THE HIDDEN GARDEN SERIES

Levels by Jon Heywood (Inchdix)

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth

Note: It has been nearly four years since the Hidden Garden series was completed, and there have been no levels released by this talented builder since then. My main purpose in writing a detailed walkthrough for these levels at this late date (to complement the very helpful outlines provided by Monika) is to revive interest in the series and hopefully to entice Inchdix out of retirement.

These levels are linked (as are the levels in Celtic Folly), and they're intended to be played as a unit, so please note that all five levels in the series must be installed in order for you to play.


Level 1: HIDDEN GARDEN

The level begins with a lingering flyby through a jungle clearing and into a building, when Lara suddenly comes sliding down a slope toward the sunlight where she's met by a friendly monkey. Step forward and slide down into the clearing. Explore the outside area a bit before moving on. First go to your right and locate the small medi-pack on the near side of the irregular mound, then continue south and note the closed door and large metal gate in the entrance between the pillars to your left. This and other metal gates you'll see here serve as portals to the other levels in the series. As you make a clockwise circuit you'll see a square hole in the ground that's blocked by a trap door. At the south end of the clearing is a deep pit with a large structure built into the far wall. You could go down and explore further, but there's nothing to do there at present (and also no apparent way of getting back up), so continue around the clearing past a couple of trees and a small pool.

There's another square hole in the mound on this side, also blocked by a trap door. To the north (near the west edge of the clearing) is a smaller building with an entrance on the east side. Enter and go down the ramp until you reach some steps with a blocked alcove on your left. Here you'll trigger a flyby that takes you through a lava-filled area below and stops at a trident on a pedestal that's obviously your next goal. Continue down the stairs and wind around to your right. Walk, don't run, to the edge and take a running jump across the gap. Hop back to grab the edge, shimmy to your right as far as you can, safety drop to the sloped rock in the lava below and back flip to a stable ledge. Turn around to face east, then shoot the bat that has probably been alerted by this time.

There's an opening SE you could breach with a running jump. However, this was not intended by the builder and will result in your becoming stuck with no way out. Instead, stand on the highest point of the ridge running along the ledge you're standing on, face slightly left of due east and take a standing jump into another opening that's very difficult to see even with a lit flare. Turn to your left and pull down the wall switch to open a door in the south wall outside. Go back to the opening, put your back against the east wall and take a standing jump through the opening and slide down to the ledge. Standing on the ridge, face slightly left of due west and take a running jump to the sloped rock in the center of the lava. Slide a short distance down the other side and jump off onto a ledge along the west wall. Shoot the bat, then turn left and walk out to the SE tip. Take a running jump SE to a ledge along the south wall and step into the doorway you just opened.

Turn to your left and crawl until you reach another wall switch. Pull it down to open the door to your left. Enter, squeeze past the rubble, turn right and run up the stairs toward the pedestal in the next room and take the TRIDENT from it. Look in the SW corner for a small medi-pack, the SE corner for some flares, and the NE corner for some crossbow arrows. When you've collected everything, exit this room and use the crawl space to return to the south doorway. When you can stand up, turn left and go to the wall. Jump up, grab it and climb four rungs. Back flip into the passage behind you, turn around and run up the ramp past the open doorway (which must have lifted when you picked up the trident).

Hop down to the floor below, note the closed gate ahead, turn to your right and take a running jump and grab across the gap. Pull up, run forward up the stairs (the door in the alcove is still closed) and ramp and return to the bright outdoors. Make a hairpin turn to the left and locate the passage in the dark NW corner. Follow the passage down some steps until you reach an opening overhead. Turn around and find the ladder, jump up to grab it and climb to the top of the shaft. Don't pull up, but back flip from the top into an upper passage for SECRET #1. Turn around, vault up onto the block and pick up the crossbow arrows, the flares and a large medi-pack. Turn and jump back to the ladder.

Climb down and drop to the passage below. Hop back twice to release a spike ball above you, then sprint forward up the ramp as the spike ball tumbles down harmlessly. Turn around and walk carefully down the ramp, as you get a fixed camera when you near the edge. Take a running jump across the fire trap and climb the ladder to your left. Pull up and run up the winding ramp into a new room. Note: I experienced a strange phenomenon here where the lights went out as I was climbing up the ladder. Lighting a flare does nothing to help. The only way to see what you're doing is to hit the look key, but the problem is that you can't walk or run and use the look key at the same time. If this happens to you, go past one of the spike traps as described below, exit through the east doorway, slide down the slope and pick up the flares at the bottom for your trouble, hop down into the spike ball passage and repeat your jump to the ladder. Going up the second time, I experienced normal lighting.

As you step into the room the far door in the east wall opens. If you step onto the depressed square in the center of the room the door slams shuts, so pick up the shotgun ammo and go back to the west entrance to re-open the door by stepping on the trigger. Pick up the flares in the NW corner, then time an easy run past one of the spike traps in the far corners of the room. Pick up the small medi-pack in the SE corner and exit through the east doorway. Jump over the slope (unless you didn't experience the "darkness" bug and want to go down for those flares) and continue along the passage until you reach a ledge overlooking the outside clearing.

Turn right and head west along the ledge, and you can see the flares on a limb to your left. Take a running jump there and claim your prize. Turn to face the trunk of the tree and take a standing jump to the next limb ahead and to your right. Walk out to the higher part of this limb near the end and take a running jump east to the right-hand side of the roof. Grab, pull up and turn to your left. Enter the opening and pull down the wall switch to open a door below you saw earlier. Reverse roll, run to the south end of the roof and safety drop to the ground. Have fun dealing with the welcoming ahmet, using the only weapons at your disposal--your pistols.

When it's dead, go between the massive pillars in the east structure and find that the door to your left is now open. Run up the ramp into a room with a fountain and a closed door in the east wall. You can see the second trident beyond the grate in the north wall. Jump into the water and pull the underwater lever in the east wall to open the door above. Pull out of the water and go up the stairs. Don't turn right at the junction, or you'll slide down into a fire trap. Turn left instead and approach the trident, which is now protected by a flame blower. Wait for the flames to subside, run forward and grab the second TRIDENT, and hop back quickly before the flames return.

Return to the fountain room and go back outside. Now it's time to explore that area to the south. Walk past the tree on the left side and you'll stumble down a fairly steep slope. There's a wooden walkway down below, so hop down to it and follow it around to the end. Hop back and grab the edge, and shimmy to your right. You'll discover to your amazement that you can shimmy along an invisible triangle. Continue until you're over the top of the steps, then release and sustain minimal damage upon landing. Turn around and run toward the west end, noting the closed door on your right. Run up the ramp into another fountain room and pick up the small medi-pack just inside the entrance to your right. Jump into the water and swim into the east opening for some revolver ammo. Surface, pull out of the water and exit this room. The path to your left is blocked by rubble, so go back to the outside area.

Locate the hanging vines to your right, next to the steps. They obscure a passage, so go inside and pull down the wall switch. This opens the door to the north that you saw earlier, so reverse roll, go back outside and cross over to the open doorway. Follow the passage up to a couple of closed doors. Turn around and activate the jump switch high up on the wall in the SW corner to open the doors. Enter a larger room with a shallow central pool and fountain. Turn left and go up the steps. There's a hole in the ceiling with another jump switch. Activating it opens a door in the north wall in the larger room. Go there and find openings to three side rooms.

Enter the east room and shoot the two wooden boxes for crossbow arrows and the TORCH. In the north room is a box containing a small medi-pack. There's also a face tile to push (which lights a burner in the anteroom) before proceeding to the west room for some more crossbow arrows in one of the wooden boxes. Go back to the east room, retrieve the torch and light it on the burner. Go out to the main room and light the burners on either side of the closed east door. When the door opens, go inside for SECRET #2 and take the CROSSBOW from the central pedestal. One of the vases in the corner contains more crossbow arrows for your arsenal. (The sconces in here won't light up, so don't bother trying.)

Go back up the stairs to the west. Use the ladder to climb up the shaft. When you pull up and step forward the exit door opens obligingly, and it also shuts abruptly behind you. You're in the alcove that you saw very early in the level, so hop down to the stairs, turn right and exit the building. Make a hairpin turn to the left, enter the dark passage in the NW corner and follow the same route as earlier, along the spike ball passage, up the ladder and the ramp to the spike trapped room, and out to the ledge overlooking the clearing. This time, follow the ledge all the way west, taking standing jumps over slopes where necessary, until you reach the west wall. Step back a bit, face SW and take a standing jump to the ledge around the corner. Run around the next corner to the next short ledge and face south. Take a running jump to the roof of the small temple and run to the other side. Take a standing jump to the nearest limb and locate the shotgun ammo on an adjacent branch.

Take a running jump to the nearest branch of the next tree SE, turn right and walk to the trunk. Stand on the ridge at the highest point, turn left to face due south and jump up to grab the higher limb above. Pull up, turn around, jump over to the next tree NW and pick up the revolver ammo. Return to the previous tree south and continue with a running jump to the next tree south. Turn left, take standing jumps to get around the trunk to the east branch, and walk out to the SE corner. Facing SE, take a running jump to the slope in the cliff face, slide down and grab the edge. Release to drop down onto a stable ledge. Turn to your right and jump down to the ledge SE. Take a standing jump across the gap and run onto the roof of the structure. Pause to pick up the shotgun ammo on the other side, then walk over to the highest part of the west edge facing the crack in the south wall. Take a standing jump and grab, and shimmy right along the crack and around the corner. Release and drop down into the alcove.

Turn to face NW and take a standing jump to the ledge around the corner. Take a standing jump forward to the next ledge, and you find yourself tantalizingly close to the temple entrance. Face SW and take a standing jump down to a ledge in front of a crawl space. Crawl through, stand up and face NW. Save your game here, because the next jump is a little tricky. Make sure you have enough head room and take a standing jump around the corner to the next ledge. One more standing jump will bring you to the temple entrance. Go inside and go over to the south wall. Crawl under the grated flooring, then run along the trench and pick up the large medi-pack. Turn around and go back out. Locate the Poseidon statues near the south wall. Affix the tridents and watch the flyby as the area is flooded and the large gates open in the area below (this is the portal to the next level in the series, so don't go there until you've finished here). At the end of the flyby you hear the sound of the nearby doors opening in the north and east walls, releasing two ahmets.

Try to kill the ahmets from your relatively safe perch. (One may be hiding while you're gleefully shooting the other; if so, go down and flush it out.) When the coast is clear, go down and enter their lairs for a small medi-pack and some crossbow arrows. Leave the temple via the large east entrance and dive into the water below. Swim to your left and enter the doorway you opened with the wall switch earlier. Follow the passage into a room you visited earlier. Swim to the roof of the central structure and pick up the large medi-pack and shotgun ammo, then use the air pocket above. When you've caught your breath, you'll have plenty of time to locate the hole high up in the south wall. Swim along the narrow passage until you reach a well-lit room where you'll find the first HORSEMAN'S GEM on the other side of the central pillar. Use the air hole here if you need to, then swim back out after picking up the flares. Exit the larger room through the SW doorway and swim back to the outside area.

Surface for air and then swim through the ivy-covered south opening. Turn left past the switch and follow the passage up until you emerge on dry land. Pull up into the crawl space on your left and follow the passage when you can stand up. The inaccessible opening to your right when you reach a bend in the passage is what you'll use to make the return trip. You'll next pass a hole on your left, where you'll find a wall switch. If you were to go down and throw the switch, you'd see a cut scene of an underwater door closing that you've previously opened. The builder explains that the only purpose for this switch is to enable you to open this door if for some reason you didn't do so before the area was flooded. So leave this switch alone and continue around the bend. You'll soon come to an opening overlooking a deep lava room.

Step forward to attract some bats, then hop back into the passage while drawing your pistols so you can kill them in more confined quarters. Then step forward to the edge, facing slightly left toward the sloped pillar ahead. Take a running jump and grab the edge of the slope, pull up and slide a short distance down the other side, jump off and grab the pillar ahead. Shift to the right and around the corner, then climb up until Lara's hands are just below the crack. Take a rolling back flip and grab the edge as you slide down, release and grab the lower ledge. Climb down one rung so that Lara's feet get "set" in midair, then shift right and around the corner. Continue to the other end of the wide pillar, then climb up and pull up onto the ledge. More bats appear.

Walk out to the NW corner of the ledge and face slightly left of due north. Take a running jump to the next pillar, then turn left and take a running jump west. Run into the room and turn left to go to the SE corner. Pick up the TORCH and approach the flaming pedestal in the center of the room. Don't step on the square on which the pedestal rests, or you'll be set aflame. Light the torch and go to the back of the room to light the two burners on either side of the pillar. Drop the torch and take a standing jump from the stairs to the east pillar in the lava room. Turn to face SE and take a running jump to the ledge. Walk forward to the south edge, angle slightly to the right and take a running jump toward the south wall, curving to the right so that Lara will land on the slope and slide down backwards. Grab the edge and release to land on a ledge at the lava's surface.

Turn around and take a running jump and grab over the lava to a block. Pull up, turn to your right and enter the doorway that was opened when you lit the two burners. Hop down onto the corner ledge and turn to your right. Save your game here. Standing slightly right of center, place Lara's back against the wall and take a running jump to the sloped rock ahead. Keep the jump key depressed so that Lara jumps off without sliding and grabs the ceiling. Monkey swing to the ledge in the far corner, release and pick up the LASER SIGHT for SECRET #3. Turn around, jump up and grab the ceiling, monkey swing just past the apex of the sloped rock (18 swings is just about right) and release to jump off the slope to the ledge in the SE corner.

Turn to your left, pull up onto the block and take a running jump slightly left of due north to a ledge in the lava beyond the cracked pillar. From there take a running jump NW and pull up into the north alcove to locate a wall switch. Pull it down to extinguish the flames around the gem pedestal. Turn around and jump to the sloped pillar south. Take a running jump and grab the wide pillar ahead. Shift to your right, climb up and pull up onto the ledge. Turn around and take a running jump NW to the next pillar. Turn left and jump into the room with the pedestal. Take the second HORSEMAN'S GEM and jump back to the pillar. Turn left and take a running jump and grab to the opening in the north wall. Pull up, follow the passage and slide down into a familiar place.

Turn left and use the crawl space to return to the partially flooded passage. Swim back to the flooded open area and get some air if necessary, then swim through the west doorway and turn right just before the fountain room. The passage blocked by rubble that you couldn't negotiate on foot is now accessible, so swim past the rubble, surface and run up the long winding ramp. You'll come to a closed door with a gem receptacle on each side. Insert both of the Horseman's Gems to open the door to a small room with five wall switches. Go ahead and throw them all. Going from right to left, the first two give you no clue as to what you've done. The middle switch opens a portal gate elsewhere, the fourth switch opens a nearby metal gate to give you a shortcut out of here, and the final switch opens another portal gate.

If you wish, you can drop down through the hole in the floor and check out the room to the north, where you'll need to find and bring back here four Golden Vraeus artifacts. You'll spend the next four levels collecting these, so go back to the main room, use the ladder in the south face to climb back up to the room with the switches, and exit through the room with the Poseidon statues. Dive into the water outside, swim forward and enter the underwater portal gate south. Turn left, swim down and through the opening and follow the passage until you run into the warp trigger that takes you to the next level.

Level 2: EMERALD LAKES

The current will pull you west through the passage and into a larger underwater area where you're met by two hammerhead sharks. Your dual goal here is personal safety and a source of air, so swim forward (a gate closes off the passage behind you) and locate the air hole. Pull up into a room with a closed door and a hand receptacle. Go to the middle of the north wall and pull up into the alcove for some crossbow arrows. You can see a trident, so close and yet so far, just behind the closed grate.

Drop back down to the lower room and prepare to deal with those sharks again. Jump into the water and swim west down into an opening. When you reach what appears to be a cement structure, swim around it to the right and into the passage. Make a hairpin turn to the left and pull the underwater lever you'll find in the alcove behind the structure. Swim back out and get some air and some shark relief. When you're ready, jump back into the water and this time swim through the larger opening east. Turn right just as you enter and continue making a hairpin turn to the right as you swim up a passage into a small chamber with a raised tile. Locate the opening in the SW corner and swim down into a short passage. Pull the underwater level at the far end to open an underwater gate elsewhere.

Flip turn, return to the small chamber and pull up through the air hole above the raised tile into a room. Pick up the shotgun ammo in the NE corner and note the nearby gem receptacle. Drop down into the burner trench on the south side (that was made safe when you pulled the first underwater lever). Crawl into the east opening and pull down the wall switch at the other end to open another underwater door. Return to the previous room, jump into the water and swim through the east opening back to the hub area with the central air hole. Pause for air if necessary and swim once again through the larger east opening. This time turn left and swim down to locate the lifted grate to your left. Try to get both sharks to follow you, then swim through the opening and into an underwater shaft with a central pillar. Swim up, surface, pull up onto the pillar and exact revenge upon one or both of the sharks. (If only one followed you, just go back and entice the other one to its doom.)

I know you're anxious to dry out and move on, but don't continue up at this time, as you still need to collect two tridents before proceeding. Jump back into the shark-free water and locate another lifted grate to the south in the underwater shaft, just below the surface. Swim inside and follow the stairwell until you surface, then run the rest of the way up the winding stairs into a small room. Activate the jump switch up on the west wall to open the door affording access to the trident you saw earlier, which is now in plain sight beyond the bars in the south wall. But once again, so near and yet so far. You have to go all the way back to the hub area and pull up into through the central air hole to claim it, so you may as well do that now while it's fresh in your mind.

Run back down the stairs, swim into the underwater shaft and go down, ignoring for now the hole in the floor at the SW corner. Exit through the NE opening, swim back to the hub area (making a lazy horseshoe turn to the right), pull up into the room above and into the north alcove for the first TRIDENT.

Hop back down to the floor and jump into the water. Swim through the west opening to that cement structure you saw earlier. This time swim south in front of it and continue through a short passage into an area with a central green column. There's a square opening in the south face that leads you to a shaft with an air pocket at the top and a side passage with a closed gate at the end. Get some air if you need it, then swim back outside and locate the smaller slit lower in the east face. Swim inside and down for a HORSEMAN'S GEM. A cut scene reminds you that the receptacle is in the burner room you visited earlier. Return there by exiting this area north (first noting the closed gate in the lower north opening), back to the hub area, across into the east opening, and a hairpin turn to the right and up through the narrow passage.

Pull up into the burner room and place the gem in its receptacle. A cut scene shows an underwater grate opening. Yes, it's the lower north grate in the area with the green column that you just left, so swim back there, enter the new passage and follow it up into an underwater chamber. You can see the opening in the opposite corner as you swim up. Be very careful not to swim under that opening, or you'll be sucked up through the shaft by a strong current. If that should happen to you, simply surface, wade to the dry passage, drop down through the hole at the other end and try again. If you're fortunate enough to avoid that fate, locate the underwater lever in the SE wall and pull it (a cut scene shows a trap door lifting somewhere) and swim carefully back down through the NE hole in the floor. Or, if you wish, swim under the suction cup mentioned above and you'll wind up at the same place.

Swim to the west wall and locate the deep shaft leading upward. Swim up, surface and pull up into a room that was formerly blocked off by the trap door. There are bars separating you from another room filled with assorted goodies, including that trident you've been looking for. Pull down the switch in the north wall for a cut scene showing a gate lifting in the green structure below. Swim back down the shaft and into the square opening in the south face of the structure. Swim up the shaft and through the side passage west, and pull up into the room on the other side of the bars. There are four pedestals on presently dormant burner tiles in each corner. Before taking the trident, decide which of the other pedestals has what you want or need most, and take it. The burner tiles at the other non-trident pedestals are then activated, preventing you from taking those goodies unless you decide to endure some health loss in the process (the water hole, after all, is close by and very handy for putting out fires). Then go to the SE pedestal, which remains dormant, and pick up the second TRIDENT.

Swim back down the shaft, exit the green structure and leave this area via the upper north opening. Return to the hub area and continue across through the east opening. Turn left once inside and swim down and through the open gate to the left. Swim up the shaft and surface for air, then swim through the open south gateway into the submerged stairwell. Continue until you surface, and run up the rest of the way to the small room with the jump switch. Continue up the ramp NW, and when you reach the bridge spanning the central shaft, run across into the west opening and save your game. As you run down the ramp you get a fixed camera angle and a boulder is released behind you. Take an angled jump either to the right or left to land on a safe spot out of the boulder's path. If you overshoot and land in the water where you're grabbed by a strong current, reload and try again.

Pick up the small medipack on the north part of the ledge. The walkway ahead is protected by a series of blade traps, so trigger them one by one by walking carefully west. When you're safely across, hop across the boulder and run into the next room. The stairway to your right is guarded by flame blowers, but you can easily thwart them in the prescribed fashion by timing runs past them. An even easier way is by climbing on the ledge to your right or left and bypassing them completely (you can run right through the ghostly columns). When you reach the landing you find that the wall switch in the alcove to your left is protected by a flame blower and a burner tile, so climb the pole in the NE corner past the rotating blade and back flip into a small room. Pick up the large medipack in the far corner and pull down the wall switch to extinguish the burner tile below. There's a torch lying on the floor, but ignore it for now and jump back down to the floor below. Wait until the flame blower subsides and jump up into the alcove. Pull down the wall switch to open the door next to the flame blower.

Hop down when it's safe, and go back to the pole. Climb up past the second rotating blade and back flip into the dark room above for SECRET #4. Pick up the crossbow arrows, two stashes of shotgun ammo and a small medipack, and pull down the wall switch in the corner for a cut scene showing an underwater door opening in a dark area. Jump back to the pole, slide down just past the higher rotating blade and back flip into the middle room. Pick up the TORCH and hop down through the opening to the main floor. It's not safe to try and light the torch with the flame blowers, so go on back down the stairs and up the boulder ramp, locate the wall sconce to your left and light the torch with it. Go back to the room with the water-filled trenches and light both burners that you'll find on the corner tiles. This turns off the current in the trenches.

Drop the torch (you don't need it any longer). Since the builder has graciously provided a short cut to where you're going next, make use of it by hopping into either trench and sliding down into the water below. Swim down through the hole and pick up the HAND OF SIRIUS just before you reach the crossing. A cut scene shows the receptacle in the room you first pulled into when you began the level. We'll go there shortly, but let's first indulge in an exploratory diversion. Turn left and swim into an underwater chamber. Pull up through one of the air holes for some revolver ammo, then jump into the water and pick up the small medipack in the west depression. Exit through the NW opening and swim west. When you reach the crossing, make a hairpin turn to the left and pull the underwater lever at the end of the east passage. This opens a grate at the end of the extended passage west (and also provides a way back to this area later should you need to return for any reason). Flip turn, swim back up, and this time continue west along the extended passage.

Pull up and slide down into a dry chamber, where you'll find a closed trap door and an exposed lever above the entrance that you won't be able to activate until you find a way to flood this area. Now to make use of that Hand of Sirius. Jump back into the opening and into the water, and swim back east, taking the left fork to return to the underwater chamber. Continue through the SE opening, and when you reach the crossing turn left and swim up the shaft into a familiar area with the central pillar. Cross this chamber and continue through the NE opening. Follow the passage, repeating that lazy horseshoe turn around to the right and up, and pull into the air hole when you reach the hub area. Insert the Hand of Sirius in the receptacle, and the door to your right opens. Go inside for SECRET #5 and pick up the flares, the revolver ammo and the large medipack.

Now it's time to use those tridents you've been carrying around. Reverse roll, go out and jump into the water, swim through the east opening, turn left and swim down and through the opened gateway to your left. Swim up the shaft when you reach the chamber with the central pillar, surface for air if necessary, and dive back down to swim through the south gateway. Follow the stairwell until you can surface, then run the rest of the way up the stairs as you did before. Cross the little bridge when you reach the top and continue west down the boulder ramp. Keep on going until you reach the flame-guarded stairs, and go up by your preferred method. Turn left at the top of the stairs and go through the west doorway you opened up earlier. The door closes behind you, seemingly preventing a retreat in the event you might wish to go back for something you'd missed. (This aspect of the game was decried as unfair and unnecessary by several players who reviewed this level. However, I believe the criticism is misplaced, because all you have to do is safety drop from the bridge to the dry area below and jump through the doorway you opened earlier--assuming you had the good sense to do that--to retrace your steps.)

You're in a dark upper room with Poseidon statutes perched on each of the four corners. The tridents of two of them (in the NE and SW corners) have missing heads, so first pick up the nearby grenade gun ammo and uzi ammo and then go place the missing heads. NOTE: It's vital that you go across the bridge and place the SW trident first, and then come back to place the NE trident. If you do it in reverse order, nothing will happen and you'll be stuck with nowhere to go and nothing to do. A long flyby shows the area below being flooded and then takes you away to pan a new area where you'll eventually find the Golden Vraeus. Jump off the bridge into the water below and pull the east underwater lever to open the trap door in the floor behind you.

Swim down into the opening and along the passage, and allow the current to carry you into the new area where you'll be greeted by a new pair of hammerhead sharks. Swim past them and turn left past the first rock ledge to pull up onto a ledge with a gem receptacle. Kill the sharks, then jump back into the water and swim around to the back side of the structure you were standing on. Locate the small opening on the south end and swim into it and down. Be wary of the spike trap in the passage beyond and time a spurt past it and swim up the shaft beyond. Pull up into a torch-lit room and shoot a couple of bats that flutter down to plague you. Ignore the north alcove for the moment and head east to a crossing with stairs to your left and an opening ahead that leads to a checker-tile floored room.

Go up the stairs to the next room and pull down the wall switches in the SE and SW corners. Note the closed grate in the NE corner before going down the stairs and into the room to your left. You'll find that pulling the switches has raised a block in the center of the room. (At some point the door behind you closes, but don't worry about that because you'll open it again when you're finished here.) Climb up onto it and use it to climb through the hole in the ceiling (the west face has a climbable surface). When you pull up into the upper room and take the HORSEMAN'S GEM from the pedestal, you hear the sound of doors opening below. When you drop back down onto the block, you can hear other strange sounds in the distance. You've released a couple of ahmets, so either wait for them to appear and kill them from the safety of the block you're standing on, or hop down and flush them out first.

When the coast is clear, go to the NE corner of this room and locate the crawl space. Crawl inside, and when you reach the opening overhead, stand up, pull up to your left and use another crawl space to access a wall switch. Crawl back, drop down to the lower passage and turn left. Crawl out to the main room and locate the nearby small medipack on a raised platform next to a vase. There's a south opening leading to a small room and another small medipack. Go outside and to the SW corner of the larger room, where the south opening takes you to a small room with two stashes of shotgun ammo and a switch on the wall in the near corner to your right. Pull it down to open the exit door in the west wall.

Go there and into the open doorway. You find yourself back in the room where you pulled out of the water. Go to the north alcove and pull down the wall switch you'll find there. The door to your right opens, so jump down into the water and swim to the ledge with the gem receptacle, where you shot the sharks. Pull up and insert the Horseman's Gem to turn off some burner tiles nearby. Now swim back to the area you just left and pull up onto the south ledge. Hop through the open window and turn left once inside. Go back up the stairs to your left and you find that the door in the NE corner is now open.

Go up the passage, pick up the shotgun ammo in the depressed corner along the way, and continue until you reach an opening that overlooks the water below. Take a running jump and grab to the tall pillar ahead, then pull up and run west along the bridge to another pillar and beyond to an opening in the west wall. Go inside for SECRET #6 and pick up the SHOTGUN. Reverse roll and run out to the previous pillar. Turn right and take a running jump and grab to the rope. Swing forward, jump off onto the roof of the odd-shaped structure ahead and pick up the GOLDEN VRAEUS.

Jump into the water and swim over to the north structure. Pull up onto the ramped entrance and run up through either of the open gates. The instant you step inside you'll trigger flame blowers that guard the switches in the central golden block. Turn left and run through the western part of what I'll call a cathedral. You'll alert a tinman, so kill him by shooting repeatedly the blue gem in his chest. Shooting the nearby vase on the pedestal will release two bats for target practice. Go up the stairs in the SW corner and pull down the wall switch at the end. The door to your right fails to open, so go back downstairs and turn left to run past the archways north. Turn left just beyond them and run up the ramp to flush out another ahmet. Kill it, then continue up the ramp for some uzi ammo on the SW tile. The NW opening leads to a small room with a wall switch that's presently inaccessible.

Cross over toward the east side of the temple, where you'll find a golden block similar to the one near the entrance. There are no flame blowers here, however, and there's but one lonely switch in the north face. Pull it down for a cut scene showing that small room with the inaccessible wall switch in the corner. Turn left and alert another tinman near the east wall for you to kill. Shoot the nearby vase for some revolver ammo, then go up the stairs in the NE corner. There's another wall switch at the end for you to pull, and you hear the sound of a nearby door opening (but not the nearest one to your left). Go back downstairs and through the south opening to your left. In the next room is an opening to your right. Vault up into it and crawl inside until you can stand up. Walk to the edge of the hole ahead and you can see the jump switch up in the far wall. Take a standing jump and grab to activate the jump switch, then pick up the crossbow arrows at your feet.

Climb up the north wall, shift right and drop down into the higher passage. Turn right and crawl out to the main cathedral area. Run back underneath the arches to the ramp in the SW corner. Go back up the stairs and you'll find that the door near the wall switch is now open. Kill the tinman who steps forward to accost you and pick up the HORSEMAN'S GEM that he drops. Go east into the room he was guarding and run along the walkway to your right into a small room south with a pole in the middle. Climb the pole, past a rotating blade, and back flip into the room above. Go into the north opening, crawl along a covered bridge and run into a room with a wall switch at the far end. Pull it down, then go back south and slide down the pole past the rotating blade. NOTE: Whatever you do, don't vault up (as opposed to hopping up, which does nothing) into the NW window opening after you pull the switch, or you'll be magically and prematurely transported to the roof of the structure with no readily apparent way of getting back down.

Exit to the north, turn left after you cross the walkway and return to the main cathedral area by running down the stairs. Go to the SE corner near the entrance and use the ladder to climb up to the passage above. Use the crawl space to trigger a flyby showing a tinman mounting his horse below. Drop down into the room below and keep hopping around while shooting at the gem on his chest until he dismounts and comes after you. Several bats will join forces with him as you run through this area, so kill them as well. Kill the tinman and pick up the second HORSEMAN'S GEM that he drops. Watch out for the spike and burner tile traps in the floor holes and go over to the SE corner to find a wall switch in a dark area nearby. Pull it down for a cut scene of the burning golden block outside.

There's a small medipack in the NE corner of the room, and the spike pit nearest it has a pickup you can see down in the hole. Make a mental note of it and exit through the opening in the SW corner. You may encounter another bat on the way out. Hop down to the main cathedral floor and go to the flame-protected block. You see that the flame blower in the south face is no longer constant. When the flames subside, run forward and pull down the switch, then hop back. This causes the blower in the north face to become intermittent, so go around to the other side and await your opportunity to pull down that switch. Repeat for the west face, and finally the east face. When the fourth switch is pulled down you'll get a cut scene (but don't neglect to hop back) of a door opening elsewhere.

Run north past the archways and go up the stairs in the NE corner. Go through the opening onto the upper bridge and turn right at the closed trap door to enter the open doorway across the walkway to the north. Hop down into the next room and pull up into the west opening. Take a running jump into the opening in the next building and run down the ramp and up the stairs to your left. Pull up into the opening in the south wall and pull down the wall switch to raise a block in that room with the formerly inaccessible wall switch. Hop back down and continue up the stairs. You'll see an active burner tile across the gap, which prevents you from proceeding in this direction. Go back down the stairs and up the ramp.

Safety drop to the cathedral floor below, run west up the ramp and turn right to find the small room with the raised block. Climb up onto it and pull down the wall switch. A cut scene shows the burners being extinguished in the previous area, so leave here and return to the NE corner of the cathedral. Run up the stairs to the upper bridge, turn right at the trap door and hop down into the room north, jump across to the next building west, climb the stairs to the very top, and take a running jump and grab across the gap to land inside the north passage. Turn around and locate the jump switch overhead, and activate it to hear the sound of a door opening.

Jump back across the gap and pull up into the SE opening where earlier you pulled down a wall switch. The passage beyond is now accessible, so follow it to a crawl space. You'll eventually wind up on the roof of the cathedral. Roam around a bit from north to south, spooking a number of bats in the process. You'll find some flares in the far NW corner and a small medipack in the far SE corner. There are walkways connecting the north and south buildings to the central building. Drop down onto them to find gem receptacles in the north and south walls of the central building. Insert the two Horseman's Gems in these receptacles. When the second one is placed, a flyby shows the exit doors opening and continues on to a crawlspace you've already visited.

Hop back, pull up onto the ledge to the roof of the central building and use the west crawl space to get back to the stairs. Run down the stairs to the east opening and take a running jump across the gap into the next building. Hop down into the next room. You could take a left here and finish this level now if you wanted to, but there's a little bit more yet to do before you leave. Turn right and vault up onto the walkway, run forward to the bridge and use either opening to your right or left to return to the main cathedral floor. Run to the NE corner, run up the ramp there and turn right into the south passage. Go to the opening in the SW corner and vault up into the passage. Crawl to where you can stand up, hop over the hole and crawl some more to pick up the revolver ammo. Keep crawling west and pick up the large medipack. When you do so, you get a cut scene showing that the spikes protecting the pickup (back in the room where you battled the mounted tinman) have retracted.

Stand up, run forward and drop down to the main cathedral floor. Run down the ramp and past the flaming golden block to the SE corner. Climb the ladder, crawl through and drop down into the room where you shot the mounted tinman. Go to the hole containing the pickup (be careful, as the other hole is still spike trapped) and drop down into it for the REVOLVER and SECRET #7. Pull out of the hole, leave via the SW opening in the wall, and return to the main cathedral floor.

Run once more to the NE corner, up the stairs and onto the upper bridge, and turn right to the north opening. Hop down into the next room and go around the central pillar through the open exit gates. Run up the ramp to your right and kill the ahmet in the upper chamber. There are three vases up here. Shoot them all to open trap doors underneath them. The east hole takes you down a slope into a spike pit, and you die. The same thing happens if you choose the west hole, so do the smart thing and drop down the north hole. You'll slide down some distance before being whisked away to Hidden Garden.

Level 1: HIDDEN GARDEN (interlude)

Step out onto a ledge overlooking the jungle clearing. Turn left and walk to the south edge. Take a running jump to the square ledge, and from there hop SW to the next ledge and run around to the south end. Turn to face the nearest tree and take a running jump west to grab the limb. Pull up and take standing jumps around to the north limb. Safety drop to the clearing, turn around and run past the flaming ahmet carcass to the small building near the west wall. Run down the ramp and the stairs until you reach the gap with the lava area below. Take a running jump across the gap and turn right. The open portal gate to the next level is straight ahead, so run inside and you'll soon hit the warp trigger.

Level 3: FIREWALK

You're sliding down a long slope. Immediately jump with a roll so that you're sliding down backwards, and grab the edge when you reach the bottom. Shimmy to the right or left if necessary (it shouldn't be), then release and grab the crack below. Shimmy to the right and around the corner, and drop down into an alcove. Pull down the wall switch to open a door directly below. Hop backwards and slide down the slope. Grab the edge and drop down to the walkway below. Run forward into SECRET #8. Turn to your right, jump up to grab the ceiling, and monkey swing across the lava to the ledge on the other side. Drop down and pick up the UZIS, triggering two flame blowers that block your return trip. Monkey swing carefully past them when the flames subside and drop down onto the west walkway.

Turn to your left and walk out to the lava. The wall to your right is climbable, so climb up a long distance, pull up at the top, slide down the facing surface, jump off and grab the slope ahead, pull up and finally slide down to a stable ledge. Use the monkey bars overhead to cross the lava pool, carefully timing your passage past three flame blowers. When you drop down on the other side and step forward, an ahmet comes to greet you, so kill it before it has a chance to push you into the lava. As you explore the large area west, finding nothing of any consequence except some shotgun ammo on the grate near the central pool, you'll flush out a crocodile. Jump into the water, where you'll encounter a second crocodile. After all the enemies have been killed, explore the large and deep pool for some revolver ammo on the raised rock near the center.

Swim up and into the large opening near the SE corner. Turn right once inside, swim to the other end and down through the hole in the floor. Turn to swim east toward the block, upon which rests the CROWBAR. There's nothing else here (unless you count an opening SE that takes you to an underground red-tinted pool where there's nothing to do or pick up), so swim back up and out and surface for air. Pull out near the grate, where a third crocodile patiently awaits you. After killing it, you find that there are a number of closed gates in the area that block your continued progress. The only available way to go appears to be the lava pit to the south, so go there and take a running jump and grab across the lava.

Pull up into the next area. As you step forward you're met by the anomalous sound of crackling thunder, and a fixed camera angle takes over from the far side of the lava field. Hit the look key to restore camera control. There's a passage to your right that's blocked by a closed gate. The passage to your left ends at a crawl space. Beyond is a passage guarded by active burner tiles, so make a mental note of it for later. Use the raised ledge to take a running jump and grab to the first block south. Pull up and face SE. Take a running jump to the next short block, then another running jump SW to the next short block. The fourth block NW is sloped, so take a running jump to it, slide down and grab the edge, make sure you're centered and pull up to take a rolling back flip to the tall pillar in the middle of the lava pool. Hit the action key to activate a jump switch, and you'll drop through a hole into a pool of water.

You're in the "unproductive" area you explored earlier, so swim north through the opening, turn left in the next area where you picked up the crowbar, swim up through the hole, exit to the NE and surface. Pull out into the main room above and take another running jump and grab across the lava pit south. Pull up, run forward and into the passage to your right. The doorway is now open, so continue along the passage to a wall switch. Pull it down to open a plethora of doors in the main room. Reverse roll and return to the ledge. Take a running jump and grab north across the lava. Pull up and return to the main room.

Opening all those doors also released an ahmet, so killing it is your first order of business. You have much to do in here now, and because of certain problems reported in the stuck threads it would be advisable for you to proceed in the order suggested in this walkthrough. Begin by going through one of the open double doors to the NE and up the ramp. You'll pass through an open grate that slams shut behind you as you enter, and you hear what sounds like a boulder being released. Across the water is a pedestal surrounded by flames. In between are tiles of varying patterns that wink in and out intermittently. Your task is to cross the tiles to the other side, putting out the flames in the process.

Note that the winking tiles have three different patterns: solid light, solid dark with a red border, and a pattern of two circles and two diamonds. These last are the key to the puzzle. Step forward to the edge of the first tile, which is stable. When the second tile dead ahead winks in, take a standing jump to it and run forward to the adjacent tile north. This is one of five circle/diamond tiles, and it's the only one that's stable. The other four are at the cardinal points, separated by a single tile. You need to step on all of these tiles to extinguish the flames. The easiest way to do so is simply to face in their direction, and when each one appears take a standing jump to it and an immediate back flip to the central circle/diamond. When all four have been reached in this manner, the flames go out. Now all you have to do is proceed to the north ledge, pull up and take the HAND OF ORION from the pedestal.

Now that your mission here is accomplished, jump into the water and locate the south opening where a gate has lifted. Swim inside, up and around and pull the underwater lever. Swim back out and through the hole that has opened up in the bottom of the pool. Locate the narrow slit in the south wall and swim inside. Follow to an underwater chamber for SECRET #9, where you'll find some uzi ammo on either side of the central column, in depressions with dormant burner tiles. You could continue through the west opening, but there's a substantial risk you'll drown on the way, so swim back out and surface for air. Then swim back down through the hole and all the way to the bottom of the shaft. Allow the current to carry you back to a familiar area. Swim east and up through the hole in the ceiling, then west and through the opening to your left. Surface and pull out into the main room.

Now go to the NW doorway and go inside to stand on a dormant (for now) burner tile. There are five vases surrounding you in a semi-circle. If you shoot them in the wrong order, the burner tile ignites and you'll be incinerated. Rumor has it there are color-coded clues in the main room, but I wasn't able to detect them. In any event, counting from left to right, the proper sequence is: 4, 1, 3, 2 and 5, and the vases can be shattered simply by using your pistols. You may want a more powerful weapon, however, for the ahmet that greets you when you return to the main room.

The doorway in the alcove in the east wall (to the left of the flame blowers) is now open, so go there and enter. Run up the ramp, but don't get reckless, as you'll turn a corner to find a sudden drop-off into a lava pit. Take a running jump and grab across the pit and pull up. Hop down into the passage below, turn left and you'll step out onto a ledge overlooking the main room. To your right are two side passages. The first is empty, but the second contains some flares and a bat. Go back out to the ledge and go across into the east opening. Run up the steps and use the monkey bars to swing across the lava pit. Drop down on the other side and run down the steps. To your right is a closed door, so turn left and go past the column down some stairs to your right.

Turn right at the bottom of the stairs and insert the Hand of Orion in the receptacle on the column wall. A cut scene shows one of the burning tiles in the passage off the main room being turned off. Go back out and enter a room with oily-looking water (although it's quite safe) and three pillars. When you jump to the pillars they're set ablaze, so you need to be quick. But before you do anything else, clear the area by going down the ramp and shooting two crocodiles that were hoping you'd slip and fall into the water and provide them a snack. Then jump into the water and swim into the north opening. Go to your right for a large medipack, then flip turn and swim to the other end to pull an underwater lever. Swim back out, surface and pull up onto the ramp. Pull back up to the ledge and face the pillars, angled slightly left of due south.

Take two steps back, then hop back, and take a running jump to the first pillar. In one fluid motion, jump off to the second pillar as flames erupt practically at your heels. Do the same thing when you hit the third pillar, and change your direction slightly to the right so you can jump off and grab the south ledge ahead. Pull up and go through the open gateway south. When you reach the crossing, turn right and hop into the hole for some crossbow arrows. Pull out of the hole, turn around and hop backwards up the east ramp. As soon as the spike ball is triggered, run forward and into the passage to your right. Run up the ramp and turn left into an area much like the previous one, only this time the pillars are arranged in the other direction and they're set in deadly lava rather than water.

There's a closed trapdoor to your right. However, for some reason you're able to jump, climb or drop down into the hole as if the trap door were not even there. But let's do this the way the builder intended. Walk to the north edge of the ledge, a little left of center, turn around, hop back and grab the edge. Release and immediately grab the crack just below. Shimmy to your left, around two corners and all the way to the wall. Release to land on a small ledge in the lava that triggers open the trap door above. Pick up the small medipack, then take a running jump to a bigger ledge in the SE corner. Pick up the grenade gun ammo and note the shaft above you. The west face is climbable, so turn around, walk to the west edge of the ledge, jump up to grab the wall of the shaft and climb up to the top. Pull up and go to the other side of the ledge. Line up Lara for a series of jumps to the pillars ahead, in the same manner you did in the previous room (and remember, take two steps and a hop back before beginning).

Pull up onto the north ledge and go through the open gateway ahead. The SE passage leads to a closed door, so continue through the north opening into a room guarded by flame blowers. The pedestal is resting on a dormant burner tile, but there's no sinister trap here. Take the HORSEMAN'S GEM, and you'll hear the sound of that door opening at the end of the SE passage. Go there and run up the ramp. At the end of the grated ramp is an overhead jump switch. Jump up to activate it, opening up a gate elsewhere. Stand at the south edge and jump up to grab the ceiling. Monkey swing across the lava room, carefully timing your way past the four flame blowers.

Drop down at the other end and enter the south opening. There's another spike ball waiting for you, so dash down the ramp and scoot into the passage to your right before the spike ball reaches you. Step out onto the ledge overlooking the pool with three flaming pillars and shoot two crocodiles swimming lazily around below. Then jump into the water and swim to the other side. Surface at the NW ramp and run to the alcove where you can pull up. An ahmet is waiting there for you, so kill it. Go through the open west gateway and up the stairs. Turn left at the column and take the next right. Use the monkey bars at the top of the stairs to swing over the lava, drop down and continue forward onto the ledge overlooking the main room.

Safety drop onto the raised ledge below to minimize your health loss, then go up the west stairs and into another lava room. There are four vases in windows in the south wall. Combine your crossbow with the laser sight and shoot the one on the far left to open a door in the north wall. Shoot the next two as well, but leave the one on the far right alone (it contains a fire wraith). Take a running jump west to the central structure, step across the closed trap door and from its north edge take a standing jump NW. Jump off the slope to the north ledge and enter the open doorway ahead.

The door closes behind you, but don't worry. You're standing on a dormant burner tile. Don't step on the tile to your right, or you'll trigger a most unwelcome boulder. Push the block ahead one time. It's supposed to block the boulder that comes down from your left, but it doesn't. So stand in the NE corner, facing NE, and hit the jump and up arrow keys simultaneously. Lara will eventually work her way past the moveable block and land in the hole beyond. (One good bug deserves another.) Pull up east and throw the wall switch. Reverse roll, hop back down into the hole. Pull up on the left side of the moveable block with the up and left arrow keys depressed, and Lara should wind up on the south side of the moveable block. Go out, turn right and alongside the boulder passage into a room with some uzi ammo in the corner. Pull up into the west alcove for some more uzi ammo.

Leave this area, go out to the ledge in the lava room and take a running jump to the central structure. The west door is open now, so step onto the slope, slide down a bit and jump off onto the ledge. Enter the west passage but don't pull up into the alcove ahead. Instead, stand with your back to it, walk east a couple of steps, back flip onto it and immediately take a standing jump forward (before the burner tile ignites) and grab the east ladder. Climb up until you're several rungs from the top, and back flip into a ramped passage. Turn around and follow the passage up into a small room. Continue east and follow the long passage until you reach a crawl space. Crawl out onto a ledge overlooking the lava room you saw earlier.

You now have a timed run to get across the room to the west doorway before it closes. It can be done quite easily with a couple of seconds to spare, however, and you don't need to step on the shorter pillar straight ahead. Step to the NW corner and take a running jump NW to the first pillar, another running jump to the next pillar west, a side flip to the third pillar, and finally a standing jump west and a dash through the opening before the door slams shut. In the next area you have another little puzzle. Just beyond the grated flooring is a burner tile, and another burner tile in the alcove just beyond. To avoid being set aflame, take a running jump from the edge of the grated flooring onto the left side of the alcove, then take a side flip to the right before either tile is activated.

Light a flare and go into the south passage for a small medipack. Continue around to a closed trap door and climb up onto the block to your left. Take the HAND OF SIRIUS from the pedestal, which opens the trap door below. Hang drop from the edge into a pool of water below. Swim north along the passage and follow back to the large pool in the main room. Pull out and go to the SW corner where you'll find open double gates. Go inside and climb the irregular rocks to the left. Take a standing jump over a slope to a block (note the switch beyond the bars to your left), then a running jump across the gap to the next ledge. Note the closed gate while you shoot a bat. Turn right and take a running jump west to the next ledge for a large medipack.

Jump back to the previous ledge with the closed gate. Walk out to the SW corner, facing the small red opening in the south wall below. Take a running jump SW toward that red spot, holding down the action key so that Lara doesn't bump her head. You'll land sliding, so jump off into the passage ahead. Run up the ramped passage, taking a standing jump to clear a rough spot, and hop down into the hole when you see the gem receptacle. Insert the Horseman's Gem for a cut scene showing that another burner tile has been extinguished in the passage below.

Pull out of the hole and continue along the passage and past an intersection (there's a closed gate to your left). When you reach the bars you find that wall switch on your left. Pull it down to open that gate around the corner. Use the north crawl space to access another passage where you'll find the receptacle for the Hand of Sirius. Insert it to put out the last of the burner tiles in the passage below. Go back out the same way you came, and when you reach the intersection you'll find that the gate to your right is now open. Go on through and down the rocks to your right, taking a running jump across the gap.

Return to the main room through the open double gates and go to the south ledge. Take a running jump and grab across the lava and pull up. Run forward and turn left into that passage with the crawl space. Crawl through and sure enough, all of the burner tiles are now off. Follow the passage into the next room and pull down the wall switch in the SW corner to raise the blocks on the pillars in the lava room outside. Go back through the crawl space and take a running jump and grab north across the lava to pull up to the main room. Run forward and turn right to enter the east doorway for a second time. Run up the ramp, remembering to stop at the top. Take a running jump and grab west across the lava pit and pull up.

Continue along the passage and hop down to the passage below. Enter the east passage and monkey swing across the lava pit. When you reach the intersection, the door to your right is now open, so go inside to find yourself on another ledge overlooking the main room. Go on across to the west end and turn to your left. Hop the ledges in a counterclockwise direction, picking up revolver ammo along the way. Then return to the middle south opening where the pillars have been raised. Take running jumps to the shorter block in a clockwise direction. To reach the last one NW, you'll need to make a midair curve to the left and grab. Pull up, turn around and take a running jump and grab to the taller central pillar east. Pull up and turn either right or left. Step to the outer edge, jump up and grab the wall of the shaft. Climb to the top and pull up into an area with multiple passages.

Jump over to the north side, unless you're already there, and follow the passage as it takes a horseshoe turn to the right. Pull down the wall switch at the end and go back. There's another switch at the other end, but refrain from pulling it as it will release a fire wraith. Jump over the hole to the south side and pull both switches you'll find at the end of the right (you have to use a crawl space) and left passages. A block at the end of the south passage has been retracted, so pull up on the north side of the ceiling hole into a hellish outdoor area with a red-tinted sky. Step forward and vault up onto the central structure. Walk up to the rim and you can see down below an artifact on a flaming ledge in the middle of a pool of molten rock. Turn around and note in the distance a wall switch protected by a burner tile.

Walk and hop around to the north side of the structure and jump forward onto the rocks. There's an opening in the north wall, so go inside, turn around and activate the overhead jump switch. Go back out and jump onto the central structure. Hop back around to the south end, where you can see that the burner tile beneath the wall switch has been deactivated. When you get there take a running jump across the gap, step forward and take a standing jump and grab over the lava pit. Pull down the wall switch, turn around, hop over the lava pit and jump back to the central structure. Go back around to the north side, jump to the opening, go inside and use the crawl space to find that the door to your left is now open. Go inside and pull down the wall switch.

Go back out, and you can see a helix coming out of the central structure. Climb up to the rim, and note that the flames guarding the artifact have been replaced by the helix. However, the molten rock all around is just as deadly as it was before. Take a standing jump down to the base of the helix and pick up the second GOLDEN VRAEUS. An extended flyby takes you through the lava area below while a block rises beneath you. Take a running jump south to the rim of the central structure. Hop down into the trench, and from there drop into the passageway.

Jump over the hole to the north end and find that the block there has also retracted. But before entering the revealed north passage, turn left and go to the NW corner. Pull up through the hole in the ceiling for SECRET #10 and pick up the large medipack, the shotgun ammo and uzi ammo in the corners. Jump back down to the lower passage, go into the extended north passage as Lara's theme music plays, and follow the passage to slide down a slope that carries you back to Hidden Gardens.

Level 1: HIDDEN GARDEN (interlude)

You slide down into an underground passage. Walk forward carefully and jump left around the lava pit at the intersection. Follow the passage to the next intersection. There's an opening to your left that you can pull up into if you want to search the tree limbs for any more pickups. However, I believe that all of any significance have already been documented (unless there's a higher level of limbs that I missed), so go to the right instead and drop down to the ground from the small ledge. Jump into the water south and swim across to the other side. Pull up onto the ramp against the south wall and run up through the open gateway. Turn right and you'll be transported to the next level.

Level 4: OBSIDIAN HEIGHTS

You slide down a short slope into a passage. Run forward and down the stairs into a room with a checkerboard floor. Walk forward to the central burner tile and pick up the SHOTGUN. No tricks, so don't worry. In the immediate vicinity of the burner tile are drop-offs going a very long way down. Get used to this. To the north and south are presently closed cages, each containing an ahmet. You'll deal with them later, so continue east and go down the stairs.

As you come out into an outdoor setting during the darkest hours of night, you'll hear the two attacking harpies before you see them. If you stand near the entrance you'll limit the range of their lethal rays as you methodically shoot them dead. Now take a good look around. You're standing at the edge of a cliff, with one massive tree on each side of you. A number of ghostly floating objects loom in the darkness on all sides.

Use the block on the south side of the entrance to climb up onto the ledge that hangs over the entrance. Turn around and face slightly SW. Take a standing jump into the opening in the wall and note the closed gate. Turn around and face what I'll call the south tree. Stand at the edge, facing NE, and take a running jump onto the nearest limb. Hop over to the north limb, walk out to the NE corner, facing slightly NE, and take a running jump to the lower branch of the north tree. Hop to the east limb and walk out to the SE corner. Facing SE, take a running jump to the nearest floating block.

Vault up and go to the NE corner, then take a running jump NE to the next floating block. So far, so good. Now face the next floating block NE, standing at the NE corner, and save your game. You can reach the third block with a running jump and a slight midair curve to the left (after clearing the obstruction of the floating block immediately to the left of your target) to land on the SW corner. Practice this until you become confident of your ability to do it repeatedly, as you'll be coming back this way several times. If you find that you simply can't make this jump successfully, you can take a long running jump down to the lower floating block just to the right of your target (where you can faintly see a small medipack), but at the cost of a substantial amount of your health.

Assuming you make the jump safely, run off the SE corner onto that lower floating block and drop down on the south side to pick up that small medipack. Climb back up and take a standing jump and grab to the previous block and pull up. Walk to the north edge and take a running jump and grab to the sloped block ahead. Pull up and allow Lara to slide down the opposite face onto an adjacent slope. Slide down this second slope onto another slope below. Slide down this slope a short distance and jump off at the last instant to grab the wall west. Climb up to the top and pull up. You'll soon hear a whirring sound in the distance that will soon become quite familiar to you. Draw a powerful weapon and dispatch the Tinnos wasp that's flying toward you out of the west.

Walk out to the west edge of the L-shaped ledge and take a running jump to the wall. Grab the edge and shimmy to the right and around the corner. When you reach the flat spot, pull up and run forward through the open window and down the steps into the building. Turn right and go up the stairs, noting the closed trap door in the alcove to your right. In the upper room is a crawl space in the east wall, presently blocked by a grate. There's a closed door in the wall near the SW corner. Stand in front of the slope surrounded by a railing and slide down into a passage. Locate some flares in the alcove to your right and turn around to activate the overhead jump switch. A flyby shows the grate in the crawl space lifting, but you can't get back up via the steep slope.

Continue east along the passage and watch out for the spikes that shoot out from the walls. Pick up the BRONZE KEY just past the second spike trap, and the door ahead opens. Make a hairpin turn to the right into the next passage to find another closed gate requiring a key you don't yet have. Go back out to the ledge and safety drop to the ground. Walk toward the cliff's edge, just to the right of the north tree. Locate the level triangular surface underneath the south limb and stand on it facing west. Hop back, slide down a bit and grab the edge. Lara will detect a ladder and her feet will come to a "set" position. Climb down until you're hanging over a crack, release and grab. There's another climbable surface here, so climb down and shift right and around the corner. Release to drop down onto a ledge, then face west and take a standing jump to grab the monkey bars.

Monkey swing around several corners until you see flames in the distance. Drop down into the passage just beyond the reach of the flames, then wait until they subside and scoot around to the left. Run up the ramp (no, there's not a boulder trap here), pull up into the alcove on your right, then into the passage on your left, and follow until you reach what appears to be a dead end. However, the wall to your right is climbable, so use it to reach an upper chamber. The nearby key is protected by an active burner tile, so go into the SW opening and stand with your back to the south wall. Take a standing jump and grab the climbable surface. Climb up to an upper room, locate and pull down the switch on the column. A flyby shows you that the burner tile protecting the key has been extinguished, while the one where you picked up the shotgun has been activated.

Go back down and pick up the IRON KEY. The east door opens, and a Tinnos wasp is alerted. After killing it, go outside to the ledge, face NE and repeat that running jump to the tree limb. Hop over to the north limb and take a running jump slightly NE to the lower limb of the north tree. Hop to the west limb and take a running jump and grab NW to the ledge. Pull up and enter the opening on your left. Use the Iron Key to open the door to a small barred room, but first go back outside and kill the harpy before proceeding. Go back to the barred room and pick up the TORCH, then return to the ledge and take a running jump to the nearest tree limb. Hop over to the south limb where there's higher ground, and run off the end.

Go into the west opening and up the stairs to the burner tile. Light the torch and find the four lamp stands on the corner ledges. Light them all to release a pair of angry ahmets. Drop the torch quickly and draw a powerful weapon to kill them. Go into the north lair for a small medipack and then pull down the wall switch. Cross over to the south lair for some flares and pull down the wall switch there for a cut scene showing a door opening elsewhere. Go down the east stairs and back outside. You now need to repeat that laborious sequence where you climb up onto the ledge hanging over the entrance, jump to the trees and from there to the floating blocks NE. I won't repeat the steps verbatim, as they're all described above. There are two major changes along the way, however.

First, when you begin by climbing onto the ledge and hop SW to the upper opening, take a short detour before jumping to the south tree. Go into the doorway you opened earlier and cross the small room into the opposite opening. Stand with your back against the south wall and take a standing jump forward and grab the climbable surface. Climb up to the next room, go around the column and push up the wall switch you pulled down earlier. Not only does this re-ignite the burner tile down below, it extinguishes a flame now protecting a chain in the higher reaches of the castle that you'll reach much later. If you haven't pushed this switch back up by the time you get there, you'll subject yourself to a laborious and annoying trip back here and up again. You're welcome. Go back down and be careful as you go around the once-again active burner tile. Return to the outside ledge and resume your journey by taking a running jump NE to the nearest tree limb.

Second, be aware that you'll alert two more Tinnos wasps when you jump to the second floating block, one flying out of the west and the other out of the north. Your best strategy is to shoot the one to the west first, then jump back to the first block and shoot the second one from a more favorable vantage point.

After you've successfully made that curving jump to the third block (did you remember to save first, just in case?), continue as described above until you reach the room with the crawl space that's now accessible. Crawl inside and pull the chain once for a cut scene showing a door opening elsewhere. Go back out to the main room and through the open SW doorway. There are two ahmets running around inside, so kill them and then pick up the LASER SIGHT from the central tile. Go south and around to your right to come to a raised walkway between two shallow pools. At the end of the walkway is a closed door, so jump into the south pool and swim down into the hole at the west end. Follow the passage into a cavern and surface for air.

Swim all the way to the west end, turn around and on your way back you'll see the underwater lever near the north wall. Pull it, then return via the east passage to the shallow pool. Wade to the east end, pull out and return to the main room. Go up the stairs NW and you'll come to a room with a fountain pool and a vase perched against the south wall. Shoot it and pick up a spare CROWBAR. Note the closed trap door near the west wall, pick up the uzi ammo just beyond it, then go back down to the main room. Go the closed double gate east and climb up into the alcove between them. Use the Bronze Key in the keyhole to open the gates.

Go inside the next room, where you can see lots of potential. There's a gold star beyond the bars on the west side, and a chain beyond the bars on the north side. The east side is an open area facing the trees and the floating blocks. Find the ramped opening south and walk out to the ledge. Take a running jump to the block slightly right of due south, and listen for that familiar whirring noise. Draw a powerful weapon and wait patiently until a Tinnos wasp appears out of the SE around the nearest floating block. Kill it, then take a running jump to the left corner of the east block and grab the edge. Pull up and walk out to the NE corner. Take another running jump slightly left of due east to land on the corner of the next block. Now you can jump to the upper limbs of the south tree and work your way around to the west limb. Face the NW ledge and take a running jump there. Walk past the hanging ivy into an empty room. Go through the west opening and follow the passage past a dormant burner tile and drop down into a lower room. The GOLDEN STAR is in the alcove to your left, so pry it off with one of your crowbars and reverse roll and turn left as you're attacked by beetles. Go through the doorway you've just opened, turn around at the wall and take a standing jump to activate the overhead jump switch.

A rope has been lowered. Run across to the opposite south alcove where you dropped down, vault up into it, turn around and take a standing jump and grab to the rope. Pull up through the hole in the ceiling, turn around 90 degrees to your left to face west, swing forward as much as you can and jump off into a small upper room. Pick up the small medipack in the corner, step toward the east crawl space and wait for the Tinnos wasp to fly inside. Blow it away, then lower Lara down the other side of the crawl space and drop down to the room below. Go out through the south opening again and repeat your jumps to the south tree. This time, hop over to the NE limb. From there, jump to the next floating block NE and walk out to the NW corner.

Face NW and take a running jump without grab to the upper limb of the north tree. Walk to the NW corner and take a running jump (again, without grab) to the corner of the irregular stone balcony NW. Hop down onto the little veranda and enter the building through the west opening. A horde of beetles attacks you as you enter, momentarily distracting you from the swinging blades ahead as they whoosh through the air. Note in passing the closed door on your right as you pull up onto the balcony. Time jumps past the first two blades, and pause if you dare after the second blade to shoot two vases for a small medipack and some shotgun ammo. There's a wall switch on the north side of the second blade, and the south side of the third blade. Pull them both down, and you'll hear the sound of a door opening nearby.

Go back through the blades and you'll find that north doorway open. Go through the passage and down the ramp into a room where an ahmet is waiting for you. After disposing of it, go west and you'll find a crawl space on either side when you near the far wall. The one to the north is blocked by a grate, so crawl into the one to the south and pull down the wall switch at the far end. Go back to find that the north crawl space is now open, so crawl inside and follow to an alcove where you'll find the second GOLDEN STAR. Pry it off the wall and return to the former room. Run past the dead ahmet and run back up the ramp north. When you reach the room with the blades, you find that they're no longer swinging. Turn left and go out onto the balcony.

Step forward and climb up onto the higher east block. Take a standing jump NE to the next opening and pull the chain once. (This is the chain that would now be flame-protected had you not pushed that wall switch back up earlier.) A trap door is lowered elsewhere. Jump SW back to the previous balcony and hop down. Vault up on the south side and safety drop from one of the lower blocks down to the room below. Go through the open double gates south into the large room. Turn right and go through the north opening past the rail-guarded slope. Veer to your right and go down the east stairs. At the bottom, to your left, is the open trap door.

Hop down into the hole, lower Lara down the crawl space there for SECRET #11, and crawl east into a small cave for a large medipack and some revolver ammo. Continue east into the cave and pick up the TRIDENT. Don't push your luck; if you go any further you'll slide down into oblivion. Turn around and crawl back to the alcove. Pull up to your right, stand with Lara's back to the north wall and take a standing jump forward and grab the climbable surface. Climb up and pull up into the passage at the foot of the stairs.

Go back up the stairs, to the large room where you killed two ahmets, and through the open double gate east. Cross to the north side of the balcony and pull up onto the tall block there. Take a running jump (without grab) over the flaming wall torch to the nearest branch east. A Tinnos wasp immediately attacks from your left, so draw a powerful weapon and kill it. Hop over to the NE branch of this tree and take a running jump and grab east to the floating block. Pull up, walk forward to the edge and take another running jump and grab to the left corner of the next floating block east. Don't pull up, as the surface here isn't stable. Instead, release and grab the crack directly beneath you, then shimmy to your right and around three corners until you can drop safely down into an alcove. A flame blower has been activated nearby, so walk forward carefully to the north wall and sidestep to your right beneath the opening, just beyond the reach of the flames. When they subside, quickly pull up to the upper area and you should avoid being set aflame.

Walk a few steps east to alert a pair of Tinnos wasps. Draw the most powerful weapons at your disposal and kill them before they get close enough to push you back into the flames. When you've done that, hop over to the rocks south and take a running jump without grab to the opening in the castle wall. Upon landing you'll awaken a skeleton, so dispose of it by either blowing it away with an explosive arrow or shooting off its head with your laser sight combined with the crossbow or the revolver. Then go to the south wall and pry off the third GOLDEN STAR with your crossbow.

There's nothing else to do here now (note the closed gate in the SE corner), so go back to the north edge and take a running jump and grab the crack in the face of the floating block. Shimmy to the right around two corners and drop back down into the alcove. Go past the flame blower and pull up at the right moment as you did earlier (if you're fortunate, the flames won't even appear until you've pulled up safely). Walk to the NE corner and take a running jump NE without grab to land on a ledge near the north wall. Run east and pull up into a hexagonal opening in the wall. Step forward and pull the chain once to open a trap door in the pool behind you.

Reverse roll, hop down from the wall and jump into the pool. Swim down the open shaft. There's a closed gate in the north passage, so swim east and take the left fork. Follow past two sets of bars and ignore the holes leading down. When you reach the intersection, turn left and swim up the ramp into a room with a patterned floor. Make a hairpin turn to the right and pull the underwater lever. Swim back down the ramp. If you turn left, the bad news is that you'll encounter a dead end but the good news is that there's a handy air pocket. Fill Lara's lungs with air and swim east to follow the passage back to your starting point.

Once you're suitably oriented, dive back down and this time take the right fork east. Swim down the first hole you encounter and swim straight across north. Turn right and follow the patterned floor to an air hole. Pause for air, then continue to follow the passage until you reach an upward shaft. Go up and find a second underwater lever east. Pull it to open that gate in the north passage near the starting point, so return there and swim inside. Follow to an air hole and be sure to pull up on the south side to save yourself considerable grief. Pull up into the alcove above and pry the fourth and last GOLDEN STAR off the east wall. Jump into the water and swim up the nearby shaft to get back to the outdoor pool.

Pull out and kill the waiting ahmet. Pull up into the hexagonal opening in the east wall and locate the north and south alcoves. Hop down and insert two of your Golden Stars in the receptacles you'll find there. Return to the pool area and vault up onto the block near the east wall. Stand at the south edge and take a standing jump and grab to the low-hanging limb. Pull up and hop over to the south limb. Walk out to the end and take a running jump into the south opening in the castle wall. A harpy is instantly alerted, so reverse roll while drawing a weapon and kill it. Pick up the flares and jump back to the south limb. Hop to the east limb and take a running jump from the end to a new balcony of the castle. A skeleton steps up to play, so either blow it up or behead it.

Go north, where you'll find another star receptacle on a raised tile east. Insert one of your remaining Golden Stars, then vault up onto the ramparts and take a running jump SW toward a closed door. You'll find the last star receptacle in the small anteroom east with the raised tile. Insert the fourth Golden Star and the door to the west opens. Walk through the opening and take a running jump from the edge into the next room lest you drop prematurely through the hole. Jump into the SE alcove for some shotgun ammo, then go to the SW corner of the room and pick up the CROSSBOW. Now you can return to the hole in the floor and hop down into it. Depending on where you land, you'll either be standing at the top of a slope or you'll immediately slide down that slope into an underground area. Take a running jump and grab to the central pillar south, pull up and then pick up the GOLDEN VRAEUS that represents this level.

Take another running jump south and pick up the revolver ammo. At the same time you hear that a Tinnos wasp has been alerted, but it seems to be in no hurry to fly to the attack. Take a running jump back to the central pillar and dispose of it. Turn to face west and take a running jump into the opening. Use the crawl space to access a small open area where you can stand up, turn around and find a ladder. You can also hear the crunching gait of a headless skeleton (unless, of course, you'd chosen to blow up this skeleton earlier, in which case you wouldn't be hearing it at all). Climb up into the alcove and pick up the small medipack for SECRET #12. A cut scene shows a door opening near a key. Pick up two stashes of uzi ammo and climb back down. Reverse roll and continue crawling north to the next open area with a closed grate. Turn around and activate the overhead jump switch to lift the grate, and pull up inside a room you've visited before. Two Tinnos wasps come to pay a visit, so kill them before proceeding.

Take a third trip to the flame blower via the running jump north to grab the crevice in the floating block, shimmy to the right, etc. Pull up past the flame blower (which once again is dormant until you're safely out of reach) and walk out to the SW edge, turn right and hop to the NW tip. Take a running jump west back to the floating block, and go to the SW tip. Take a standing jump down to the floating block south, a running jump SW to the next block and a running jump NW to the nearest tree limb. Hop to the south branch and run off onto the ground. Go forward past the south tree to the corner of the castle. Walk as far south as you can, then turn to your right and take a running jump to the ledge running along the south wall of the castle. You see an open door ahead, so run forward, hop up onto the threshold and enter the small room to pick up the IRON KEY.

Now you have to make one final trip around the floating block circuit. Go back out to the front of the castle, climb up onto the ledge that overhangs the opening, and jump to the tree limbs and the floating blocks as you did earlier. You'll eventually shimmy along the castle wall and pull up onto the ledge against the north wall. Step forward through the open window and turn right to go up the stairs. Run past the rail-protected slope into the next room south. Continue across into the south passage and up the stairs to your right between the twin shallow pools. The door there is open now, so enter and deal with the awakened skeleton. If you happen to fall into the deep water you can locate a hole and swim back out to the twin pools. Hop over to the west side of the room and through the dark opening ahead.

Hop over the raised tile into the passage, and you'll activate a nearby flame blower. Insert the Iron Key in the keyhole to lift the grate in the adjacent crawl space. Go inside and pick up the second TRIDENT, then crawl back out and time a run past the flame blower into the passage below and to the left. Pick up the grenade gun ammo and hop back past the flame blower. Run up the ramp past three more flame blowers and onto a dark balcony with two Poseidon statues. Step up and attach the Tridents, triggering a flyby that pans the flowing water below.

You can now choose either of two routes to complete this level. However, using one of them will cost you some pickups later. First, you can jump into the water and find any suitable place to pull out onto the tiled floor, then leave this room via the stairs to the east. Return to the main room, go up the west stairs into the room with the fountain pool, and locate the open trap door near the west wall. Drop down into the hole and you'll be taken back to Hidden Garden. Second, and preferably, you can jump into the water and pull up onto the ledge at a low spot near the SW corner. Turn to your left and hop up to a higher part of the ledge. Walk east along the ledge until you reach the opening in the wall to your right. Enter and slide down the slope until you hit the warp trigger that takes you to a different part of Hidden Garden.

Level 1: HIDDEN GARDEN (interlude)

You slide down into a room. Pick up the shotgun ammo and uzi ammo on the tile to your left, and the small medipack and the grenade gun ammo on the tile to your right. The NW switch turns off the burner tile blocking the exit. The SE switch closes the exit door, so leave it alone. Go out and hop down to the partially submerged ramp. If you're interested, you can go up the ramp and see where you would have come out had you taken the first exit option described above. The gate in the NE alcove would have opened, and you would have been met by an ahmet upon hopping down into the passage. You would also have forfeited the goodies you found in the room you’ve just left. Jump into the water and swim to the north side. Pull out onto the wooden walkway, then onto the grassy bank, and run forward into the jungle clearing.

Turn right and go into the temple structure east between the large columns. Turn left and run up the short ramp into the fountain room you visited much earlier. Enter the east opening and run up the stairs. At the top of the stairs turn right and see the burner tile trap below. Straight ahead, a little above eye level, is a hard-to-see brass ball in front of the face plate in the wall. Combine the laser sight either with the revolver or the crossbow (normal arrows work just fine) and shoot the brass ball to make it dance. Go back down the stairs, exit this room and turn left. Right in front of the closed portal gate, high up in the left corner, is another brass ball. When you shoot it the portal gate opens. Go inside and you'll be taken to the final level of this grand series.

Level 5: SERPENTINE GORGE

You're greeted by the ominous sound of the portal gates closing behind you, mixed with crackling thunder. Straight ahead is a smaller closed door requiring a key you don't yet have. Go down the stairs and follow the passage past an opening to your left (unless you wish to pause to enjoy the architecture beyond the bars). Continue south and emerge on a torch-lit ledge overlooking a pool that makes the nastiest scum pond you've ever seen seem like sparkling water by comparison. Actually, it's not poisonous liquid at all, but wall-to-wall fire tile and therefore just as deadly. The IRON KEY that fits the lock you just passed is lying at your feet, but when you stoop to pick it up a grate slams rudely shut behind you to prevent the easy return trip. At the same time, the two blocks near the north wall erupt in flames.

Look up for the Velcro strip in the ceiling. Jump up to grab it and monkey swing along it (you'll lose camera control briefly on two occasions as you approach the flaming blocks, so be careful) until you reach the west opening and drop down into the passage. Pass by the closed gate on your left and pick up the small medipack in the alcove ahead and some shotgun ammo in the south alcove before going into the west alcove and pulling up on the left side to the upper passage. You now have to pass three flame tiles that are on a fairly tight timer. The easiest way is to stand at the SE corner, facing east, then back flip onto the first tile, take an immediate side flip to the right, and finally an immediate standing jump forward and hit the ground running.

The gate ahead lifts automatically as you run down the ramp. Hop down into the alcove you passed by earlier and pull down the wall switch to open a trap door nearby. Reverse roll and go to the edge of the opening to your right. Jump up and grab the ceiling, and monkey swing back across to the east ledge. The flaming blocks are now dormant, but the fixed camera angle continues to cause orientation problems. When you're safely across, stand at the edge of the ledge, a little left of center, and take a running jump with grab (to clear the low ceiling) to the short block west. Take a running jump angled slightly left to the block against the west wall. Turn around and take a standing jump SE to the block against the south wall for some revolver ammo. Take a running jump back to the previous block and turn to face east.

Take a standing jump and grab to the green wall above the blocks, pull up until Lara's feet get "set," and shimmy to your right and around the corner. Climb up through the open trap door and pull up into an upper room. Follow the passage to a crawl space and crawl down the ramp until you can stand up. Run the rest of the way down the passage and safety drop down the hole at the end. Head north down the lower passage, go up the stairs and locate the keyhole you saw at the beginning of the level. Insert the Iron Key to open the adjacent door.

Drop down onto the raised tile, step into the water and wade westward past two squares of dazzling light. Pull up onto the block at the SW corner, step to one of the edges and jump up to grab the hole in the ceiling. Pull up into a small chamber and activate the overhead jump switch in the west alcove. A door opens elsewhere, so drop back down to the raised block and continue north along the canal. When the water gets too deep to wade you need to start jumping from block to block, grabbing as necessary. When you reach the last block, take a running jump and grab to the north opening, pull up and slide down into another watery area.

Locate a small opening at the SE corner and swim along the passage until you emerge in a small room. Pull up onto the raised tile and pick up some crossbow arrows. Swim back to the previous room and climb up onto the central face. Face east and take a standing jump through the cascading water to a slope. Two sets of spikes will spring up during your descent, one on the slope and the other in the water, so jump over them both and swim east past the two crocodiles into a new area. Veer to your right and swim SE until you can pull out onto a ramp. Kill the crocodiles, but don't be too quick to pull down the nearby wall switch.

First, face the north wall and take a running jump and grab to the crawl space just above the water line. Pull up into the passage and crawl until you can stand up. There's a red gem in the alcove to your right, but bars block your way to it. Go through the north opening and turn to your right. As you run around in a counterclockwise circle, hearing doors opening and closing along the way, you realize you're caught in the infamous revolving door puzzle. You can keep running in this direction forever (the entrance door is now also closed), so after you've heard the sound of a third door (either opening or closing), turn back and go the other way. You'll soon come to an open doorway on your right. Go inside and jump down into the hole. You can hear the sound of a nearby flame blower, but don't worry. Crawl through the tight space, turn around and lower Lara down the other side.

Release and drop into shallow water. Wade over to the south end and climb the wall. When you reach the top, shift to the right and pull up into the alcove. Pick up the SERPENT STONE and the gate to your right opens. Step carefully past the flame blower into the south opening, lower Lara down the other side of the crawl space and release to fall into the water. Flip turn and swim to the ramp. Run up the ramp to the east wall and pull down the switch there. A long flyby takes you through an underwater passage past a lifted gate, and into a room with Shiva statues where you see two wraiths being released. It doesn't take long for the wraiths to arrive, so when camera control is restored reverse roll, jump into the water and swim NW to the area where you met the crocodiles.

There's a hole in the floor to the left of the spikes in the next room. Swim down and follow the passage south while the wraiths give chase until you reach the wide shaft. Swim up and climb onto the block in the NW corner. Pull up on the west side and slide down into the Shiva room. One (the NE one for sure) or maybe all of the Shiva statues act as wraith magnets, so wait for the pair to implode and then jump up onto the platform where the SW Shiva statue is located. There are two crawl spaces in this alcove (and a set of dummy crawl spaces in the NE alcove, which you can avoid). First, use the one on the right in the west wall, which takes you to a passage with a wall switch at the end. Pull it down for an uninformative static cut scene, then go back out and use the other crawl space in the south wall. This one takes you up a ramp into a room with an irregular tiled floor.

You don't have time to look around, for upon entry you trigger a corkscrew ceiling trap that descends slowly but steadily. Quickly cross the room to your left, locate and pull down the wall switches in the SE and SW alcoves, then locate and pull down two more switches in alcoves in the middle of the west and east walls. A gate is lifted in the NW alcove when you've pulled down the fourth switch, so rush there and go inside. Pause to pull down yet another wall switch at the entrance to open another door nearby. Wait until the flames in the hole subside, then run across the corner either to your left or right into the next room. When you run across the gray tile at the base of the west ramp you'll trigger a pair of boulders, so wait until both of them have passed by before proceeding up the ramp.

Don't get complacent, because there are many more boulders to trigger before you reach the top of the ramp. It might be a good idea to save your game here. Hop up the ramp backwards until you trigger another pair of boulders. You can outrun them back to the bottom of the ramp and take a right or left turn just before you reach the flame hole. Go back up the ramp, hop backwards into the first opening on your left (south) to trigger another boulder, run out into the passage and down to your right to safety. The next part is trickier. Go to the now safe passage on your left and face the opposite passage slightly up the ramp. Take a standing jump NW into the opposite passage to trigger a boulder in the main west passage. You also trigger a pair of boulders in the passage you just jumped into, so quickly side flip to your left (you may need to turn a bit to your left first so you won't hit the wall) into the main passage while the boulders tumble by.

There are still more boulders to trigger, so step (facing SW) into the next higher passage south to release the final boulder in the main west passage. As soon as it passes by, take a side flip to the right while the final pair of boulders come out of the south side passage. All is now secure, so run the rest of the way up the west ramp (noting the grenade gun just beyond the bars to your left) into a room with passages to your right and left. You are now confronted with a couple of block puzzles to obtain the second Serpent Stone (easy) and the secret leading to the grenade gun (much more difficult). Many thanks to Harry Laudie for the following solution.

Turn left and run through the passage until you come to a block. Pull it back twice. Go back to the starting point and run into the north passage. Push that block once. Turn left and run along the revealed passage past a moveable block and make a cloverleaf turn to the right. You're now facing a third moveable block south. Push it twice into an alcove. Reverse roll, run to the intersection where you're facing another moveable block, and turn right. Take the first left and pick up the second SERPENT STONE. Reverse roll, go back to the intersection, make another cloverleaf turn to the right and follow the passage back to the beginning point.

Go down the north passage and pull the block back once. Reverse roll and run down the passage in the other direction until you reach the intersection with a moveable block directly in front of you. Take a left and follow the passage until you reach a dead end at another moveable block. Pull this block back once, reverse roll and follow the passage back to the intersection. Turn right at the moveable block and continue until you return to the starting point again.

Go down the north passage and push the new block once. Use the crawl space to access a passage. Push the block to your right twice. Turn to your right and push the adjacent block twice south. (There's a place to your left where you could pull up, but ignore it for now.) Reverse roll and go to the moveable block behind you. Pull it back twice, then go around and use the crawl space. Stand up in the passage and follow to a wall switch. Pull it down for a cut scene showing a trap door opening elsewhere, then reverse roll and return to the crawl space.

When you can stand up, run to the moveable block and push it twice. Turn right and pull the moveable block there back twice. Return to the crawl space and crawl through until you can stand up, then run back to the beginning point. Run down the ramp and turn right into the second passage south (the one just before the hole with the flame blower). Go all the way to the top, turn right and take a standing jump forward. Take another standing jump into the rocky passage and turn right at the bend. Walk forward carefully to the hole and slide down the slope a bit, then jump off to grab the opposite ledge. Pull up and go left to the open trap door. Drop down and use the crawl space north to access SECRET #13. Pick up the GRENADE GUN and wipe your brow. Have you ever gone to more trouble getting a secret in your whole life? I didn't think so.

Crawl back into the hole and stand at the SE corner facing the south wall. Using only the action and up arrow keys, pull up and shimmy around the corner to the left. Pull up into the passage and hop down the hole for a short cut back to the south passage. Turn left when you've slid all the way to the bottom and return to the main ramp. Turn left and run up the ramp to the beginning point of the block puzzle. Turn right and use the crawl space at the end of the north passage. Run around to the other side and push the south block once to access the exit passage above and to your left. As you pull up you activate a series of swinging blades. Time a run past the first one, then draw your crossbow and fit it with an explosive arrow. Shoot the flaming basket SE and watch it blow up. Run past the second and third blades to the east opening. Turn around and climb down the ladder. When you're just above the spikes, take a rolling back flip and vault up into the east passage.

Turn left at the intersection and wind your way around to a wall switch and an alcove with some revolver ammo. The switch is timed, so save before you pull it down. Reverse roll and run back down the passage. Turn left and run past the swinging blade and into the east room just before the door slams shut. Pick up the IRON KEY on the floor grate and pull down the wall switch north to open the trap door. Jump through the hole to land in the canal below. Head north and climb up onto the first raised block. Take a running jump to the next one, a running jump and grab to the one after that, and a running jump to the last one. Take a running jump with grab to the north opening, pull up and slide down into the water in the next area. Pull up onto the raised block and jump through the wall of water east. Jump over the spikes as you did before and swim east into the next area. Veer to your right and swim under the bridge where you pulled the wall switch to alert the wraiths earlier.

There's a hole in the floor of the dark passage where you'll find some grenade gun ammo. Continue south into the open area and pull out on the left side. If you're in an exploring mood, you can go past the tree to the left into the passage, stand on the sandy first step facing east, and jump up to grab the ledge above. Pull up and jump to the nearest branch of the tree. Hop to the west branch and take a running jump NW to the top of the waterfall. Go inside and hop onto the raised block for a spare LASER SIGHT. On your way out, go through the opening on your left and hop down into a rocky passage. Turn around and locate an opening under the waterfall that leads into the castle. However, there's a closed gate at the end of the passage, and you don't yet have the necessary key to open it.

Go back to the mouth of the waterfall and take a standing jump SW to the first block against the west wall. Turn to face south and take a standing jump and grab to the taller block. Pull up, walk forward and take a running jump to the third block south. Turn to your left, draw your crossbow armed with normal arrows, and locate three brass balls dangling in the openings of the building east. Shoot all three of them to open a gate below. Take a running jump NE into the water, then pull out on the east side and make your way down the blocks south next to the building. Enter through the open east gateway and kill the crocodile that paddles toward you in the shallow water.

Bypass the crawl space on your right for the moment and pull up onto the block ahead for the third SERPENT STONE. You hear the padding footsteps of another crocodile, so draw a weapon and stay where you are until it appears. Kill it from your position of safety, then hop down into the water and use the crawl space to pick up some uzi ammo, flares and a small medipack. Go back out and exit through the open gateway. You now need to get down to the valley floor west. Stand at the NW opening next to the waterfall, step forward and start sliding down. Jump off before the spike trap below is sprung, and you'll bounce off two slopes and land on the lush jungle floor.

As you enter the area west you'll trigger another spike trap just to your right. Draw your revolver and step further west to alert a couple of tribesmen. They can only be killed with shots to their chest, so endeavor to engage them face to face. The second one to attack drops the fourth SERPENT STONE, so pick it up and go through the south passage from whence he came. Two more tribesmen come to the attack, so be ready for them to appear. Jump into the water just beyond the large tree and draw out two crocodiles. Pull out on the east bank next to the tree, kill them and jump back into the water. Locate and pull the underwater lever on the other side of the easternmost underwater block, which raises this block so that you can surface and pull up onto it.

Take a running jump and grab south to the opening in the wall. Pull up and find that a grate bars you from entering at the moment. Turn around and take a standing jump back to the raised block. Take a running jump to the east bank and go to the second pillar in the north valley. Pull up to the top and stand at the NE corner. Take a running jump and grab to the left corner of next pillar NE, making a midair curve to the left if necessary, and pull up. Take a running jump to the pillar against the north wall and turn to face east. Take a standing jump and grab to the ladder and climb up to the top. Shimmy right and around the corner, and pull up. Lara will slide back down, so grab the edge and shimmy to the right before her feet can become set. Pull up onto the grassy ledge and turn around.

Take a running jump across the valley and grab the right corner of the ledge against the south wall. (Adjust your position as necessary to keep Lara from stumbling during the hop back in preparation for the jump.) Pull up onto the triangular ledge, turn to your left and take a standing jump forward. Walk to the SE corner next to the wall and take a running jump across the gap. If you happen to miss and fall down into the hole, the builder has graciously provided a ladder so you can climb back up. Jump forward and cross the shallow water to your left. Use the blocks north to climb back up to the east bank with the large tree. Jump into the water, swim across and climb out onto the NW ledge, then pull up onto the block to your left. Take a standing jump and grab to the next block, pull up and take a running jump to the third block, all as you did earlier.

Face slightly left of due west and take a standing jump with grab to land on the green ledge underneath the bridge. Jump up to grab the sticky undersurface and monkey swing south to the other side of the valley. Veer to your right near the end and drop down onto a grassy surface in front of an opening. Go inside and use the crawl space to access a short passage. Climb up the ladder to your left and pull up into a passage. Hop down into the shallow water and turn left. Wade past some broken columns and run into the north opening where you'll find some submerged stairs. Swim into the next room and down the hole next to the north wall. Pull the underwater lever at the end of the passage and swim back to find that a block has been raised in the previous area. Climb up onto it and pull up through the hole in the ceiling into the room above.

Take a running jump with grab to land inside the dark west opening and locate the wall switch ahead and to your left. Pull it down to open a nearby door. In fact, it's just beyond the bars to your right. However, it's going to take you some doing to get there. Slide back down into the water and swim through the south opening. Walk out onto the bridge and pull up onto the ledge to your left. Stand at the middle of the back edge and face the tree NE. Simply run off the edge and you'll land on the pillar below. Take a running jump north into the water and swim into the underground area. Veer left and continue NW until you reach the spikes in the next chamber. Avoid contact with the spikes and swim down the nearby hole in the floor. Follow the passage and swim up the wide waterfall shaft. Pull out from the NW block and slide down into the Shiva room.

Hop up into the SW alcove and use the left crawl space in the south wall. Follow the passage up to the corkscrew ceiling trap room, and vault up into the opening on your right in the north wall. Hop down into the water below and wade around the first block to avoid the glare. Pull up onto the next block north and take a running jump to the next one. Then a running jump and grab to the next one, a running jump to the last one, and a running jump and grab to the opening in the north wall. Pull up and slide down into the water in the next room. Swim through the narrow passage in the SE corner and follow until you reach the cozy chamber. Wade out and exit through the south opening into the upper waterfall area.

Each of the high structures at the corners has a hole into which you can jump. To access the one in the NW corner, for example, I went to the west wall, faced the structure at the left corner, took one step back, and from there a running jump got me inside where I found some uzi ammo. Repeat this procedure for the other three structures and you'll find shotgun ammo (SW), revolver ammo (NE) and the BRONZE KEY (SE). Jump into the water and swim down through the hole in the floor. Follow the passage to the spike area, turn right and swim east into the larger area, go under the bridge SE and emerge in the outdoor valley area. Pull out onto the east bank and make a hairpin turn to the left into the rocky passage. Locate the north passage you investigated much earlier and go inside. Use the Bronze Key in the keyhole to open the door behind you.

Enter the next room and run down the ramp toward the giant serpent shrine flanked by two Shiva statues. Two tribesmen are alerted, so put that revolver to good use. The pool in front of the serpent holds nothing of interest, so go behind it on the left side to the passage in the NE corner. Follow the passage up some stairs that lead to another pool. This one is occupied, however, so jump in to alert a crocodile, then quickly climb out and kill it. Jump back in, light a flare, swim under the green block and locate the fifth SERPENT STONE in a partially-obscured west alcove. Pull out of the water and return to the serpent shrine.

Run around the serpent on the right side and note the keyhole. Don't use it yet, however. Go to the SE corner where you'll find a pair of closed doors. Standing at the base of the short ramp, facing the doors south, take a back flip to the serpent and jump off to grab the ledge above. Pull up, turn around and take a running jump to the serpent's back for SECRET #14. Pick up the large medipack, the revolver ammo and the crossbow arrows, then slide back down on the south side and use the Iron Key in the keyhole to open the SE doors.

In the next room you can see the sixth and final Serpent Stone in the grated east alcove. On either side of the alcove is a dark square. The four blocks in the center of the room can all be moved. Push and pull the NE block to the dark square to the right of the grated alcove, the SW block to the one on the left. Both blocks are raised to the level of the ledge along the east wall. Pull and push each block onto the outside gray tile in the corner of the room, and the grate below opens. Hop down and enter the alcove to pick up the SERPENT STONE. There are two receptacles on the south wall of this room and one on the west wall. Insert three of your Serpent Stones and watch the cut scene after the third one has been placed.

Exit this room through the north doorway and run around the serpent shrine to the other side. Run up the stairs NE to find that the pool has been drained. Take a standing jump to the block, then a standing jump and grab to the south ledge. Pull up and run forward. Locate three more receptacles in the alcoves to your left and insert your remaining Serpent Stones. Continue up the ramp south, up the west stairs, across the upper ledge and through the opening, down the stairs north and turn right to face the serpent shrine. The flames in its mouth are now out, so take a running jump east and grab the ledge. Pull up, lower Lara down the other side of the crawl space and release to drop a long distance. Turn around and pull up into the east alcove for the GOLDEN VRAEUS. You hear the sound of a door opening, and a cut scene reveals that its location is deep within the valley where you've already been.

Reverse roll and pull up into the west alcove. Climb the wall back to the crawl space and pull out onto the ledge. When you do so you're greeted by a couple of wraiths, so stand up and run off the edge into the pool below. By the time you pull out the wraiths will already have been attracted to one of the Shiva statues, so wait for them to implode against it before moving on. Run up the ramp west and follow the passage back to the opening beneath the waterfall. Stand at the edge and take a standing jump SW to the first block. Make your way south along the blocks as you've already done, and when you reach the third one stand at the SE corner and take a standing jump with grab SW to land on the ledge beneath the bridge.

Walk out to the southernmost tip, turn to face the wall NW and run off the edge. You'll slide down the slope below, so grab the edge, shimmy to your left until you're over the green ledge, release and slide down to the valley floor. Run west and then south past the pillars to the water's edge. Standing just to the left of the tree, take a running jump to the raised block in the water and turn to your left. Take a running jump and grab to the south opening and pull up. Run forward through the open gateway as Lara's theme music plays, and climb the ladder to your right. Pull up and run forward to be taken back to Hidden Garden.

Level 1: HIDDEN GARDEN (finale)

You slide down to an opening that overlooks the jungle clearing. Step out onto the roof, turn left and go to the south edge. Take a running jump to the ledge, hop back and safety drop with a slide to the ground without losing any health. Go south and jump into the water. Swim west through the opening and turn to your right once inside. Follow the passage past the debris and run up the ramp on the other side when you're able to stand. Turn right into the opening between the Horseman's Gems and drop down through the hole in the floor. Go into the north opening into the next room and locate the alcoves in the east and west walls. Insert a Golden Vraeus in each of the four receptacles, and the doors in the north wall will open. Pull up on either side and hop down into the next room, bid a fond adieu to Hidden Garden and drop into the hole in the floor to end your saga.