Back to Basics 20008 - La Guardia Monstruo
Level
by Cory Smith
Walkthrough
by Quarrystile
Pickups =7
Secrets=1
Kills=20
Little dinos=4+3+8=15 ( in order of appearance )
Raptors=2
Natives=2
Rex=1
MS = Monkeyswing.
JS = Jumpswitch.
Time
for another adventure.
After the opening cut-scene, Lara finds herself in a room with a water filled
hole at the centre and over on the W wall is a keyhole. So we need a key....
Do not go in the hole just yet as it is a dead end at the moment. Instead go to
the N wall where you will see a sculpture that is different in colour to the
others. Push or pull it to gain access to the wall lever behind it. This opens
a door down in the water.
Time to get wet.
Get into water and follow the tunnel which will take you into a flooded room.
Note the two unopened doors and the hole in the ceiling to the N. We will be
returning through this hole shortly. But for now, directly in front of you is
the now open door.( E ) This is where you need to go. Swim through the tunnel
and up. Climb out of the water into a room with four JS, one on each wall.
BE CAREFUL as three are booby trapped. Look up to see the boulders that lie in
wait for Lara. The boulders are triggered by standing on the tile under the JS,
so stay away! The JS we need is the one in the N wall. This is the safe one. So
use it and the reddish door on Lara's right will open.
Swinging spike room.
The spikes swing further than you think, so do not get too close as Lara will
take damage. Time the swing of the spikes and run OR sprint into one of the
alcoves then the same again to get out to the other side.
Above the fires is a MS. Use this to get across. Lara can ONLY grab the ceiling
tiles with the left/right lines (horizontal). The vertical ones will let Lara
fall to the flames below. So carefully work your way over using this mini maze.
Red Water Room.
The water is DEADLY. Do not jump in!
Two things to do in here. Uzi's and 60
rounds of ammo for them are over in the
dark SE corner. PICKUP 1 and 2
The SECRET is here too. Go to the S
wall and look in the water. 1 LMP. How to get it if the water is deadly? The
water is SAFE in the square containing the LMP.
Go in carefully, and try not to go left or right too much. Climb back out and
if you have not done so yet, go and get the uzi's and ammo.
Make your way out through the doorway in the NE corner.
Sloped floor room.
Save your game before continuing, unless you are experienced.
Fire/Death tiles run down the centre of this room, so avoid touching them. Jump
forwards and backwards with a left or right curve on the sloped floors until
you reach the doorway at the other end. ( W wall ) You will have to jump into
the doorway as there is not a flat spot for Lara to stand on.
Chicken Run.
This next task reminds me of the chicken run down the school corridor. I wonder
if the builder had inspiration from that?
OK, What to we have here? Wall knives that will make a mess of Lara's pretty
knees, wall spikes that will make shish kebab of her, and as if that was not
enough, BOULDERS in the ceiling! Tread carefully. I find that facing Lara
against the wall, 1½ squares away from the blade and performing a sideways jump
will get you past the knives, without ANY damage if done correctly.
The floor is littered with the remains of the unfortunate who did not make it
past here. These can hinder you, so plan your route.
At the end is a T junction. Go N first. Notice the Door on Lara's right. You
will come out of this door later. For now, pull the JS and then follow the S
passage up the steps, turn right ( W ) and jump over the low wall back into the
flooded room you were in earlier.
This
time one of the blue doors is now open. The one in the NE corner. Swim though
it and follow the tunnel until you can climb out to meet......
Little dinos!!! Four of these not so loveable creatures come to
greet you. Deal with them quickly. It is surprising how much energy they can
take out of Lara.
Follow the passageway until you come to a big room with red/black floor tiles. On
the distant N wall is a door which is closed at the moment. That will need to
be opened before Lara can continue her quest.
Closer inspection of the floor will reveal there is a different coloured floor
tile along the E wall and that the red and black floor tiles do not have the
same pattern on them (clue 1).
Above the door, there are four tiles. The first AND fourth tiles correspond to
the tile along the E wall. The two centre tiles give us clue 2 - the
"safe" path.
Using
only those safe tiles, make your way to the tile of a different colour on the
floor along the E wall. Get it wrong and Lara will have a long fall to her
death. DO NOT TRY TO STAND ON THE DARK COLOURED TILE, as this is a
"phantom" tile and you will fall through it. Instead, face W and hop
backwards with a GRAB. Lara will catch hold of the edge of the LADDER hidden
under this phantom tile.
The deep dark pit.
Use the ladder to climb down into the pit. Once you are down, look South. There,
in the darkness, is another hole in the floor, but leave that for now. Light a
flare and go to the dark NW corner for a LMP.
This LMP is protected by a nasty adversary, a RAPTOR!
He
will come from behind and get you when you are within one square of the LMP. So
be ready and deal with him first! Now, you may be tempted to use your uzis to
dispose of the raptor, but there may be a more important use for them later. So
use the weapons of your choice, but you may pay dearly for it later. Once you
have dealt with the raptor, collect the LMP (PICKUP 3).
Now head back to the S wall and drop down into the hole. Follow the passage
until you come to a room with a multi-coloured door and two cages containing a
hanging half skeleton.
Opening the door.
This is achieved by pushing the two skeleton cages onto the tiles in the NE and
SE corners. A simple task. Go through the now open multi-coloured door.
Double doors room.
In this room are two doors NE and SE. In the SW corner is a wall lever guarded
by a flame, In the NW corner is another wall lever. This is the one we need to
use first. BUT WAIT. It cannot be as easy as that, can it? No, it is not. The
floor is rigged out with spikes. Tread on the incorrect tiles and Lara's a
goner! The safe tiles are the ones that are oriented the same way as the one at
the entrance of this room. So, armed with this knowledge, make your way to the
NW switch first, then pull it.
This
opens the door in the SE corner. Mind your step and go through this door to see
a wall lever directly in front. To the right and round the corner is a receptacle
for something that you do not yet possess. For now, pull this lever to turn off
the flame protecting the SW wall lever. Now go and pull that lever. This opens
the other door, the one in the NE corner. Make your way to this door and go
through.
Crawl under the swinging spikes over the trapdoor and stay near to the wall. (
I favour the left wall.) This will ensure that the spikes miss Lara. Continue
crawling until she is round the corner to the right and out of harm's way. There
is another wall lever here. Pull this to open the door behind Lara.
Time
the swinging spikes and run into the room to find another lever. This lever
opens the trapdoor you just crawled across. Once again, time the spikes and get
down into the hole. DO NOT jump, but just run and fall into it. Collect the Statuette and get back out. (Do I need to mention
to time the swinging spikes?)
I found the easy way to get out was to stand with Lara's back on the E wall
of the trapdoor hole, so that she is facing W.
Jump up and forward at the correct time and continue running until clear
of the swinging spikes.
You now have the Statuette, so let's go use it. Make your way back to the
spiked floor room and head for the SE door, past the wall lever and use the
Statuette in the receptacle. This opens the door back up at the top of the long
ladder.
So
make your way back there. Be careful as the spiked floor is still waiting to
skewer Lara. Go W through the skeleton cage room, up the short ladder, then
finally the long one. Once at the top, take a running jump over to the doorway.
Go though the door and down the short tunnel.
Outside, Fresh air!
Lara is now outside. Have a run round if you want, but there are no pickups in
this area.
Those of you who did explore will have seen three of those skeleton cages in
the NW corner. By the S wall near the pool is a floor texture that looks like
wood flooring. You will have also noticed two raised blocks in this area. One
is halfway along the N wall, the other halfway along the E wall. Behind the E
wall block you may have spotted the blueish coloured trapdoor.
We
need to open that blue trapdoor. Here's how.
Get
one of the skeleton cages from the NW corner and maneuver it to the wood floor
type texture at the S wall. As your near the pool, two little dinos and a raptor
will come out to delay you. If you are lucky, the raptor will kill the little
dinos. Dispose of whatever is left and continue moving that cage. Once it is in
place, the raised block along the N wall will lower, exposing another wood
floor texture. This will need a cage placed on it, too.
You have
two choices now. You can go and get another cage OR you can continue using the
one you already have. It makes no difference.)
Place a cage on the now accessable wood floor along the N wall. Once this one
is placed, the raised block along the E wall will lower to reveal the final
wood floor tile. Go and get the last skeleton cage and place it on here (OR you
can continue using the one you already have, as it STILL makes no difference).
Eight more little dinos will pester you
just as you are almost finished. When you have placed this last cage, you will
hear the trapdoor open. Climb up the rocks, as the trapdoor is just beyond the
cage on the E wall. Make your way down carefully, as it is a big drop. Follow
the tunnel until you enter the rock room.
Rock room.
In front of you is a purple gate. High up in the E wall are four boulders
poised to strike. In the NW and SW corners are wall levers, The SW switch is
booby trapped! DO NOT pull this lever. All you need to do is pull the NW switch
which, after a short delay, opens the purple door.
Go
through the door and down the tunnel until you arrive at a T junction. N is
inaccessible due to the steep slope, so go S to the second chicken run of the
level. More wall spikes here to work past. STOP at the first wall hanging
skeleton, look carefully, as there is a wall lever on the E wall that needs to
be pulled. This lever opens the last blue door in the flooded room, so make
sure you do not miss pulling this lever. Continue on your way past the rest of
the spikes.
Follow
the tunnel, being cautious at the corners. When you see the tunnel that
contains skeletal remains, draw your weapons, as a native
will be out to get you. It will take a fair bit of shooting with your pistols
to finally kill him. But you could use the uzis, maybe?
Continue
following the tunnel, there is an obvious boulder trap over a hole ahead, but a
simple run/jump will put it behind you. You then come up to a door which will
open as you get closer. Go through and you should recognize where you are. Turn
left and go S up the steps again. Follow the tunnel and jump into the flooded
room again. This time swim through the blue door in the NW corner. Climb out at
the end, then STOP.
Pressure pad room.
The camera in this room is fixed, making it difficult to control Lara. Binoculars
will show you that there is a closed door, your exit. A few raised floors but
not much else.
There are, in fact, four closed doors, one behind the other. The ONLY way to
get all the doors open is to steer Lara around the room WITHOUT letting her
step on any the raised parts of the floor. Another mini maze. BEWARE of the
high blocks near the exit door. Do not climb on them as Lara will burn!!
As she
goes around, you will see that she crosses pressure pads which open the doors. (You
should hear them opening.) When you reach the end, backtrack until you are able
to go through the now open doors. Remember not to step on OR jump over the
raised floor. If you do, the doors will close and you will have to go back to
the entrance pool and start all over again. Worse still, Lara could catch fire!
Go through the doors until you come to the next room.
"Mirror room."
The FIRST tile in this room is safe. Ahead is a closed door. The way to open
the door is down in that hole. Look left (W). You will see what appears to be a
mirror. I say "appears," as Lara has no reflection. It actually is
ANOTHER room, but make note of the high and low flooring. High is
"bad." Low is "good".
Using
the floor plan of the other room as a map, walk Lara around until she reaches
the hole in the floor. Do not attempt to try and jump from the doorway to the
hole. That is why the boulder is there, to give Lara a sore head. Once at the
hole, climb down. DO NOT touch the floor at the bottom, it is a spike trap. Get
into the crawlspace and follow it through to the rolling boulder room.
Rolling boulder room.
It
looks difficult, but it is easy. The middle is not a good place. Choose a side
and watch the rolling boulder closest to you. As it rolls away, SPRINT all the
way across.
In the
NW corner is a wall lever, pull this to open the door in the room where you
came down the ladder. Now make your way back past the boulders. Back into the
crawlspace and onto the ladder. DO NOT climb out at the top of the ladder, Lara
burns. Instead backflip to a safe tile.
The door behind you is now open, go through into a room with five skeleton
cages dotted about.
Cage room.
Using the "mirror" as a guide, place the cages in the same position
as they are in the mirror. As you do this, you will hear doors opening. After
placing the final one your exit is the NE corner.
Follow the tunnel to round until you get to the flames. Use the MS to cross
over. Continue down the tunnel to reach the next room.
In front of you (E) is a lever and a door. To the left is a ramp with a glass
wall. There is a boulder at the top of the ramp. Pull the lever to release the
boulder. When the boulder reaches the end of the ramp, the door opens. Go
through into the next room.
Glass wall room.
This room has a glass wall. Go all the way round into the NE corner to the
closed door. The piece of glass two squares back from the door is different to
the rest, you can walk through it. Inside is the Metal
Key. As you get near the key, that closed door will open. Pick up
the key and do through the open door. You will have to go through the glass
nearest the wall this time.
Get your pistols out as you follow the tunnel, another native lies in wait. Maybe you STILL have uzi ammo
left?? After finishing him off, continue through the tunnel until you reach the
next flame trap. Use the MS to get across. The MS does not go all the way over.
So you will have to walk closer to the flame and jump back up to grab it again
to continue. Turn right and go down the slope.
As you slide down the slope, you will recognize it as the inaccessible slope by
the second chicken run corridor. You will have to go back up through the skewer
spikes again. The lever can be left alone this time, though. Now you have to
get back to the flooded room so that you can get back to the start of the level
where you can use that hard won Key.
Keep following the tunnels. You will pass the obvious boulder hole trap again. This
time it is just a case of jumping over the already fallen boulder. Keep going
until you come out through the door again. Turn left (S) and run up the steps
again to get back into the flooded room.
This
time swim to the SW corner and go through to get back to the starting room. Use
the Metal Key at the keyhole on the W wall and go through the door once open.
Climbing room.
Go down the short tunnel until you reach the high climbing room. DO NOT touch
the tiles that the wooden structures are on as Lara will burn. At the end of
the wooden structures look to the N wall. You should see a crack you can jump
to. Shimmy left all the way around to the SW corner where you can climb up. Turn
and face N then jump up to grab the next crack.
Shimmy
right all the way around until you reach the door at the SE corner. DO NOT climb
up until you are right at the door, as the preceding tiles will turn Lara into
a fireball. There is a wall lever on the S wall right next to the door. Pull
this. You will hear a boulder start to roll somewhere. IF you look to the
right, you may see the boulder fall and eventually land on the tiles at ground
level. Shortly afterwards the door will open. Be careful that it does not push
you off the edge, as it opens outwards (hop back and grab the edge until it
opens, to be on the safe side).
Getting near the end now.
Follow the tunnel to the next room. The camera view changes, but will go back
to normal soon. There is a hole in the centre of this room, so make your way
down there by sliding down the sloping floor backwards, grabbing the edge and
safety dropping down. Once down, enter the next room. There is a closed
trapdoor on the floor over by the S wall. The wall lever to open it is on the E
wall just inside the entrance.
Drop
into the tunnel. S is a closed door. You will want to leave it like that until
you have composed yourself. So do not go any closer just yet. You will see that
the level is shaking a lot. The reason for this is behind that door. As you
shot its relatives earlier on, the Tyrannosaurus
in here is pretty upset with you.
Rex's room !!
The door will open as you walk towards it, and close behind you!!!
Before you enter, here is a guide to what is inside. (You may also want to save
your game here, too.)
There are skeletons of the unsuccessful littered about the floor. Four of them
have a SMP that they never managed to
use. But the one you need first is the skeleton in the SE corner just over a
low wall. He has a shotgun with 6
shells. This will be needed to give Rex a good sending off.
In the
centre of the room you will see lots of skulls speared on sharp sticks. These
are bounded on three sides by a low wall. These three walls can be used to put
distance between Rex and Lara. Rex will have to walk around the wall, whereas
Lara can jump over it. Lara is fairly safe when on the wall, although Rex can
use his head or tail to knock her off. It is from this vantage point that you
can get all the pickups before dispatching Rex.
What worked for me was to run into the room dodging Rex and jumping onto the
wall at a low point. Stay on the wall and decide which skeleton (and SMP) you
are going for. Let Rex wander off (or coax him to the opposite side), and when
you think he is far enough away, jump down and go get the medipaks as fast as
you can, INCLUDING getting back onto the wall. Repeat this for the remaining
three SMPs. Now do the same for the skeleton with the shotgun (SE corner). Then get back on the wall.
I
managed to use only ONE shotgun shell to finish off Rex.... How? Although this
is more hazardous, drop down to the floor and hit Rex in the underbelly. It is
best to be as close as possible to get full effect and damage with the shotgun.
The other option is to stay on the wall and use all the ammo that you have
left.
This can take quite a while, and even then you may NOT finish off Rex,
leaving you with a "hung game." Hence, I prefer the one underbelly
shot.
The level ends when Rex is dead....
Well, what are you waiting for? Go and open the door.......