Tomb Raider 2

Tibet

LEVEL 13: CATACOMBS OF THE TALION

• Kills: 33
• Items: 29 (33)* plus 2 Tibetan masks
• Secrets: 3

(*Under found items, the number in parentheses shows total including extra items granted for finding all three secrets. Note that the regular pick-ups here will include the Uzis, Grenade Launcher and Automatic Pistols if you don't have them already.)

Jump down on either side of the stairs and walk to the opening to avoid the falling icicles. In the next room, along the left wall, is a crevice. Grab it and traverse to the right until you can pull up. Drop down behind the wall to find some flares and SECRET #1, the Silver Dragon. Return to the ledge above the slope the way you came.

Turn and slide down the slope backwards, grab the edge, pull up and back flip onto the ledge behind. From here you can kill the Yeti lurking below. Carefully trip the icicles above the stairs to your right now, note the door at the bottom, then return to the top of the stairs. Drop down into the pit where the dead Yeti is. Pull the switch to open the door above and let a leopard in. Return to the top via the ladder. Repeat the slide/back flip to the ledge, kill the leopard and proceed down the stairs.

(Alternately, climb down almost to the bottom of the ladder, press Jump to backflip over the yeti and kill it at close range. One grenade will do it, and there are quite a few grenades to be had in this and the next level; however, you may want to save some grenades for later in the game. After killing the yeti, pull the switch and climb back up the ladder to deal with the leopard and icicle trap. Or avoid the icicles altogether by dropping down into the area next to the stairs.)

ROOM WITH POOL AND CAGE: As you go down the stairs into the large room, 2 thugs with guns will emerge at the top of the stairs behind you. Kill them and take their large med-pack, automatic pistol clips and 2 sets of Uzi clips. (NOTE: If you don't already have them, you'll get the UZIS here instead of one of the clips.) Cross the room and approach the small doorway on the far right, beyond the pool. Immediately roll and take out the 2 leopards that charge you from behind. Go through the small door and down the ramp to get a glimpse through the bars of what lies ahead, as well as a small med-pack, before returning to the big room.

Above is a long ramp with snowballs at the top. Climb the first flight of stairs and jump to the base of the ramp. Run up the ramp to trip the snowballs, then side flip into the pool. Climb out of the water and go to the rocks near the small opening where you killed the leopards. Go around the back to climb up. Do a running jump to the snow-covered ledge opposite, then walk to the broken tiles with spikes below. Run across the tiles and press Action to grab the ladder as the floor falls away below. Climb not quite to the top of the ladder and back flip to land on the ledge behind. Turn around, jump to the top of the ramp and pull the switch to raise the cage opposite. Slide down the ramp. Climb up to the cage and take the TIBETAN MASK. Doing this causes the trapdoor at the bottom of the pool to open.

Climb down, drop into the pool, then through the trapdoor. Follow the passageway, jumping over the trench with spikes. Beyond is a gate, which you can open using the MASK.

BUILDINGS WITH RAMP AND WOODEN BRIDGE: At the top of the hill beyond the gate are a bunch of those pesky snowballs. To complicate things, a pack of 4 leopards will attack as soon as you enter the area. Ready weapons. (I like the shotgun for leopards, but take your pick.) Then run up the ramp and side jump to the right to avoid the snowballs and kill the leopards. If you like, trigger the avalanche, run back toward the gate and climb onto one of the blocks on either side of the gate. Then use pistols to kill the leopards at your leisure.

(NOTE: There are a few areas in this level, including the wooden bridge, that you can't reach yet. You will get there in the next level.)

FROZEN POND WITH FIREPOT: The main doors at the top of the ramp (where the snowballs came from) are locked. Go up the ramp and jump to grab the opening in the left wall. Beyond the opening is a room with a frozen pond and a firepot high above. (Note the door with the face at the top of the stairs on the right of the cave opening. You'll return here a bit later on.) Now, prepare for another leopard-fest. When you drop down, 2 leopards charge you. Four more leopards--2 from ahead, 2 from behind--emerge when you approach the doorway on the right. You won't have to fight them all at once if you go cautiously. Kill the first pair of leopards before approaching the opening to the next area. Then, either run into the next area and immediately climb onto the rock outcropping just inside on the left; or go in slowly, drawing out the leopards two at a time.

OPEN AREA WITH WALL OF ICE: Once the leopards are out of the way climb onto the rock outcropping just inside the opening between the FROZEN POND and ICE WALL areas. (You'll already be in the right place if you killed the leopards from here.) On the other side of these rocks is a small cave with a pool of water. Swim down and pick up a second TIBETAN MASK. (NOTE: Through a grate under the water you can see a bright object. You can also see it under the ice in the next room. This is a GONG HAMMER, which you won't be able to get until the next level.)

When you climb back up, 2 thugs will be waiting. Kill them from the rocks if you can, then take their small med-pack, Uzi clips and 2 sets of automatic pistol clips.

Return to the main area with the buildings and rope bridge and go around the back of the building with the red trim. Climb the ladder at the back and retrieve 2 pairs of grenades from the ledge. Descend and use the MASK to open the door below.

PITCH-DARK ROOM WITH YETIS: There are 4 Yetis in this very dark room. Fortunately they're in cages and can't get out until you free them. Enter the room and head to the far left corner. Jump across the gaps to the center platform where there's a burner and a switch. When you pull the switch, the lights go on, the Yeti cages open and grates appear in the gaps between the platforms (i.e., they can get to you). You can try and run for the exit, or just tough it out and shoot them in here. If you haven't killed all as they charge up, jump down to the ground and get them as they stupidly take the stairs down. One may lurk inside one of the cages. If so, you'll have to go in and draw it out. When they're all dead, claim your reward: Downstairs in the cages you'll find 2 large med-packs, 2 pairs of grenades and 2 sets of Uzi clips.

Go back to the top of the stairs and pull/push the movable block into the first of the small doorways with the gates above. There's a pair of grenades on the floor in one of the other doorways. (This will be the GRENADE LAUNCHER if you've somehow missed it thus far.) In the room beyond is a switch. Pull it to open the door with the face in the cave opening near the FROZEN POND AND FIREPOT area. This switch also closes the four gates, which is why you need to move that block.

DOOR WITH FACE AND WOODEN BRIDGE: Head back outside to the ramp, then up to the door you just opened. On the way, you'll run into 3 bad guys who would try to stop you. If you're low on health or ammo, you can run back to the doorway to the yeti room and shoot them from relative safety. They're carrying 2 boxes of shotgun shells, 2 sets of automatic pistol clips, Uzi clips and small med-pack. (NOTE: If you don't yet have the AUTOMATIC PISTOLS, you'll get them here instead of clips.)

When you get to the door above the opening in the rocks, run up the wooden bridge and duck to the left beyond the doorway to avoid the rolling snowballs. Continue to the end of the bridge, turn right and take a running jump to catch the ladder. Climb up to a room with an opening over water.

SERIES OF ICY POOLS: Drop through into the pool, climb out of the water quickly and kill the 3 fish that would try to nibble on Lara. Swim through the next cave. (Don't bother getting out on the icy bank, since there's nothing there but falling icicles.) Climb out on the rocky ledge on the right side of the opening into the third cave. Turn around and you'll see a ladder above you. Jump up to grab it, climb nearly to the top, then do a back flip off the ladder to land on the ledge behind you. (NOTE: This can be a tricky jump. Position Lara's feet five rungs below the top of the ladder by climbing all the way to the top then backing down one rung. Then press Jump to make the backflip that will land her on the ledge.) Here you'll find SECRET #2, the Jade Dragon. Slide and jump to grab the ladder, then descend.

Continue into the last cave. The large doors are closed. Climb up on the block in front of them. Do a running jump to grab the bottom of the ladder hanging from the cave ceiling. Climb up and back flip to land on a ledge behind you. Here is the switch that opens the doors below.

Enter the room and kill the charging leopard. Then pull the switch on the side of the block to open the main doors back at the BUILDINGS AND RAMP. To get down, walk out onto the ledge on the right side of the firepot. Take a running jump to land on the slanted blocks below and slide to the ground.

MAIN DOORS AT THE TOP OF THE RAMP: Return to the main doors at the top of the ramp. The gap in the floor leads to a room below, where 3 leopards lurk. You can ignore them, or try and shoot them through the opening (dangling from the edge or jumping from one side of the opening to the other may draw them out). Or, if you're feeling brave, ready guns and jump. When they're dead, retrieve some grenades, a large med-pack, and 3 sets of M-16 clips scattered around the room. Flip the switch to open the side doors and release a fourth leopard.

Return to the top of the ramp, go through the doors and jump across the pit. Note the snowballs perched on the hilltops ahead and to the left. You'll need to bring these down in order to proceed. First, jump up the ramp on the left to set the snow rolling. Slide back down, then immediately side flip to the right. This will trigger the other avalanche. Slide down and either jump over the snowballs as they roll past or run a few steps forward (you'll be facing the pit now) and side flip to the left. (You can also jump into the pit below through the openings on the sides, but you'll lose a bit of health--quite a bit if you haven't taken care of those leopards first.)

SPIKE ROOM AND EXIT DOORS: The following sequence is illustrated in the diagram catacombs.gif. Enter the room opposite the first ramp, where the snowball ended up. Here you'll see two floor tiles that don't match the others. These are pressure pads that open the doors. First, step on the pad to the left to open the door in front of it. Enter the room, and look to the left. Notice the ledge above and the area of wall that looks different from the rest. You can climb up this wall (or the area on the opposite wall near the other door) like a ladder to get SECRET #3, the Gold Dragon (and a bonus of 2 pairs of grenades and 2 sets of M-16 clips if this is your third secret). Descend and walk carefully through the spikes to the door on the right.

The remaining door in this room leads to the level exit, so you'll need to get through it. The "how" is a bit complicated: The pad on the left opens the door in front of it. You've been through it already. The second door, leading back to the pad room, opens when you approach it. It closes when you step on the floor in front of it (in the pressure-pad room). The other pad (near the snowballs) opens the exit door (inside the spike room beyond the second door). The first and last doors are on timers, so walking through the spikes is too slow. There are several different ways to get the job done. Quick but dangerous: Face the two doors and the snowball. Run over the pad near the snowball (to open the exit door), veer left and run across the other pad (to open the left door), jump into the left doorway, veer to the right, taking a running jump over the spikes and dash through the exit door.

Much easier: Stand in the spike room just behind the door leading back into the pressure-pad room. (It won't close unless you step on the floor in front of it.) Jump out of the doorway to clear the area of floor that closes the door (either onto the barred ledge or onto the floor). Stand in the doorway where you first entered the pressure-pad room, facing the right pad and snowballs. If you position Lara carefully (on the spot marked with a red "X" in the diagram), you can then press Forward and Jump to take two smooth running jumps. The first will take Lara over the snowballs (opening the exit door in the processs). The second will land her in the doorway (pulling up is too slow). Then run straight on through the exit.

Once inside the timed door, take a running jump to the ladder, climb down and follow the passage to the end of the level.