VCI AT L.A.
Levels by Astraf
Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth, with the help of Steven3517's video walk
Level 1: INFILTRATING VC INDUSTRIES
After the introductory flyby, during which a Lara with a Russian accent receives guidance for her upcoming mission, turn around and go to the other end of the alley. Shoot the trash can for health pills (small medipack). Note that you already have the HK Gun, even though the ring inventory is so dark you can barely make anything out, much less read the compass. Exit the alley, turn left and go past a door and around the corner into another alley. Shoot the trash can for flares and find a pushable a little further down. Pull it once and move it two times S. Get up on it and shoot the grate in the wall of the next building. Jump to grab the opening and pull into the crawl space for SECRET #1 and 2 x HK Gun ammo.
Return to the alley and exit to the street. Turn right to that closed door you passed by earlier and open it. Enter the building and go past the stairs to open the next door. Go down the stairs and open yet another door to a storage room. Loop around to find a trash can with bandages (large medipack). The otherwise empty shelves hold the APARTMENT KEY. Go back upstairs and loop around to continue up the next flight of stairs. Go past several closed doors and open the last one with the Apartment Key.
Enter a small bedroom and search the shelves for the GARAGE KEY. Go back downstairs where you got the Apartment Key and shoot the grate up in the corner. Pull into the crawl space, drop down the other side and follow the alley for more flares. Continue to an opening that overlooks a sewer and hop down. You'll find shotgun ammo in the water. Follow the ledges to the SW corner and open the door to an enclosed portion of the sewer with a closed gate at the far end. Go back and open the door at the NW corner to another enclosed area. Pick up the nearby flares before entering and jump into the water to find Walther MPL ammo. Save your game in front of the switch in the S wall panel for a timed run.
Pull down the switch to open the timed gate at the back end of the SW room and quickly make your way there without falling into the water before it closes. Pick up the BATTERY in the small room and pull the wall switch twice to re-open the timed gate. Exit to the main sewer area and take an immediate left. There's a sneakily hidden unmarked pushblock in the E wall. Pull it twice and go around into the revealed passage for SECRET #2. Pick up the SHOTGUN, Walther MPL ammo and HK G3 ammo. Exit to the main sewer area and locate that strange contraption on the column near the middle of the room. Insert the Battery and watch the gates open ahead to your right and left.
Go there and enter for HK Gun ammo. Follow up the stairs and watch the trap door lower as you approach it. Pull out into a fenced-off alley, turn left and find the keyhole for your Garage Key. Enter the empty garage and shoot the grate to access the E crawl space. Crawl inside and go forward to end this segment of your adventure.
Level 2: THE WAY UP
Crawl through the duct while Lara receives more instructions, shoot the grate at the far end and drop down into an office. Search the computer stations for flares and health pills, then approach the exit door that opens automatically. Loop around right in the hallway and engage a guard in the lobby. Pick up his Walther MPL ammo and pull down the nearby wall switch between two computer stations. Note the laser-protected opening and return to the main hall. Turn right in front of the steps and run past the bathroom (the doors automatically) to another small office in the back corner. Search the stations for 2 x HK Gun ammo, exit to the main hallway and run past the bathroom and the stairs.
Turn right into the side hallway and look right for a grate you can crouch and shoot. Crawl inside for flares and shotgun ammo, exit and continue down the side hallway to a corner door you can open to an outdoor fenced area. Move the pushable out of the way and pick up Walther MPL ammo. Get up onto the pushable and jump over the fence into the adjacent area. Pick up the bandages and kick open the door to the interior hallway. The doors to the bathrooms open as you draw near. Open the door on the men's side and enter to bring a guard running. Deal with him and grab his LASER SIGHT. The women's side is empty, so exit, loop around left in the hallway and pull down the wall switch to open the adjacent doors.
Go up the stairs and turn right at the crossing. Continue to an automatic door at the top of the stairs and enter a small office. Loop around left, pull down the wall switch to open a timed office door at the end of this hallway and go there quickly. The office appears empty, but there's a wall switch in the back corner that opens a timed door to the office next door. If you don't get there before it closes you'll need to repeat both timed runs. In this third office is a jump switch that opens doors near the stair crossing. Go there for a cut scene of a deep metal stairwell.
Go up the first flight, through the automatic door and down to a hallway. Go up the companion stairs to another automatic door and shoot the waiting guard. Relieve him of his 2ND FLOOR CARD KEY and search the corner shelves for 2 x shotgun ammo. Exit, go back up the companion steps and continue up the metal stairwell to the next level. Use the Card Key to open the door, loop around right once inside and open the next door. Climb the ladder, get into the crawl space (release, grab and immediately press the crouch and up arrow keys) and shoot the grate at the other end of the duct. Drop down into an office and alert a guard. Wait a few seconds for him to arrive, and try to kill him in the middle of the room so you can pick up the Walther MPL ammo he drops. Another guard will show up soon thereafter.
Exit this office through the door the guards used, loop around right into the companion office separated by a glass panel and search the computer stations for the 3RD FLOOR CARD KEY. Exit this office, turn left and then right into the stairwell. If you like, before using your new Card Key you can take a running jump from the doorway to grab a horizontal ledge. Pull up and go to your right for HK Gun ammo. Drop to the stairs, and either now or later you can collect additional goodies in the same fashion, as follows: third level ledge, shotgun ammo; fourth level ledge, HK G3 ammo; fifth level ledge, health pills; sixth level ledge, bandages; seventh level ledge, Walther MPL ammo. On this ledge you can also kick out the corner grate and crawl inside for SECRET #3 and pick up health pills, HK Gun ammo and shotgun ammo. The eighth level and final ledge has more Walther MPL ammo.
Continue up the stairs and go onto the roof to engage a hooded guard. Pick up the WALTHER MPL he drops and return to the stairs. Go down to the third level and use the Card Key to gain entry. Loop around left and ignore the near bathroom doors that open upon your approach, as there's nothing inside. Go to the next set of bathroom doors, go on inside and this time opening the doors to the far stall indicates that something finally is happening. Draw a weapon and wait for the guard to arrive. Kill him, take his 4TH FLOOR CARD KEY and yes, you now know the drill.
But before leaving this floor, exit the bathroom, turn right, loop around left and open the door to a storage room. The otherwise bare shelves provide the CROWBAR. Return to the stairwell, go up to the next level and use your Card Key to access a decidedly metallic environment. Turn right and go up the steps in the next room to an upper level with Walther MPL ammo to your right and a crowbar grate to your left. Open the grate, pick up the flares and crawl into the duct. Climb the ladder at the end and follow the passage past a trap door to a slope. Slide down and pick up the flares at your feet. Pull down two wall switches in the corners to open the door to the catwalk.
Get down to the lower level by any of the available means, go through the triangular opening, grab the 2 x HKGun ammo to your right and left and combine the laser sight with the HK Gun. Shoot the five targets beyond the ledge and exit to your right. Turn right in the passage and pull down the wall switch for a cut scene. The other end of this passage is blocked by lasers, so return to the lower room and loop around right into a new room. Shoot the guard and take his 5TH FLOOR CARD KEY.
For a shortcut to the stair well, go up the stairs in this room and loop around to more stairs that bring you up to two passages. Take the left passage and go through the automatic door to find a receptacle for your new Card Key. A cut scene shows that the lasers you noted earlier have now been disabled, so return downstairs (noting the green-tinted receptacle in the far alcove) to the lower room with blocks and loop around left into the triangular opening. Turn right, then left, and continue into a new room guarded by a cyborg. It behaves like a knight, requiring you to pump lead into its chest. When it dies it drops the LABORATORY ACCESS DISC.
Exit and return via the triangular opening and looping around right to the upper passage where you saw the green-tinted receptacle and insert the Laboratory Access Disc. For a pickup, go downstairs to find health pills in the corner, then go back up the stairs and follow to a level change.
Level 3: THE LABORATORY
Continue up the stairs while carrying on a conversation with your unseen advisor. The next room is bare, and lasers block the exit doorway. Just crawl underneath them and emerge in a hallway. Turn left and take a right just before the laser-blocked doorway in the corner. Loop around up the steps, and the door opens to release a cyborg. It behaves much like a demigod, so you can get up close and stoop while firing at him. When he finally dies he drops a NOTE that warns you not to pull switch #2.
Return to the room the cyborg came from and gather up the HK Gun ammo, HK G3 ammo and bandages. Ignore the NE passage (closed door at the end) and exit to the hallway. Crawl under the lasers blocking the SE doorway and enter a room with five numbered wall switches. Remembering the Note, pull them all down with the exception of #2. Carefully step up onto the exit portal and crawl back out to the hallway.
Several doors have opened. You can start by returning to the room where you encountered the cyborg, and find that a hooded guard has now joined the fray. Pick up the Walther MPL ammo he dropped and go to the connecting room via the NE passage. Go up the stairs and note for later the card key receptacle. Return to the hallway, turn left and then right into a room with three plinths bearing a wealth of goodies: bandages, HK G3 ammo, HK Gun ammo, Walther MPL ammo, shotgun ammo and a spare SHOTGUN. When you pick up this last item a cut scene tells you that a guard has been alerted.
Wait for him to arrive and pick up the GAS CHAMBER CARD KEY he dropped. You know where that goes, so return to the room where the hooded guard was hiding, go up the stairs and use the Card Key to open the collapsing door. Enter, grab the health pills and go through the automatic doorway. The door closes behind you, locking you into a room filled with poisonous gas. Quickly run forward, jump up to grab the ladder and climb up two rungs. Take a rolling back flip to grab the facing ladder, climb about halfway up and back flip onto a platform. Pick up the flares and shoot one of the grates in the wall ahead.
Take a running jump to grab one of the openings, pull up for health pills behind the column and go right. Climb down the ladder in the floor hole, pick up more flares and follow the duct to a crossing. You need to raise a trap door in the passage to your right, so hop into the floor depression ahead for more health pills, continue forward and look down at the floor hole. Shoot the grate, jump over the hole to grab the slope, release and grab the crawl space below. Pull inside and climb down the ladder at the other end. Search the plinths for HK Gun ammo, shotgun ammo, HK G3 ammo, Walther MPL ammo, health pills and bandages. Don't forget to activate the jump switch opposite the ladder to raise that trap door I mentioned earlier.
The exit door opens automatically from this side. Return to the hallway where a cyborg is waiting. This one drops the HK G3. Return to the gas chamber and use the ladders to get back up to the dark passage leading to the ducts. Enter that passage to your right this time and slide down onto the trap door. Jump up the slope and follow to a ladder. Climb down and go down the stairs to a room where a guard is waiting. Pick up the WALTHER MPL he dropped, pause for the Walther MPL ammo in the floor depression and exit NW to an automatic door that brings you out to a new hallway.
Loop around right past a room with numbered wall switches to see a rather cryptic clue on the wall: Sum of Battle Area Door + Sum of Gas Chamber Door. Rather than make you go back to do the counts, I'll just tell you the answer: 5 and 8.
Reverse roll, side flip over the lasers (standing a little more than one block away) and pull down the two indicated switches. For good measure, and for the last secret, also pull down switch #2 to lower the trap door you raised earlier and turn off the flames below. Side flip over the lasers and enter the room near the clue wall. Loop around to the other entrance to attract a cyborg. Pick up the RESEARCH ROOM ACCESS DISC he dropped and exit to the hallway.
Loop around left past the automatic door, shoot the grate up in the NE corner and go up the stairs and the ladder. Follow the duct to the trap door hole and slide down for SECRET #4. Pick up the bandages, the Walther MPL ammo, HK Gun ammo, shotgun ammo, and HK G3 ammo. Crawl out, open the crowbar gate and drop down into a previous room. Exit to the hallway and go around to the room near the wall clue. Loop around to the other opening, go up the stairs and use your Access Disc to open the door to the Research Room.
Shoot the cyborg inside, pick up the ENGINE DISC he dropped and note the ring artifact in the central glass case. Go to the receptacle in the E wall and insert the Engine Disc for a cut scene of a revealed switch in the W wall. Pull down the switch to remove the glass barrier and take the SNAKE BANGLE from the plinth. The place comes alive with noisy alerts, so exit up the stairs and do battle with two guards who drop bandages and Walther MPL ammo. Enter the elevator and pull down the wall switch to trigger an FMV lamenting the loss of the Snake Bangle.
Exit the elevator, sprint along the hallway as you take enemy fire and turn left past the automatic door into an office. Go around to the crawl space, pull inside and crawl to an opening. Drop down into a garage and reverse roll as the door opens. Jump onto the waiting truck for another level change.
Level 4: ESCAPE ON THE HIGHWAY
The truck roars onto the highway and Lara is seemingly safe until she looks back and sees a pursuing helicopter. An onscreen message advises that you have three minutes to stay alive.
The action now comes fast and furious, and little purpose would be served by trying to describe it in detail. The enemies come at you in waves, from both sides of the truck, and it's important to stay away from the juncture of the truck sections so you won't fall or be pushed to your doom. The enemies drop various weapons and ammo when they die, but you've accumulated so much by this time that you may not need to pause and pick them up. Another helicopter brings reinforcements in the form of two demigod cyborgs, one of which simply freezes in place when conquered. I didn't have time to kill the second one, but that doesn't seem to matter. A few seconds later, the level ends with the promise of an upcoming continuation.