then do a running jump and grab to the red block on the other side [that you saw being raised in the earlier flyby]. If you like, climb down [the block] into the chasm and explore for a nice pickup: [the GRENADE GUN in the SE corner, after you've disposed of a dog. To get back up, find the short block near the tall ladder, climb up onto it and take a running jump east back to the ladder.]

From the [top of the] red block, jump through the nearby opening in the rock wall. [Turn around, slide down the slope and grab the edge, and be ready to draw weapons immediately upon landing to kill the waiting croc.] Push the button in the room below [you can see the bars being raised through the slit to your left], then climb out and jump over to the south. Go underground again and follow the corridor [to your right; the other one takes you to a dead end]. Explore [killing a couple of dogs along the way] until you find the IRIS OF KHEPRI [at the end of a corridor. Pry it off the wall with your crowbar]. Now follow the larger tunnel [where you encountered the second dog], jump the gap over the LASER TRAP and head up the ramp. When Lara reaches the brown squares, the BOULDERS will be released. [The left boulder is slightly ahead of the other one. It's tricky and requires split-second timing, but you can scoot to the left once the left boulder passes and avoid the second one.] Once past these, you will encounter two DEMIGODS [in extremely close quarters]. One of them will drop a KHEPRI’S GUARDS GEM. Combine it with the IRIS and use the EYE OF KHEPRI in the receptacle by the barred door.

UNDER THE FIRST CONTROL ROOM

Back in the control room where you began the level [accessed via the opening on the other side near the SE corner], the hatch in the floor [on the north side] is now open. Do a safety drop to the room below. [If you step into the central red force field, you will simply be warped back up into the control room.] On either side of the [north] entrance which is blocked by the cage is a fuse box. Lara can target the boxes [fastened to the side of the tall pillars] through the narrow gaps in the NE and NW [guarded by two tin men] corners of the room. [The cage lowers, so go through the north opening.] Push the wall lever to reveal an underwater lever [in the east wall of the pool outside].

Pulling the underwater lever opens the bars to the 4 underwater doors, and also releases 3 GREAT WHITE SHARKS. Unfortunately, climbing out of the water closes the bars, so if you want the fourth Secret, you will have to swim with the SHARKS snacking on poor Lara (if not, skip to the next paragraph). Turn and swim first into the nearby door [also in the east wall] flanked by the bird symbols. Pull the underwater lever inside, then head to the west door (also between two bird images). Pull the underwater lever there. Now head for the south door (snake symbol) where a block has fallen [in the left alcove] to reveal a third lever. After pulling it, [get the small medi-pack in the right alcove if you have time, then] head for shore (there is nothing to do in the last underwater room). [There's a flat spot near the NW corner of the central structure where you can pull out safely and shoot the sharks at your leisure.]

GOLDEN STAR #7

A door has opened in the south wall. Go there and collect the ENERGY CRYSTALS (note the cut scene). Go back to the room at the north side and find another open door there [inside the room, to the east]. Inside, pick up SECRET #45 [a large medi-pack], including a second GOLDEN STAR.

Walk [or run, but don't jump] into the red light shaft in the middle of the room to be transported back up to the control room. Head back to the room with the small black pyramid [leave via the SE opening, turn left and jump through the north pink veil, up the ramp and vault up into the opening,] and climb into the crawl space in the west wall. Head into the southern branch of the crawlspace [the west branch leads you to previously explored territory] until you reach the next room. Place the 4 ENERGY CRYSTALS in the receptacles on the pillar. Save your game here to use with Level 12. Climb into the light shaft atop the pillar. [Pull up, slide down the slope ahead to trigger a flyby, then run forward and slide down another slope to end the level.]

END