CHRISTMAS IN VENICE...AGAIN

Level by Ranpyon

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth and edited with the builder's input. Glitch-free videos have also been posted by Doggett TV and by Saki Croft.

Begin by sliding down to an alley separated by two buildings. Follow around corners to trigger a picturesque flyby through the Venetian canals. It will be quite easy to get lost or become disoriented as you navigate the canal and winding alleys, so be attentive to your surroundings at all times. Step forward and hop over the gondola into the water. Swim a bit left and find the CROWBAR underneath the bridge amidst some greenery. Swim back E and pull out N at the second gondola. Go through the NE alley to your left (yes, the compass here is backwards) into a fountain square and open the glass doors to the shop at the rear with your crowbar.

Enter and approach Santa behind the counter for a sung greeting. Note the numbers on the display dresses (4925, reading from left to right) and go through the phantom red curtain at the back corner. There are two dressing rooms separated by a wall. Stand in the left room with your back to the separating wall (facing E), jump up to grab and open the ceiling trap door. Pull up E into the alcove for a SECRET MASK (1 of 4). Get down, exit to the shop and find that the lower middle panel against the E wall is a disguised pushblock. Pull it into the shop and crawl into the revealed opening. An onscreen hint advises you to roll against the grate (first get up on one knee by hitting the space bar, then hit the sprint key).

The grate falls open and you're in an enclosed courtyard with seemingly nothing to do. However, the ivy on the wall to the left of the crawl space is climbable, so grab and climb above the balcony railing, shift left and drop down for a SHEET bearing the formula x5. Get back down, return to the dress shop and stand in front of the cash register behind the counter. Get out your calculator and multiply the dress numbers by five (4925 x 5). Punch in the product of 24625, hit the enter key and the drawer pops open to reveal the STORAGE ROOM KEY.

Exit the shop and run straight S past the alley and cross the bridge to find a BRICK. Go back across the bridge, turn right and follow the canal walkway past the next bridge. Jump into the water, swim across and pull out S next to a gondola. Go up the step and use the Storage Room Key to open the door. Note the onscreen message and search the S shelves for a small medipack and an EMPTY WATERSKIN. Go to the stacked crates in the corner and hit the space bar to kick them to smithereens. Pick up the revealed flares and exit to jump into the canal and swim E a bit to pull out N at the same spot you did earlier. Return through the alley to the square with the dress shop and use the fountain water to fill your waterskin.

Return to the canal, jump in and swim E to pull out near the NE corner. Follow the walkway S to trigger a cutscene of the window to your left. Continue forward a few steps and note the arrow symbol on the floor tile. Stand at its vertex and toss the Brick over the water to shatter the window in question. Go back N and turn left into a short alley. In the enclosed room you can see a key through the floor grate. Open the E doors and go up the steps to a wall button. Push it to open nearby doors and continue up right or left to a landing. Grab the desert eagle ammo SW and pry the HOOK off the wall at the NW corner.

Go back downstairs, exit to the walkway and stand at the vertex of that floor tile arrow. Take a running jump against the railing and over the water to grab the W window opening. Pull up and hop down into a dining room with a roaring fire near assorted Christmas presents. Go around the table, stand on the floor at the edge of the fireplace and empty the waterskin to douse the flames. Step into the fireplace and push the block in the back wall to open the way to a jump switch. Activate it to open a door above you, turn around and pull up to a passage leading through another fireplace to a sitting room. Look at the cozy scene in the connecting room and go back to pull up into the window on the right side.

The curtain gets in your way and keeps you from seeing what you're doing, but after applying different methods through trial and error I found that Lara would break the window by standing up next to it and hitting the space bar. Hop out right onto the red awning and take a running jump N over the railing onto the facing balcony. Take the big medipack from the plinth at the other end and return to the red awning. Hop into the shattered window and left onto the E red awning (or go around to break the other window in the same manner and step down). Jump to the balcony of the next building and open the doors to a room filled with crates.

Kick the crates in front of you out of your way by hitting the space bar and kick the next batch as well to reveal flares. To your left as you entered is a pushblock. Pull it from the wall, crawl over it and hop down the other side. Push it one time N so you can get back out, then go around to find a second pushblock NE. Pull it once, hop over it and use your crowbar to open the crate on your right. Pick up the coiled ROPE and exit to the balcony. Jump over the railing into the canal and pull out NE. Follow the walkway to the E alley at the courtyard, stand at the middle of the grated floor hole and combine the Rope and the Hook. Lower the rope through the grate and use the hook to grab the GOLDEN KEY and pull it back up.

Return to the canal, jump into the water and swim W to pull out N at the familiar spot next to the gondola. Run W along the walkway past the bridge and use the Golden Key to open the door to a well-to-do residence. Go up the stairs to a lounge where someone is decorating a tree and continue through the S walkway to open the doors to the next building. Go up the steps to a landing and note the floor receptacle. Nothing happens when you try to activate it, so return to the entrance and note the five larger floor tiles scattered about the room. Step only on those tiles by jumping from one to the next (starting with a hop onto the nearer SW tile), and a cylinder will rise from that receptacle. A cut scene also shows that something has appeared on top of the cylinder. Take a swan dive S over the railing (jump + shift keys) and take KEY PIECE 1 from the cylinder. A cut scene shows spikes lowering at a window somewhere.

Exit over the walkway to the next building, loop around left and vault up into the window opening. Kick out the window glass, turn around and hang from the edge. Ledge jump up (jump key while keeping the action key depressed), grab the roof, shimmy right around the corner and pull up onto the flat roof of the walkway. Locate the jump switch just below the roof edge W, jump toward it, slide and grab to activate the jump switch. An underwater gate opens in the canal wall near the spot where you dropped, so swim inside W for a SECRET MASK (2 of 4). 

Flip turn and swim E to pull out N at the familiar gondola. Run W back to the door you opened with the Golden Key, go up the stairs and to the kicked-out window, hang from the edge and ledge jump up to grab the roof once more, shimmy right around the corner and pull up onto the walkway roof. This time turn around and jump SE to the red roof of the next building, slide and grab, shimmy right past the bridge below and drop down onto the balcony. Heed the onsceen instructions and step back from the window before kicking out the glass (do both if you like). Vault up and hop down into a music room. Lara' s attention is drawn to a window beyond the harp near the piano. There's another harp at the NE corner, which you can push (not pull) S away from a small medipack.   

Kick out the glass in the two S windows and open the SW doors. Go down the stairs, push the wall button at the corner to open the exit N door and go back upstairs. Vault up into the window on the right and walk up to a tightrope. Start making your way across, and when you see an onscreen message you won't be able to proceed further. Simply jump forward to grab a slim horizontal pole that's wrapped around the building, shimmy left around the corner and drop down onto a balcony. Pick up the DESERT EAGLE at the other end and jump from the open end into the water below.

Light a flare, swim E and look for a different texture in the N wall to your right. Kick away the barrier with the action key (a short cut for later) and continue swimming E past a pole barrier to your right while bearing left toward a gondola. Pull out onto the E steps to trigger a flyby of the bell tower that according to the builder gives the player a hint that the current time needs to be adjusted to 9:00. Run E past the snowman and jump up to grab the monkey bars. Monkey swing across the water, drop to grab the ivy, shift right and climb up past the balcony railing, shift right and drop down. Draw the desert eagle and shoot the E window. Take a running jump over the railing and hop down into a lounge. Grab the SMALL PACKET from the table and use it immediately to convert it to KEY PIECE 2. Combine it with the other piece to form the RED GEMS KEY and jump into the water below.

Swim W to the gondola, pull out onto the E or W steps and head S under the arches to a shopping area. Go to the cafe on your left, face W at the left corner and pull up onto the roof of the enclosed seating area. Turn left to locate the wooden barrier at the corner of the N balcony and shoot it while standing at the edge of the roof. Hop down, use the ivy covering to climb the wall, shimmy left and pull up onto the balcony. Run straight ahead to find a small medipack and go back toward the arches. From the end of the icy balcony jump straight up to grab the roof and shimmy right around the corner. When you can go no further pull up and allow Lara to slide down right onto a balcony.

Go to the other end to find a SECRET MASK (3 of 4) and side flip into the water. Pull out onto the nearby steps (E or W) and follow the walkway W to the bridge. Go across and pull down the wall switch to open the gate. Don't go through now, but go back across the bridge, turn left and go all the way to the W wall. Turn left again to find desert eagle ammo next to the potted tree. Go back the way you came, past the bridge and left underneath the arches into the shopping area. In the back right corner near the lone tree is a keyhole for the Red Gems Key. Use it to open the nearby gate to a new section of the canal.

Go across the bridge and follow around to the SW corner. Climb the ivy-covered wall and pull up onto a balcony. Turn around, hop back against the wall and use the two swingpoles to get across to the E balcony. Shoot out both windows ahead, vault up and continue to the second window opening. Hop the red awnings clockwise and jump with grab into the N opening. Push the timed wall button to lift a platform and jump back along the awnings to the first window opening. Ledge jump up to grab the roof, pull up and run to the far end. Turn left and take a running jump to the next roof, slide and grab and shimmy right to the corner. Drop to the timed platform, turn right and hop up NW with grab onto the adjacent balcony and pull down the N wall switch ahead to lower two blocks near the swingpoles. The fleeting cut scene indicates that the current time is 6:15.

Go back to the other end of the balcony and jump down into the water. Pull out S in front of closed doors and climb the ivy-covered wall to your left once again. Pull up near the first lowered block, pull the revealed chain to advance the hour hand of the bell tower clock from 6 to 9 and use the two swingpoles to get over to the second lowered block. Pull the chain there as well, but three times, advancing the minute hand to a vertical position. The time is now 9:00 as shown in a previous cut scene and the doors down below swing open, so get down there (through the shattered windows followed by a safety drop from a red awning), enter the stately library building and go past the long tables and up the steps to the first landing.

Loop around left, stand in front of the small book stand in the corner and press the action key to see that Page 277 has been highlighted. Hop into the pool under the next flight of stairs and open the floor trap door in the back corner. You can also refill your small waterskin here should that later prove important (it doesn't). Swim down for the ORNATE KEY, exit the pool and go up the second flight of stairs to the second level. Enter the S reading room and grab a small medipack amidst the strewn books near the W shelf. Examine the book on the SE stand to see that Page 479 has been highlighted.

Reverse roll, run toward the landing and see a jump switch in the wall ahead. To access it, go around left, jump over the railing to grab the chandelier and pull up. Stand jump with a slight curve to grab and activate the jump switch. You hear the creaky sound of a gate opening as you drop to the floor. Go back upstairs, loop around right and go past the opened gate to find a third book on a stand which has Page 221 highlighted. Note the closed gate to your right and go back to find a pushable plinth near the opened gate. Move it E onto the marked wooden floor tile to open that second gate and go there to find a chain. Pull it once, go back S and jump back to the chandelier you used to activate the jump switch.

This time, jump onto the cross beam and take a running jump and grab to the chandelier on your right. Pull up, turn around and look SW for a second jump switch. You can't reach it with a running jump because of the low ceiling, so jump up to grab the monkey bars and follow the ceiling tracks to the S wall. Release to activate the jump switch and drop near that untidy patron who's been leaving all those books scattered on the floor. Go back upstairs, loop around left this time past the gate you just opened and continue to the keyhole for the Ornate Key. Use it to open the next gate and go inside to pull another chain.

Go back to the railing and jump over it to grab the nearer chandelier. Pull up and take a running jump to grab the N opening. Pull up and grab the BOOK that Lara is looking at so intently. Safety drop to the floor and place the Book on the nearby empty stand. A cut scene indicates that the keypad on the wall behind you, which you may have noticed earlier, is now active, but first examine the book to see the highlighted Page 185. Get out your calculator again, add up those four page numbers, go to the keypad and punch in 1162 followed by the star key. The W doors open, so enter a new section of the library. To your right is a closed gate, so go left a bit and forward to find some steps. Stand on the top step facing W, jump straight up and Lara should grab the lower edge of the upper floor. Shimmy right or left one time and ledge jump up to grab the upper edge. Pull up, hop into the window opening and save your game before pushing the timed button.

You have 10 seconds to side flip right, run E and then left (S) and down the steps past the timed gate, which shouldn't require use of the sprint key. Read the book on the stand (if you can), but note especially the illustrations of a winged lion wielding a sword with the other paw resting on a book, as these are important clues for later. Go around and push the wall button twice to re-open the timed gate. Go up the steps, turn around and jump up if you like to shoot that painting of a landscape. The builder has confirmed that this serves absolutely no purpose other than to waste ammo and feed the player's destructive instincts.

Exit E to the entrance hall, continue across through the E opening to the back side of the wooden column and find a wall switch there. Note the sword design on the wooden panel and, remembering the book clue mentioned above, pull down this switch. There are three alcoves in the N wall, each with a wall switch bearing a different panel design. Pull down only the one in the left (NE) corner, the one with the book design, climb the S bookshelf behind you and pull up to see two more wall switches.

Pull down only the W switch, the one with the lion design, to open the E gate behind you. Go there and take the LASER SIGHT from the plinth. Drop down, exit the library N and, for the final secret, follow the walkway to the bridge, go across and past the opened W gate, left underneath the arches and follow the walkway W to the next bridge. While on the bridge, combine the desert eagle and the laser sight, look up NE and shoot out the glass window. Continue through the alley and over the next bridge, turn right and run W past the decorated tables to the next bridge, go across into the building and up the stairs into the music room. Vault up into the SE window but don't use the tightrope again. Instead, take a walking-running jump (shift and up arrow keys, followed by the jump key) SE onto the awning.

Jump the awnings E, and from the last one face NE and jump to grab that slim horizontal pole against the wall. Shimmy left around the corner, ledge jump up to grab the roof, shimmy left until you're over the window, pull up and take a rolling back flip onto the sloped roof behind you. Slide and grab, pull up and allow Lara to fall back just past the edge. Press the action key so that Lara glides into the window opening below (a move of questionable legality, but we do it all the time).  Hop down and pick up the SECRET MASK (4 of 4) to your left.

Drop down to the alley, go S over the bridge and left along the walkway to the next bridge. Jump over the railing into the water and swim S toward two gondolas. Pull out W at the gap in the railing, turn around and jump over to the jetty where the gondolier is standing. Look up W to see the lion's head and shoot the gem in its mouth. Jump back across W and climb the ivy-covered wall to your right. Take a rolling back flip one grab from the top so that you'll grab a swingpole, swing around and jump off to activate a jump switch that opens a canal gate.

Jump into the water, swim a bit S, pull out E and follow the tunnel around to an opening just past an underwater barrier. Jump into the water, pull out W and approach the bouncer posted at the gate ahead. Hand him the INVITATION CARD you've been carrying around all this time and join the festivities.