TR2 TEST LEVELS

TR2 Test Levels by Neltharion

Walkthrough by Treeble

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G2

You actually can make it to the other side of the water pit and up the small set of stairs over there; to do so, immediately after starting a new game hold down Jump + left to start the level with a side flip, then keep jumping and veering Lara to the left as you continuously descend the slope. If you get to the lane very next to the wall, it's just a matter of timing a jump to the slope ahead and then a late jump to grab the flat surface in the corner. Alas, there's nothing up there, so you might as well just drop through the hole in the lava pit to a lower pool.

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FESTIVAL OF THE DARK

This test level is heavy on enemy encounters that you have no resources to defeat, so save often and reload whenever you think you can do better.

Go left around the perimeter and then do a running jump to a flat spot in the inner corner ahead of you. Jump over to the switch in the far end to open a door beneath your starting position. Turn around and keep going around the perimeter in a clockwise fashion to take a long running jump to the starting ledge; grab if necessary and shimmy to the right. Pull up and line up with the open door below. Hop backwards and tap (don't hold) the Action key so that Lara glides into the passage below.

Before anything else, squeeze past the two jade statues to throw a switch behind each one, opening a door further ahead. You could sacrifice a bit of health for the SHOTGUN (it's rather useless, though), but as soon as you step on the bloody tiles the two spear warriors come to life. Run, Lara, run!

In the next room, immediately go left and keep headed left, running towards a room on the far end, past another three spear warriors. Roll and throw the switch inside that alcove there. It opens a door in the previous room, so do your best to outrun the five (and counting) warriors and stick to the left passages until you spot a dark rock tunnel.

Avoid jumping in this corridor as you might bump your head and if you stop for a split second you're pretty much done for, as another six spear warriors will join the chase. At the end of the corridor, take a sharp turn right and pray to negotiate the three wall mounted blades as safely as you can. When you get to the slope the enemies stop chasing you, but a boulder will soon follow, so as you approach the hole at the bottom, jump veering to either side and keep flipping back and forth until you see (or hear) a boulder drop through the hole.

When that's cleared, grab the edge of the hole and shimmy all the way right so you'll land on the slope below ready for the next two jumps: jump to a slope ahead and bounce immediately to the next, holding Action to grab the edge. Shimmy all the way to the left, pull up and backflip with a midair roll veering off to the right so you land on a lower slope, then jump again and land on the safe solid ground ahead.

Phew!

It's far from over though. Ignore the pushable blocks and find a manhole in front of the purple dragon tile. Grab the edge and shimmy as far left as you can to land on the slope below, then immediately jump steering left and forwards to the slope further ahead and negotiate the jumps until you land on a safe orange pit. You need to shoot two bells in front of the blue tiles, so jump with a midair roll and weapons drawn, veering a bit to the side to find the proper angle to shoot them bells — your shots will pierce through the gate, don't worry. When that's done, jump to a slope and jump to grab the wall ladder beneath the gate of the bell you've just shot, climb up and to the left as much as possible, then backflip and you're back at the top room.

Nothing's changed. You can enter the left hallway and climb up a long unmarked ladder to find yourself soft locked. The lever to open that door is actually beyond that very door; you could glitch through the corner with the slits if you can be bothered, but you can't do the same for the next door which would make the level come full circle back to the room on the right hand corridor, where you started your mad dash from the jade warriors (which are probably all there, ready for more spinning stab action).

Why shoot the bells with the blue dragons? Well, those trigger a boulder elsewhere which doesn't seem to withstand a whole lot of purpose either...

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KEEL

Swim forward through the narrow crack and you'll soon see railings from the wreck, next to a barracuda protecting a narrow entrance to the ship itself. The door ahead can be opened by the underwater level on its right, then proceed through it and get out of water. Explore the next couple of eerie rooms. There's a pushblock behind the bench, which you can push twice.

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SPRINGBOARDS

Enter the side room to the right, climb the block near the entrance and jump over the tall platform ahead to throw the switch. Before going back for the open door, look behind the lever block to find the SHOTGUN, get it from that alcove and jump over the slope to return to the initial room. Go through the door to arrive at a central crossing with a pit.

The doors ahead and left, as well as the trapdoor at the bottom of the pit, are closed, so go right and negotiate the rather tame slope jumps to reach a ladder in the end. From the higher tile on the floor, do a running jump to the ledge in the corner above the slopes and throw the switch there, then drop into the water and climb the ladder to the entrance and back at the crossing.

The middle door is now open, so get there and drop into the next room. Through either side passage you have a pixel precise jump to make: land in the pit at the bottom of the alcove and have Lara's hand touch the wall below the ledge above. Position her so that she's standing on the third tiny tile on the floor and backflip onto the slope, then bounce off and steer hard towards the upper ledge. Keep making smaller adjustments as necessary until you land the jump. Do not be tempted to fall into the pit behind the ledge, instead turn around and jump around the wall to the tall platform near the entrance to find a switch there. Kill that nibbling rat if you need to unwind and go back for the final door.

There's nothing in the water, so do a running jump to the ledge ahead, beneath another platform, and then to the right side of the ledge in the center of the room. Be mindful of the darker wood tiles there, that is, indeed, a springboard which will propel you straight to the spikes above from this angle. From the side you've landed on, however, simply run towards the springboard while holding down Action to grab a slope high above, pull up and slide down. Go right and save your game.

Yes.

You want to slide as far to the right hand side of the room as possible, then jump over the spike pit while steering to the right to that point where the floor is flat, just next to that switch you will definitely spot in your several failed attempts. When you finally land there, immediately roll to the back and grab the edge to avoid one final instantaneous boulder, then pull up and throw that switch to open the trapdoor in the pit.

Swim back to the entrance of the room and finally climb down into the pit. Run towards the springboard to be launched to a slope, as you slide quickly jump and glide into the alcove below for a whole lot of nothing. When you've stared at that wall long enough, backflip onto the slope and let the other springboard propel you to your final destination.

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CAC21

Slide into an snowy cave with a locked door ahead of you. Exit out to the right where an icy pool yields nothing. Instead, go around the tall snow structure and find a block you can climb onto to pull up onto the top of that tall structure. Locate an opening high in a wall and run jump towards it, holding Action to glide in.

Take a dip and pull out on the other side to a narrow set of stairs. Going left gets you to a dead end, and if you take the path on the right hand side you'll eventually reach the finish trigger (!). It takes you to the following level, which you might as well launch from the main menu instead.

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CARBONTEST1

Find shotgun shells on the flanking alcoves behind your start position, then approach the central area. Kill two barracudas on the shallow pool and locate a switch on the nearby corner to the right. It's on a timer, and you need to get across to the other side as quickly as possible (check the underwater floor, the raised floor tiles are key). Enter the hallway and find an open gate on the right side; no need to enter just draw your pistols and shoot the bell to open the second gate on the other end and quickly get in before the switch resets. In the non-descript room, there are a couple of slope jumps you can do, some you can't, and that's about it.

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CARBONTEST2

Turn around and collect shotgun shells from the alcoves behind you, then head towards the shallow pool and dispatch two barracudas. There's a timed switch to the right, but, before throwing it, go inside the temple on the other side and shoot the bell to open one of the two gates, noticing an empty mask receptacle. Go back to the timed switch and notice the pattern underwater, you can't ever wade, so stick to the raised tiles to clear the timed run to the double gates inside the temple.

From the closed gate, go up the rusty dirt on the left and backflip to the top of a segmented wall column there. Do an angled jump to grab the slope above the entrance gate and jump over the slopes to the flat platform. Jump towards the switch you see in the distance, holding down Action to glide under the low ceilings, and throw it to open an underwater door right below the entrance. Swim through the tunnel.

Take the SHOTGUN and the small medipacks from the corners. This room is filled with bouncing pads, which can be unpredictable at times, so save often and in different slots as you navigate this room. To begin, do a running jump towards the bouncing pad at water level to land on the higher ledge beyond. Climb the nearby ladder up to a slope, then swan dive at the last possible moment to bounce off the next pad, that should give you enough momentum to land on a niche way up above. Run along to the end and turn to face the room, then save your game.

In the very middle of the room, below that suspended structure, is another bouncing pad. It seems a bit too far, but line up to it and do a running jump with late grab, you will reach it and bounce up to a slope. Immediately jump off to land on a second pad which propels you to safety again, on another niche on the opposite side of the room.

Look to the far left of the room (above the entrance point) to find a hard to spot thin platform next to the wall. Do an angled running jump and grab its edge, as you pull up several disc launchers will fire up, making things a bit more harmful for you. Next, you need to another tricky running jump at an angle to land on the grassy slope behind the wall to your right, then quickly jump to finally reach a switch. Use it twice to open the gates back to the temple entrance.

Turn around and find a suspended slope leading down behind the wall in front of you: jump onto it and immediately bounce to a small alcove beyond a spike pit trap to find another switch. Next, line up to the opening on the wall to the left of the slope you've just used and jump over there, sliding to a safe spot for a change then safety drop to one level below.

For a secret, you can obtain it in two different ways actually, or skip this paragraph altogether if you don't care for it. The easier way, if you don't mind retreading your steps, would be to go back to that second niche way up (past the bouncing pad in the very middle of the room) and, instead of jumping to the platform with the disc launchers, do a running jump to grab that ladder and climb it to the top. Otherwise, from your current position, you can bounce off the pad in front of you and clear the slope in the top of the wall beyond. To do so, walk to the edge and hop backwards, then hold down the Walk button and press forward, immediately letting go of Walk and pressing the Jump button. This is a one-step running jump, it comes in handy every now and then. Anyway, tap and hold Action just before Lara lands on the bouncing pad for extra momentum and keep holding the Forward key for good measure. (Video.) Run down the corridor for the only SECRET of this level, a gold dragon. Simply slide back down the slope to fall into the water below and swim back to the entrance of the room.

The trapdoor on the far side of the room should be raised, but sadly it isn't the case so this is a bit of a premature ending. Inspecting the level further, it seems that most of the areas from the final version of Ice Carbon Chaos are present, so if your mileage varies you can try resorting to the walkthrough for that level.

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VENICE TEST

You can climb on top of the bookcases.