IN SEARCH OF THE BLUE GEM

Level by CircusBabysGallerySL

Walkthrough by Treeble

Lara lands on a snowy platform as the camera pans around the wall in front of you to show a locked blue gate. Before making your way there, turn around, make a mental note about another pair of locked gates, and run through the narrow path SW to claim a large medipack and a bronze reward (SECRET #1). Retrace your steps back to the beginning.

Do a running jump to grab the crevice on the wall ahead and shimmy all the way to the left. Just as you shimmy around the first corner, let go to land on a stone platform and go to the caved-in dead end to spot a switch on the left side. It opens one of the two gates we saw near the secret, so grab the wall crevice and about halfway through, press the down cursor key to backflip to the snowy ledge. Try shimmying further to the side if Lara refuses to jump.

Enter the gate and pull the switch at the end. This opens the blue gate the initial flyby had shown us, so again use the wall crevice to shimmy around the corners to reach it. Inside, enter the only available doorway, on the left side, for a lever which opens another gate. Cross the shallow pit and kill the white tiger on the other side.

Outside, drop into the water and pull the underwater lever, to unlock a large medipack in the previous area, and then swim into the hole to find a STEEL KEY. Doing so awakens the white tiger, so dispatch it before going back across the pit to the room past the blue gate. Use the key to open the last two gates.

"On the left, we have the main path regarding continuing our adventure. On the right, we have an extra route for the more dedicated who want to find additional items and secrets. Well, what do you say, are you up for a challenge?"

I guess we have no choice but take the path to the right first. Throw another switch to open the gate and you arrive to a room with four switches and four trapdoors. Three of these are booby-trapped, so only pull the NE switch and drop into the open trapdoor for a BRONZE KEY, then hop across the floating tiles to the opposite side of the next room, get the next bronze award (SECRET #2) and use your key to open the gate. You can side flip through the gate and get the SHOTGUN plus five boxes of shells.

Retrace your steps back and now take the left path. Go around the ornate pillar and through the crawlspace to find an underwater lever in the small pool. Crawl back to the pillar and find the open gate on the East wall. Take the smaller pathway to the left and jump over the blocks all the way to the end to find a bronze award (SECRET #3) up high on a ledge. There's a booby-trapped room with a switch you can't activate, perhaps a red herring — let us know in the Walkthrough Small Talk thread if amends are necessary here.

Take the taller pathway to a room with fountains and more closed gates. Locate a Gem receptacle in the back and turn around to spot two switches which open a gate nearby and another one all the way at the beginning (but don't go back there just yet!). Enter the open East gate and use the slanted block to reach the crawlspace in the corner. As you crawl to the other end, make a quick stop at the left alcove for a small medipack, then activate the switch down in the shallow hole to open the last set of gates in the room with the fountains.

Crawl your way back there and get the first HORSEMAN'S GEM, which goes into the nearby slot. A door opens in the room past the blue gate, so take the narrow pathway to the NE, past the fountain, and take a left when you reach the ornate pillar. Inside, note the receptacle in the pillar right in front of you, but for now drop into the small body of water to the left to find the BLUE KEY which fits on the back side of the pillar. This opens the double doors in the outside area past the shallow pit, so go back to the previous room and through the open gate leading NW.

Do a running jump to the swing pole and press the jump key to leap to the platform ahead, from which you can grab the jump switch in the middle of the wall. More backtracking is in order, so get back to the room with the four gates and go through the blue gate towards the beginning of the level. As you run through the narrow corridor behind the wall you'll see the open gate, jump inside the small alcove behind it to find the SCARAB TALISMAN. While you're here, you might want to shimmy across the crevice and backflip to the snowy ledge where the level started for a couple more of shotgun shells. Either way, the talisman goes into that pillar past the open door in the room with the four gates.

Slide down to a narrow chasm and push open the wooden doors at the end. Run left around the bookcases to find a switch. Right to the side of the gate it opens is another wooden door you can kick open, do so to reveal the receptacle for an orb we have yet to acquire. Go past the open gate and get the silver award (SECRET #4) near the next set of bookcases, then return to pull open the door in the hallway. Activate the switch and head through the gate leading outside for a small maze of sorts.

Take the path to the right to find a trapdoor you can pull, then drop inside for the last silver award (SECRET #5). From the door, stick to the left hand wall to quickly find the SILVER ORB and then return to the building to use it on the hand receptacle behind the door we kicked open earlier. Drop through the open trapdoor in the chasm and, just near the chute, pull the underwater lever on the ceiling to open the gate.

Out of the water, climb the long ladder to emerge in front of a closed door. Run towards the next ladder and climb to an upper series of chambers. In the next room, grab the blocks on the left side and ledge hop (while hanging, press the jump key) to the top, then shimmy around the corners to find a crawlspace housing a switch. It opens the door near the ladder, so safety drop to the bottom of this room and get back there.

In the room with the four ornate pillars, head left. As the mystery tune plays, pull all six switches in the alcoves (it seems only one is necessary for the door, but there's no harm in activating all of them). Run up the stairs to get outside where two white tigers await, then begin your ascent with ledge hops on the left side of the closed gate, shimmy around the corners over the gate and use the swing pole to reach the switch in the corner.

Through the gate, climb the ladder to another maze. There is no point in exploring it in its entirety, so don't bother going into the pitch black areas. Instead, first go all the way to the left to find a closed gate: that is our goal. Roll and run towards your starting point, taking the first opening to the left, then stick to the left hand wall as you loop around a wall to find a trapdoor. Pull it open and throw the switch underneath to unlock the exit and we're done here. In the next area, pull the underwater lever and slide down past the next gate.

Kill the beret girl and throw the switch on the pillar, noticing there's a gem slot on the back side. The respective HORSEMAN'S GEM is just past the open gate, and it unlocks the gate near the gem's previous resting place. Next up, drop to the bottom of the hole, get a BRONZE KEY, and pull the switch closeby before ledge hopping your way back to the top.

"Who the hell are you girls, and where do you all come from?"

"I'm from West Virginia."

"She meant who sent us, you idiot. We are an organization sent out to acquire this artifact, and we will not let you have it, you big breasted Barbie."

"Too bad, so sad. I'll get the artifact anyways. Prepare to meet your demise."

A helicopter packed with beret girls arrive for a final showdown. Your shotgun should make quick work of them. When you're in the clear, find a switch and a jump switch on the leftmost pillar, plus a keyhole for the key under your possession. When all three exit gates are open, hoist yourself up to that ledge and just ignore the second wave of beret girls to find the mcguffin behind a locked gate.

First jump to the opening on the left side and ledge hop to the top to find two switches. Safety drop and jump to the open gate on the opposite side of the room, then throw the underwater lever to open the second gate in the red room below. Drop down and pull one last switch, then use the ladder to climb back to the top and finally lay your hands on the one true HORSEMAN'S GEM.