Return to the Trench
By Will Gell

The author by special request has graciously provided a walkthrough for the final level in his series.

[Deutscher Guide auf https://gameguidewiki.de/index.php/Return_to_the_Trench ]

WALKTHROUGH:

After completing all her previous quests Lara now returns to the trench where she began this series of adventures for some unfinished business. Much work has been going on here since her previous visit with new doorways and tunnels being unearthed and old ones filled in. The trench itself now looks a lot different with a huge pile of sand and rubble now blocking the way. (A neat way for me to avoid the black horizon problem encountered in the original level). First though, Lara must find her way to the trench through the bad guys' lair…..

Secrets 4

Pick ups 36

Puzzle Items 5

The level begins with Lara sliding down into a small alley way with the camera angle viewing her from the front. Run towards the camera and enter a kind of village area. Watch out. There is a Ninja that will appear to Lara's left and there is also a SAS baddy on the roof of one of the buildings in front of her. Deal with the Ninja and pick up the Uzi clips that appear where he falls. There are baddies a plenty in this level so get all the ammo you can. Going on further at this point and Lara will encounter more bad guys. So first let`s get Secret No 1. Ignore the guy on the roof for now. Run to the left past where the Ninja appeared and go to the wall. Head to the right a bit and look for a climbable wall just where the wall juts out. Climb up and do a safety drop down the other side. Follow the passage into a dark underground area with passages and explore quickly with a single flare. Kill any bats that appear. There are two locked gates in this area. One at the entrance just to the right and one further on down the lefthand passage. Behind this second gate lies the secret.

From the entrance look to your right for the first gate. To open this go left from the entrance and find the pressure pad. Standing on this will open the first gate at the entrance. You have five seconds to get through. Once through you`ll find a second pressure pad. Stand on this to open the second gate. You have seven seconds to get through. Once through pick up Secret No.1 which is shotgun and grenade ammo. Yes the grenade gun finally makes an appearance in this level. Now exit back to the village area where Lara climbed the wall. Save the game.

Head towards the two jeeps. Watch out as the SAS guy up on the roof will still be trying to get you. Also there are others milling about in this area. Kill them all. One of them will leave behind a shotgun so watch out for it. Behind one of the jeeps there is a large med kit. There are two buildings with gates by the jeeps. One is just to your right and is locked by a gate needing a key. The other is to your left and is underground. The gate is locked but through it you should be able to see the motorbike. Head on past the jeeps. Watch out as a ninja may be running about. You should come to an area with an open building. Enter but as you a SAS guard will appear. Deal with him and pick up the Uzi clips he leaves behind. Enter the building if you like but there is nothing in there. Head back out and on. And around the corner to an area with some blocks and a building with an open window high up. Here two more SAS Guards will pester you as will one from the window in the building. If you head on and around you`ll come to a larger open area. There are closed doors beyond two statues and around the bend a large pit that cannot be crossed. The closed doors here are the main objective of the level. There`s also a SAS guard up on the wall. There is nothing you can do here. You need to get across the pit but you`ll need the bike. Head back to the building with the high open window. Time for a jumping sequence.

To the left of the building is a sloping block. In front of that is another sloping block. And in front of the open window is a tall block. You need to get onto this block in order to get to the open window. Stand right in front of the sloping block to the left of the building. Jump up, grab and pull up. Immediately do a backflip onto the sloping block behind you and slide and then jump and grab the last block facing the window. If the guard is still there you should be able to pick him off from here. Save the game. Now jump over and grab and pull up into the window and into the building. The guard should have left a set of keys. Also in here you will find a med kit and some shotgun ammo. Jump back out and head back to the area with the two jeeps and the locked gate that needed the key earlier. Watch out here if you still haven`t killed the SAS guard up on the roof. Open the gate and enter the small building. Pick up the grenade gun and the ammo. Find the jump switch to the left of the door. Jump up and pull it. This will open the gate to the motorbike. Head out and enter the motorbike store. Before you get on the bike find and pick up the flares, shotgun and uzi ammo. Shoot the vase to reveal the Uzis. Pick `em up and then get on the bike and ride out. Race round to the area with the pit.

Save your game. Take as long a run up to the pit as you can and aim for the sloping edge on the far side. Once over keep going. There are three more SAS guys that you can simply run over. When Lara enters an area where the camera angle changes stop and save your game!!! You`re about to enter the trench but you need to take the bike with you. Crash through the barriers but take it easy here. If you simply go crashing down the slope you`ll kill Lara. Trial and error may be required but it is essential for later that you get Lara and the bike down into the trench in one piece. Once down and on flat ground get off the bike and leave it by the two large closed doors. Opening these doors is one of the main objectives. If you have played my original “The Trench” level this is where things may start to get familiar. This is exactly the same map but drastically altered. I have closed off the passage to Scarabinth and there is a huge pile of sand and rubble right in the middle. You cannot get over this. Enter the passage to the left of the ladder that lead into Scarabinth before but it has been closed off. However a new opening has appeared on the right. Head on into this passage and make your way to the end. You need to do some crawling and stuff to get there. At the end climb out into the other end of the trench on the other side of the pile of sand. In front of you is the entrance that leads into the original sequence of puzzles from the “The Trench” level.

Head on in. Bats will appear so kill them. Stop when you come to the T junction. You have a choice here. Originally if you went to the right you came to a small pit with a mummy behind a gate that opened when you picked up a certain item. But you had to go back in order to progress. This time you can go back if you like but you can also progress past the mummy this time. Basically you have tow different routes depending on whether you go right or left and the previous T junction. Both routes lead you to the same area but the righthand on is easier and quicker and for those who have played The Trench I recommend you go right. However, here`s the solution for both.

Left at T junction.

Head down a long and featureless tunnel. This leads to a room with tall blocks. I have improved the textures a lot from the original map. There isn`t much in this room. There is a scorpion to kill and some grenade and shotgun ammo lying on the floor. To exit this room jump around the blocks to the tall one with the exit. This is on the left wall as you enter. Slide down into a small room with a closed gate. On one side of the slope is a med kit. On the other side is a pressure pad that will open the gate. You only have two seconds to get through so run!! Head down this sloping passage and enter the crawl space at the bottom and crawl through to the small room with the fire in the middle. Don`t stand on it!!! Save the game.

There are three other exits. Left leads to a fatal drop. Don`t bother. Straight ahead leads to a jump and slope to some Uzi ammo and a bat. Right exits the room and leads to a stepped room with statues and a block in front of a closed gate. The gate is timed and is opened by standing between the two statues at the bottom. You have eight seconds to get up and over the block and through the gate. A series of run and jumps is the best technique. Once through you are into the room with the rope swing.

Right at T junction

Follow the passage round. There`s a couple of bats to deal with. Then drop down into the pit with the gate. The mummy starts trying to get through the gate. Pick up the med kit and the shotgun ammo. This will open the gate. You can blow the mummy up with the grenade gun or just run past him and through to the passage where he came from. Follow the passage and watch out for a second mummy before entering the room with the rope swing.

Once in the room with the rope pick up the flares and get up on the low block. Run, jump and grab the rope and swing up and jump onto the lefthand tall block to get Secret No. 2 some grenade ammo. Then run and jump and grab the tall block leading to the small exit. Pull up and crawl into the small dark space. Light a flare to see here and crawl up into the space on your left. Lara is now in a kind of small maze with pits. One has a some grenade ammo. Another has some flares and another a scorpion. The exit is a low crawl space easily found. Crawl out.

Lara is now in a large room that drops way below to a pool of water. A flyby sequence will kick in showing the way to go. On a ledge below you there is a small med kit. Below that and in front there is another ledge with some Uzi ammo. Once you get these drop down into the water. You`ll need to come back here later but for now swim down to find an exit in the wall at the bottom that was at the end of the flyby sequence. Swim along the tunnel to find yourself in an underwater chamber with a closed gate. There is an opening in the roof. Surface through here and another flyby sequence will show you a new room with blocks and pillars. At the far end there is a closed gate high up that cannot be reached. This is the exit. To the right of that there is a doorway leading to a long room with floor switches. These switches will alter the heights of the pillars down the centre of the main room allowing Lara to jump from one to the other and reach the gate high in the wall. However, the gate also needs to be opened. Where Lara surface in the water look left and right. There is a pedestal with a Cartouche. To get this you need to monkey swing from the low block on the other side of the room. Picking up the Cartouche will open the gate. Head to the room with the switches. First pick up the grenade ammo and flares. It`s not too difficult to see which switch does what. You can see through the gratings in the wall what happens. When the pillars are in the correct position they will light up so you can see that two are already correct. Only two switches need to be pulled. Once you all four pillars at the correct height go back and climb up onto the first one and jump from one to the other to the exit. Lara is now in a dark dungeon like area. Save the game. Get the grenade gun ready……

Enter this area slowly. There are mummies to deal with. There are five trapdoors leading to pick ups, traps and other areas. The first mummy will appear from the left. Destroy him with the grenade gun and enter the area to the left. There is a trapdoor here but it only has a spike trap in it. So just exit again and go on to the next room. Another mummy will be creeping about so deal with him and find another trapdoor to the left. Open it and jump in to pick up the grenade ammo. Climb out and follow the wall on the left. Another mummy will appear. Frag him and find another trapdoor where he came from. Open this and jump down into a small room. Pick up the flares and the Cartouche on the pedestal. This will open a gate you may not have seen it. Jump up and grab the climbable wall to exit via the trapdoor again. Head back out and take a right, then left and follow the wall round to an arched opening to your right and a small opening to your left. The small one is where the gate was you opened when you picked up the Cartouche. The righthand opening leads to a room with a closed gate and a trapdoor. The gate is the exit. Enter the room on the left through the small opening which should have a mummy creeping towards you. Blow him up and enter the room to open the trapdoor and drop in. You are in a small tunnel with a closed gate beside you. Head up the tunnel to the corner where there is a jumpswitch. A gate will closed behind you trapping you. Jump up and pull the switch which opens the exit gate back up top and also the gate at the trapdoor allowing you to exit. Run around the tunnel to exit but be careful as spikes will kill Lara if you hang about. Climb out and head through the arched opening to the now open gate and exit into a small room with a hole in the middle. Jump in and take a fun slide to the next area.

Lara falls into the water of an ornate tomb. Right in front of here is the only part where she can exit this water. Climb out and a flyby will kick in showing the tomb with the two Cartouche receptacles, Hand of Sirius receptacles and four closed doors. Note how the flyby ends on the floor of the underwater area that has hieroglyphics. This will be the eventual exit. Place a Cartouche in the receptacle and watch out. The door behind will open to reveal a rather angry demi god. Use grenade gun, shotgun or Uzis to get rid of him. Be careful to stay out of the water as if you fall in you can only exit at this same point. Enter the newly opened door.

Lara is now in a room with sloping sides, a statue and flames. There is a jump switch behind the statue that cannot be reached until the flame underneath it has been put out. To do this you need to pull the statue onto the pressure pad on the floor. Note that there are three pressure pads near the exit. Two are on low flat areas either side of the path leading to the switch and the other is on the floor between them. This is the one you need to pull the statue onto. But there are flames stopping you from doing this. To put out these flames you to stand on both of the other pressure pads. This will extinguish the flames and allow you to grab and pull the statue into place on the third pad. However, the flames only stay out for so long before the light again so be quick. Now drag the statue into place and the flame underneath the switch will go out and stay out. Go pull the switch and exit back to the main tomb.

No doors have opened! Eh? Don`t worry. Head up to the head end of the tomb and place the second cartouche. The doorway behind you will open and another demigod will attack. Destroy him or get past him into the now open door. You will now be in a large room with spike traps on the floor and a tall structure in the middle. In the far left corner there is a statue blocking the way to a climbing pole. However you can`t get to the statue again because of a flame. In the near right corner there is a pressure pad. Stand on this to put out the flame but again it is timed so be quick. Run and jump over the spike traps and pull the statue out of the way. You can then simply jump over the flame and climb up the pole. Back flip onto one of the ledges above. Look around and you should see a ladder on each wall. Let`s say you are standing on the ledge with the pole to your right as you face the centre. The ladder to your left on this ledge leads up into a room with a closed gate in the wall. Forget that now it`s Secret No. 3. Go to the next ladder clockwise and climb up. This leads to the same area as the next ladder as well so don`t bother climbing it. In this area you should see a closed gate in the central wall and a floor switch. Pull the floor switch to open another door in the main tomb area. Now you need to get that gate in the wall open. Climb back down to the ledges below and head for the last ladder. Climb up into a very dark room. Light a flare and find a jump switch on the wall to the right of the ladder. Pull it. This opens the gate. Head back to the gate but don`t go through yet. Let`s get Secret No.3. In the corner of the opposite end of the room to the floor switch there is a pressure pad. Stand on it and run to the opening with the ladder in front of you. Drop down and run on again on the ledge. Jump over the corner to cut it and climb up the next ladder. Quickly back flip into the room above turn and run and jump through the open gate in the wall. The gate is timed and you have 27 seconds to do this. Once in pick up the grenade ammo. Handy for dealing with those demi gods…Now head back up to the open gate by the floor switch and climb through. Drop down the hole onto the top of the structure below and pick up the Hand of Sirius. Drop back down to the floor below and exit back to the main tomb. Watch out because a Demi God will be prowling around. Kill him and head for the newly opened door to your left.

Lara should now find herself in a strange stoney room with spike traps on the floor stopping here way. The walls on the right are climbable. Jump over the spikes to this wall and climb. Start shimmying round to your left, keep going until you are above the sloping block. Drop slide and then back flip onto the low block in the middle of the room. Jump back across to the climbable wall to the left to continue as far as you can then drop down. Climb up the block behind you turn and face the wall and see the jump switch. Jump over and pull it. This switch coupled with the one you pulled in the first room with sloped sides and statue will open the fourth door in the main tomb. Climb back up the blocks behind you and pick up the Hand of Sirius from the pedestal. Now you have to get out of this room. Look above and see the monkey swing textures. Jump up and monkey swing around the corner as far as you can then drop down. Jump to the block opposite and jump over and onto the climbable wall to the right. Shimmy round and drop on the plain floor. Jump over the spike trap and head back out to the main tomb.

You should find all four doors are now open but there is yet another door behind the fourth one. Place the Hands of Sirius in the receptacles on either side of the tomb to open this final door. This will let Lara into a small room with a statue and a lever switch in front of it. Pull the switch and an earthquake happens. Head back out and look below you in the water. Remember those hieroglyphics? The floor here below the water has now opened up. Jump in and swim through. Surface and climb out in a tunnel leading up. Head up and keep going till you come to a ladder. Climb right up and exit to your left into a small room with a lever switch. Pull this which opens the closed gate you saw when you first swam up to enter the room with the four blocks near the start. It also opens the two large doors back in the trench allowing you to exit. So let`s get back there. Jump in the water and swim through to surface in the water area you have been in before at the bottom of the large high room near the beginning. Notice that there is another closed gate under the water to the right of the opening you just came through. Surface and swim to the ledge above the gate and climb out. Notice the climbable ladder in the corner. Climb up and about half way up do a backflip onto the ledge behind you. This is the trigger for the gate and you should get a camera shot of the gate opening. The gate closes very quickly once you step off the trigger. To get through do the following. While standing on the gate trigger face the ladder if you aren`t already. Jump down by simply pressing forward then immediately do a side flip into the water. Dive down and through the gate. Easy! Swim along and up and surface. Climb out onto the dark ledge. Light a flare and climb the ladder. You`ll need to do a little shimmy left and then up again before shimmying left again and off the ladder. Walk out onto the bridge and jump to the exit. Climb out and Lara finds herself back outside at last by the bike. The two large doors will now be open. Don`t venture on foot. You won`t get far. Get on the bike and ride down the steps into the tunnel.

Immediately to your right as you enter there are two statues. From them ride fast and jump over the pit. Across the pit you are faced with three openings. Take the leftmost one and ride on round the corners. The first SAS guard will be round the corner but he`s on a block. You can get him but don`t bother. Just ride on. Ride across a span and round another corner. There`s a guard here you can crush. Then take the right turn into a long narrow room. There are two Ninjas here to run over. Also near the entrance to this room there is a crawl space opening in the wall leading to Secret No.4. Quickly get off the bike and crawl through to get the big med pack if you need it. Get back on the bike and ride out through the exit on the opposite wall just to the right of the crawl space. Take the first left to run over another guard then back out again and go left. Jump over the pit to run over another guard. Go left again if you want to kill another guard otherwise go right to kill another guard if he`s there. They do run about so could be anywhere!! Head up the slope. Left is a dead end but there may be a guard there. Right is the exit and again there could be a guard. Look for an exit leading up again and stop at the top of this slope where there are two lever switches. One opens the doors right where Lara began the level and the other opens the doors by the large pit you had to jump over at the beginning outside. Get back on the bike and ride on up the slope and outside. Keep going. There will be some guards to run over along the way including any you didn`t get the first time round. Ride right round to the closed doors between the two statues where the camera angles change and Lara will ride through the doors and off into the sunset to end the level….

Phew!!!!!