LAND OF THE LOST

Level by MpGrill

Walkthough by Phil Lambeth

I'm not sure why the cockeyed compass has not yet been corrected for these Next Generation levels, but all directions will be noted per the red needle pointer whether they're logically accurate or not. Also, the builder says there are no secrets in this level.

After the opening flyby, head S up the dirt mounds, using standing jumps where necessary, until you reach a steep gulch. There's nothing of interest in the lake, or on the N and S banks. It's possible to climb up S out of the lake, make your way W and actually jump over the S bank, but if you do you'll be stuck on the other side and have to reload. Slide down into the gulch and hop into the S opening. Make your way past a number of obstructions until you reach the W wall. You could turn left here and pull up onto a slope, but you'd slide down the other side and have to make your way back around the lake again, so don't do it. Instead, turn right and continue to the SE corner. Pull up onto the rock slab and hop down W. Slide down into a slightly lower area and continue W to a clearing with a broken pillar. Go to the far end and jump into the NW opening. The white pots around here are empty. As you make your way W along the alley, draw your pistols and get ready to take on a snake.

Turn right at the corner and locate the shotgun ammo near the tent. Right next to it is the SHOTGUN, although you have to look twice to see it. Shoot the dark vase against the S wall and pick up the GOLDEN RUSTY KEY. Now go all the way back the way you came, and when you reach the N slope it's okay to use it now for a short cut. Slide down to the other side and go to your right. Going the other way takes you back to the lake. A flyby shows you what appears to be a monastery carved into the rock face. Go that way and run across the bridge toward the monastery. The front door straight ahead is closed, so go to your left and run up the ramp into an indoor area. Kill the snake that slithers forth to greet you, then continue inside to find two large moveable vases. Move each one two squares N and S, as the case may be, so that they come to rest in the bright sunlight. Doors have silently opened up in the N and S walls, so pull up inside the openings and push the floor levers. Each one opens a gate somewhere else.

Leave this room for now and go back to the front door of the monastery. The gate is now open, so hop down inside and pick up the CROWBAR. Go back to where you moved the vases and go up the ramp toward the closed doors. Turn right or left and pull up onto the ledge above (using only the action and up arrow keys). Run E along the stone bridge and use your crowbar in the receptacle against the E wall, facing S. A cut scene shows a door swinging open to reveal a number of suspended boulders. There's nothing else to do here for the moment, so drop back down and leave this area.

Go across the bridge to its E end and turn left at the bushes. Take a running jump and grab N to the corner ledge and pull up. Turn a bit to your left and hop into the opening. Slide down into a cave-like area and turn to your right. You need to make your way over to the far NE corner, but it's not as easy as it appears. I went around in a clockwise direction and took a running jump past the boulder (watch out for illegal slopes that will leave you stuck). The dark pot in the corner is empty. When you get there, face W and take a standing jump up to a flat area and pick up the LASER SIGHT. There's nothing else to do in this area, unless you want to visit the other side of this cave, where there's nothing whatsoever to accomplish, so that you can tsk tsk while shaking your head at the infamous Missing Texture that's received so much attention in the reviews. Otherwise, exit the cave and jump back to the ledge where you pulled up.

Jump back to the bridge, where you can safety drop to the valley floor without taking damage, and head over into the SW passage. When you come to the keyhole, use the Golden Rusty Key to open the gate. Run down the passage toward another keyhole and hop down into the darkened room. Shoot the dark pot near the E wall, next to a bed of spikes, and pick up the GOLD KEY. It shouldn't surprise you to learn that it fits in the nearby receptacle. Enter the opened gateway N and watch the cute green compies scampering about down below. Kill the little darlings before going down there.

Use your crowbar in the nearby receptacle (facing N), then pull up into the opened W passage. Safety drop into the valley at the other end and kill the snake that's probably on its way to you by now. Go to the N end of this area and turn around to locate a vine-covered surface SE. You can climb it, so do so and pull up onto the top of a column. Your immediate task is to get around to the other side of the nearby central structure. There are at least two ways of doing this, but the following way appears to be easier: Stand in the SE corner of the column's flat triangular surface, facing N. Take a curved running jump to the right so that you clear the flanged surface that also faces N, land on the next surface and immediately jump off to land on the slope against the W wall. Grab the edge on your way down and shimmy all the way to your right. Pull up and back flip to a stable surface.

If you like, you can jump forward to the ledge on your right, then continue to the opening where you can draw a bead on the compy that appears stranded on the block below S. Then get back onto the ledge and vault up onto the slab with that lone scraggly tree. Take a running jump E and grab the crack in the wall. Shimmy all the way to your left and drop down onto the small ledge. Look left to locate the hanging chain-like rope S, which is hard to see with all the foliage hanging down above this ledge. Take a running jump and grab the rope, then swing forward and jump off to land on a long ledge. Turn left and follow the ledge (jumping over a gap) into a new area where you can shoot another compy. Then shoot the empty pot if you wish and pick up the revolver ammo. The REVOLVER itself is very cleverly hidden in a plant near the SE opening of the tent.

Leave this area, safety drop to the valley floor and exit through the opening in the E wall. Drop down into the area with the crowbar receptacle and exit through the S passage. Cross the spike-riddled pit and pull up on the other side. Enter the SW passage and use the ladder left to pull up at the entrance of that room with the suspended boulders. Go through very gingerly, triggering one boulder at a time and stopping after you clear each one. When you get past the quartet of fallen boulders, pull up into the passage, run around to the other side of the receptacle and turn around to use your crowbar on it. A flyby shows a door opening in the room where you moved the two vases earlier, so go back there. When you get back to the valley, use the terraced terrain NE to get up as high as you can, then take a running jump and S to a ledge. Pull up and run back across the bridge to the NW room. Go up the ramp and into the new room.

A lizard man is alerted off to your right, so wait for it to waddle toward you and kill it. The pool has an opening that leads to a room with a receptacle for an artifact you don't yet have, so let's save that for later. The wall near the NW corner has a ladder, so use it to climb up to the second story. In the NW and SW corners are doors you can push open. You can perform the tasks inside in whatever order you wish, so let's take the nearer NW doors first. Go inside and find yourself in a mirror room. Hit the look key to restore camera control, but look to your right in the mirror for the darker safe tiles. Here's the risk-free route across the room: Take a standing jump E, turn right and take a running jump and grab N. Pull up, turn slightly to your right and take a standing jump NW, then a standing jump W (next to the mirror). Walk N onto the adjacent tile and take a running jump to the corner tile. Turn left and take a running jump and grab E. Pull up and run onto the diagonally adjacent tile SE. Then a standing jump slightly SE to the next tile, and finally a standing jump NE into the opening in the wall.

Walk to the far end of the passage and shoot two compies down below. One of them may be directly underneath and out of your range by the time you get there. Turn around and hop back to hang from the opening, and you'll trigger the first of several boulders without being harmed. When it comes to a stop, hop down and kill the second compy if you weren't able to do so earlier. The boulders here are easier to elude than the ones in the first trap. Simply jump or side flip past the first one and walk forward until you trigger the next one, then hop back and wait for it to stop rolling. Continue until you reach the E end of the gauntlet. The last two boulders are triggered together. Pull up into the opening in the E wall and take the GOLDEN RUSTY KEY from the pedestal.

Go back the way you came, taking the same route (in reverse) through the mirror room. As you near the entrance you hear the pitter patter of many feet, so draw weapons and kill the giant spider that awaits you in the large upper room. Go across to the SW corner and push open the double doors. What seems to have been intended as a timed platform jump in the next room didn't turn out that way for me. When you enter the room the nearer of the two platforms is raised, but I just jumped down into the pit below, killed the lizard man, and used the Golden Rusty Key in the N lock to open the S gate. Then I used the ramp against the W wall to pull up onto the first platform, took a standing jump to the second platform and then a running jump to the S ledge. Both platforms remained up the whole time.

Pull up into the passage and see the gauntlet of swinging spike bags ahead. You're tempted to try and take the easy way past them, by dropping back to hang from the bridge and shimmying past the hazards. That plan, however, is thwarted by darts underneath the bridge, so you have to time runs carefully past the spike bags (after sidestepping all the way to the right or left) as they swing away from you. When you reach the S end safely, pull up into the opening and hop down to a second-story room with two rows of floor levers (a total of eight). The only safe lever (the rest are fire trapped) is the third one on your right (the clue being a different trio of murals on the wall in front of it). When you push it, the S gate opens, so pull up inside and crawl underneath the darts that you would otherwise trigger.

The next room is similar to the previous one, only this time there are only four levers. However, although these are not fire trapped, nothing seems to happen when you push them in any combination. Drop down into the room below. The vegetation on the N wall hides a jump switch. Activate it to open the gate in the S wall, then use the block to pull back up. Hop up into the passage and run into the next room as a weird strand of music starts playing. Take the HORSEMAN'S GEM from the pedestal as a cut scene shows a door swinging open. Go back N, through all the previous rooms, until you reach the large second story room. Look up at the E wall to see two lion's heads close together. Combine the revolver and laser sight and shoot the gems in the lions' mouths, then run over to the E wall and grab the revolver ammo from between the columns.

Go over to the N wall and find that a door has opened there. Pull up into the opening and run into a room barred by a series of gates. You open each one by playing chicken with a suspended boulder. I recommend saving after each successful trigger and escape, although the boulders don't fall down on you that quickly when you run underneath them. When you pass all the opened gates and trigger the final boulder, the door opens in the E wall. Go inside and take the GOLDEN PIECE from the plinth, then return to the large second story room. A companion door has opened in the S wall, so run over there and pull up into the passage.

Hop down into a room with a deep pit. The four squares between the ramps below are all spike trapped. Here's how I got across. Save your game, then use the ladder to get as far down and as far left as you can (while staying within the darker confines of the ladder itself). Back flip and jump off the slope to trigger the spikes in the third square, hopefully without dying in the process. The trick is to jump high enough so that the spikes don't make contact with you as you trigger them. Once triggered, the spikes are harmless, so if you reach the facing ramp without dying you can just allow Lara to slide down onto the square. Save your game here and disable the spikes on the fourth square in the same manner. The spikes in the first two squares, the ones nearest the ladder, cannot be triggered (other than by stepping on them), so don't bother trying. Now take a standing jump up to the flat spot in the E ramp above the third square. With Lara's right shoulder against the wall, take a running jump and grab the S ledge. Pull up and enter a passage with a number of swinging blades at the other end.

Negotiate your way past the blades while heading SW. When you reach the corner, turn right and a gate swings open for you as you approach. When you enter it swings shut behind you, which is an ominous sign. Save your game. As you pull up you trigger a descending spiked ceiling trap, so quickly pull up onto the SE block, turn to face SW, take a standing jump and grab to the ledge above, pull up and take a standing jump into the S opening just ahead of the descending spikes. Run forward into the next room and pick up the shotgun ammo and large medipack, then go up the ramp and place your Horseman's Gem in the receptacle. An earthquake ensues while a flyby takes you back to a restructured area now populated with raptors.

Go back down, past the blades and to the spike trapped room. Remember that the first two squares are still deadly, so safety drop onto the disabled square, turn around and take a running jump over the deadly squares and grab the N ladder. As you pull up you can probably hear those raptors tromping about, so when you return to the large second story room, you should be able to kill at least two of them down below (I was able to kill all three) from up here. The NW ladder is now gone, so use the handy diving platform at the E end to get safely into the pool below. Pull out and hop into the N opening (where you probably shot the third raptor), and go to the far end of the cave for the second GOLDEN PIECE in the NE corner.

Go back out, jump into the pool and swim into the W triangular opening. Follow the passage until you're able to pull out into a small room. Combine the two Golden Pieces to form the LOST PUZZLE and use it in the N receptacle. The large round stone door in the previous area rolls away, exposing a new section. Swim back, pull W out of the pool and go up into the new area. A lizard man and a giant spider come up to greet you, so dispose of them from the entrance before proceeding. Don't be too quick to move forward, however, as the field ahead is riddled with unmarked spike traps. This is going to hurt a little, but take a running jump over the nearest spike bush. From the spot where you land, turn right and take a standing jump SW to the square between a plant and a bare spike collection. Face W and take a running jump over the spikes. The square straight ahead is a spike trap, so side flip left and take a running jump W over the spike collection onto a slope. You'll slide a bit, but you're safe here. Jump into the W alley and follow it around S toward a lake and a waiting boat, and you'll run into the exit trigger.