Tomb Raider 3: Adventures of Lara Croft

Londen

LONDON PART 2: ALDWYCH

• Kills: 29
• Items: 41, plus 3 keys, Masonic Mallet, Ornate Star, Old Penny, Ticket, UZIS, ROCKET LAUNCHER and 9 save/power-up crystals
• Secrets: 5

Be sure to find all the secrets so you can access the bonus level at the end of the game. Note that the pick-ups in this level will include the SHOTGUN and MP5 ASSAULT RIFLE if you didn't get them in a previous level.

Objectives: Make your way through an abandoned tube station to the secret lair of a mysterious brotherhood known as the Damned. First, find the maintenance key, which will help you get an old penny. Locate two Solomon's keys, which will unlock a door within the temple so you can get the Masonic Mallet. Buy a ticket with your penny and use it to gain access to another area, where you can use the mallet to (indirectly) get to the level exit. In the process, you may discover some additional items and secrets, and you'll find out more about the ageless Miss Sophia Leigh.

Walk-through: The level begins with Lara falling down a hole from the bell tower above. Grab the end of the first slope. Release Action and press it again to drop to the slope below, slide and grab the opening opposite. Pull up and claim a box of shells (NOTE: if you don't already have the SHOTGUN, you'll get it here instead of the shells.)

Drop into the water, climb out and go up the stairs. On the third landing, shoot out the vent. Behind it is a save/power-up crystal and a ladder leading up to a room with red girders. Kill the gang member lurking in the corner and pick up a bunch of goodies--flares, shotgun shells, and Uzi clips. (NOTE: Again, if you don't already have the SHOTGUN, you'll get it here instead of the shells.) You'll find out more about these guys, the "Damned," in the cut scene following this level.

Go around to the left and pull the movable block with the metal coils. Drop down through the opening onto one of the ticket machines. Shoot another thug from above. Hop onto the next machine and climb up the back of the movable block into a passageway. Drop/climb down into the ticket booth, where you'll find a large med-pack and MAINTENANCE KEY. Press the button to exit. Pick up a small med-pack from the guy you killed.

As you've probably surmised, you're now inside the abandoned Aldwych tube station. On the other side of the ticket machines are four doors. Beyond are escalators leading down to two train platforms.

RIGHT SIDE ESCALATORS: First, go through one of the doors on the right and down the escalator. Jump the pit at the bottom. (Use a running jump on the right side; the ceiling is too low on the left side.) Kill the masked thug and his mangy dog and use the key to open the MAINTENANCE ROOM at the end of the platform. Press the button inside to turn on the lights and pick up Uzi clips and a small med-pack. Exit and go to the other end of the platform, where you'll find an OLD PENNY near the illuminated sign.

WOODEN CRATE ROOM: Go back to the pit at the bottom of the escalators and safety drop into it. Head to the left (when facing the escalators above) and sprint into the doorway on the right to avoid an oncoming train. Inside is a red-lit room with numerous wooden crates. Take out the 2 angry gang members. Pick up the small med-pack on the floor and the save/power-up crystal in the corner. When you climb back over the crates, a dog will attack, so ready those guns. (NOTE: The button behind the crates on the other side of the room turns on the alarms but does nothing else.)

Now climb/jump up to the level with the angled box. Side flip onto the slope and jump to grab the grate ahead. Climb up and back flip onto the ledge behind. Kill another thug who's lurking in back of the boxes. Relieve him of his small med-pack. Jump over to the small square ledge ahead and left of the red light on the ceiling. Take a running jump with Action to land on the ledge ahead on the right, behind the grating ladder you just climbed up. You'll find the UZIS here if you don't already have them. If you do, this will be Uzi clips instead. Take a standing jump down to the boxes on the left, or safety drop to the floor.

Return to the top where you killed the gang member. Jump up to grab the grating on the ceiling and traverse forward, then right. Drop to the ledge. Climb into the doorway. Turn around and jump to grab the ledge, where you'll find a rocket. Now get in the doorway below the drill and, if you didn't do it down below, SAVE YOUR GAME.

DRILL ROOM: Slide backwards down the ramp and grab the end. Let go and drop to the break-away tiles. Jump to the left onto the slope, then slide and jump to grab the horizontal crevice opposite. Traverse to the right and drop to more break-away tiles. Fall through onto the slope below, grab the end and pull up. Jump, twisting in mid-air, to land on the opposite slope facing uphill. Slide and grab the end. Drop and grab quickly three more times and pull up into the alcove with the save/power-up crystal and MP5 clips. This is SECRET #1. Needless to say, all this has to be done speedily as the huge drill is bearing down on you from above. (NOTES: The secret area will contain the MP5 ASSAULT RIFLE itself if you don't already have it. And, in case you've forgotten that mid-air twist, it's Jump + Roll--Alt + End on the PC.)

Follow the ramps to the bottom for a large med-pack. Then climb/jump back up to the middle level with the gray tiled floor. Climb up through the opening in the ceiling into a brick area. There's a small pool (which doesn't lead anywhere but comes in handy if Lara catches fire) and a save/power-up crystal around the corner. Climb up the grating onto a ledge with flames billowing across it. Be sure to stand at the edge to avoid catching fire. Take a standing jump up to the higher ledge and the flames will extinguish. Climb up a little farther for a small med-pack. Vault onto the sloped ledge, walk to the other end, then take a diagonal standing jump to grab the next grating ladder. Climb up until Lara's feet are on the first silver stripe and back flip to land in the alcove behind. Press the button to open a trapdoor back in the WOODEN CRATE ROOM. This also turns on another flame at the top of the grating ladder. Jump to grab the grating, climb up, then immediately crouch. Crawl across the ledge to get the Uzi clips, then safety drop off the other side.

Follow the stairs to a low, dark room above the tracks. At the far end is a rat, a large med-pack and some shotgun shells. Get the goodies, then safety drop through the opening to the platform below.

Again, drop down into the pit to the lower tracks and go to the WOODEN CRATE ROOM. Use the grates on the ceiling to traverse back to the drill area. Walk over the drill and climb into the next passageway, where you'll find the FIRST SOLOMON'S KEY. Unfortunately, you'll need to take the long way back: Follow the passageway to the room above the tracks where you were a few minutes ago. Drop to the tracks, then drop down to the lower tracks and return to the WOODEN CRATE ROOM.

[IMPORTANT WARNING: A few people have informed me of a bug in both the PC and PlayStation version where the drill does not stay level with the doorway but sinks far below, making it impossible to walk across it to get the Solomon's Key. If you're playing on the PC and encounter this problem, you're welcome to download and use a savegame file with the drill in its proper position. Stella's site]

[UPDATE: Huw L. suggested an alternate fix: He found that when he went through the trapdoor at the top of the wooden crate room to the area with the three timed doors (below) before crossing the drill to get the Solomon's Key, the drill bug was activated and he couldn't get the key. Howe1ver, when he went to the drill BEFORE going up to the three timed doors, no bug.]

ROOM WITH ROLL-DOWN DOORS: Climb/jump up to the trapdoor you just opened. Enter and take out the thug and his dog. Get some shells on a ledge above where you came in (back flip off this ledge or jump while pressing Action) and some MP5 clips in the room to the side. You'll notice two closed doors as well. One contains the final secret of the game. You'll be back to get it later. (The roll-down doors at the top of the two flights of stairs don't open.) For now, fall through the break-away tiles and pull the movable box that's blocking the trapdoor above.

THREE TIMED DOORS: Go down through the trapdoor and follow the passage. One way leads back to the room you were just in. The other leads to a network of passages ending in a room with a pool and three doors. There are 2 buttons on the wall down the hallway. These open the doors, which are timed to close before you get there. ;-) Here's the drill:

RIGHT DOOR: Press the right button. Press Look if it's your first time through to kill the "vision" of the door opening. Roll and run up the hallway to the room with the doors. Use sprint on the straight-aways but release it for better cornering. Run around the left side of the pool then straight on to the door on the right. (It is possible to jump the pool but more often than not you end up falling in.) Once inside, press the button to lower a trapdoor in the middle room. Slide down the ramps and follow the passage back to the buttons, picking up some flares on the way.

MIDDLE DOOR: Press the right button again. Repeat the same run to the middle door. Once inside, climb up through the trapdoor, press the button to open another trapdoor in the left room, and follow the hallway to drop down near the pair of buttons.

LEFT DOOR: Press the left button. The timer here is even faster, but if you sprint on the straight parts as you did before, you'll make it in time. Once inside, use the ceiling grates to traverse over the pool. Drop and grab the ledge. Pull up into the alcove and get shotgun shells a save/power-up crystal and the SECOND SOLOMON'S KEY.

(NOTE: If you're unable to complete the timed run, and you're playing on the PC, don't despair. Download a savegame with Lara inside the left door. Check Stella's site.)

Follow the underwater tunnel to emerge back in the ticket area. Kill the thug waiting for you then use your penny in the fourth machine from the ticket window to buy yourself a TICKET. (NOTE: Don't forget to pick up the ticket when it drops out of the machine onto the floor.)

LEFT SIDE ESCALATORS: This time, exit through the doors on the left. The escalators here lead down to a platform with a huge pile of dirt. One of the Damned emerges and attacks here. Beyond the dirt pile is a vent you can shoot out to access SECRET #2--a pit containing shotgun shells.

If you want to, you can run up the stairs and kill a rabid dog so he won't surprise you later when you emerge through the closed door at the top.

Kill the 2 rats on the tracks. Then jump down and go to the right. Another thug comes out of a door and ducks into another. Follow him quickly so as not to be hit by an oncoming train. Use the button inside to open two doors outside. The one on the right contains a save/power-up crystal, the one on the left leads to a pool and a closed door.

MASONIC TEMPLE: The area leading to the temple is a maze of passages, doors and buttons. The diagram aldwych.gif. And you'll probably want to save your game here in case you get lost or misplaced. Slog through the pool and push the button to open the door. Take the first right, then turn right again. Push the button here (B). Turn around go back to the left, then go to the right down the long corridor. At the end, just to the left is another button (C); push it. [Don't push the one at the end of this hall (D).] Turn around and come back up the long hallway. The doors on the right are now open. Go inside and pick up a small med-pack in the dark alcove. Now press the left button (F), but not the right (E). Exit this room through the door on the right and walk straight across the hallway. Turn right to face the first button you pushed after entering (B). Push it again (it should be red now). Turn around and walk forward then to the right down a newly opened hallway. Follow it, passing two alcoves containing another small med-pack and MP5 clips. Continue to the inner sanctum of the Masonic temple.

Enter and go to the right. Use your two Solomon's keys in the keyholes to open doors at the front and back of the room. Go around the corner and pick up a save/power-up crystal and the long-awaited UZIS on the floor opposite the red chairs. (If you already have them, you’ll get Uzi clips here instead.)

Head for the back of the room, taking care to avoid the break-away floor tiles with spikes below. Run over the tiles into the little room you just opened. Grab the MASONIC MALLET and take a standing jump over the spikes to grab the edge. Pull up. Kill the dog that charges from the left. Then go back to the corner with the floor-length purple curtain and break-away tile. (Don't worry; there are no spikes below this time.) Go behind the curtain to get the ORNATE STAR and some MP5 clips.

Exit the temple through the small door in the opposite corner, which opened when you used the keys. Pick up a small med-pack and flares, then follow the underwater passage to a room with several cement ledges. Climb onto the block near the upper entrance and take a running jump to grab the crevice. Crawl through and drop down to the ledge with the railing. Climb onto the higher ledge and take a standing jump from the corner to grab the grate in the ceiling. Traverse to the wall, then drop and grab the small opening. Pull up and crawl through.

TURNSTILE: Use your ticket in the turnstile to gain access to the next room. You may be able to kill 2 rats inside from the doorway. If not, take care of them, and the club-toting goon at the same time. Confiscate the goon's small med-pack. Then go around the row of turnstiles and use the Ornate Star to unlock the room with the campfire inside. (NOTE: If you're having difficulty unlocking the door, stand right at the middle of it, rather than facing the lock.) Another thug rushes out. Kill him before he flambées Lara, then enter.

This is SECRET #3. Climb through the opening in the ceiling. Follow the passage to drop down into a room containing a save/power-up crystal. The door opens automatically, and you're back at the landing above the pool. (Kill that nasty dog in the stairwell now if you didn't earlier.) Do the jump-climb-traverse thing to get back to the TURNSTILE room.

This time go to the right, down the escalator. Use the Masonic Mallet to open the door at the bottom. Get the rocket in the crawlspace above. (This is SECRET #4.) Then press the button to open a trapdoor inside the TRAIN CAR nearby.

Exit and go down into the hole on the left. As you approach, the door on the right opens and a thug comes out to pound on Lara. Subdue him and relieve him of a small med-pack. (NOTE: The ENCLOSED WALKWAY he came out of leads down to the platform below the RIGHT SIDE ESCALATORS, but don't go that way yet.) Continue down the tunnel. Jump the gap, kill the dog a little farther on, and continue down the stairs to the platform.

TRAIN CAR: Shoot the goon before he has a chance to hurt Lara. He'll leave another small med-pack. There's also a save/power-up crystal in the alcove, flares on top of the train car, and large med-pack and shotgun shells in a hole in the mud-filled, bat-infested tunnel beyond the campfire.

Go back up the stairs to the hole. Drop down and follow the tunnel to the trapdoor under the train. Climb up into the train car. Push the button to cause a tremor and open another trapdoor. Drop through it and follow the tunnel to an open hallway with alcoves along the right side. Proceed forward, but DON'T SHOOT the gang member who dashes out of an alcove. Instead, follow him around the corner and let him open a door for you. He'll return with a buddy. Now you can kill them both. (NOTE: If you kill the first guy before he opens the door, you'll have no hope of getting the final secret.)

Go into the room the thug opened, pick up a rocket and press the 2 buttons. One opens the second trapdoor in the train; the other opens a door in the ROLL-DOWN DOORS ROOM.

Backtrack past the alcoves (pick up a small med-pack in the last) toward where you came in. Go right and up through the trapdoor into the train car. Press the button again, go through the other trapdoor and follow the tunnel to the opening. Take the ENCLOSED WALKWAY across the tracks. Go down the ramp to the platform, drop into the pit, go to the WOODEN CRATE ROOM, and climb up through the trapdoor. Enter the newly opened door on the right--SECRET #5. Kill another bad guy, and pick up a huge cache of goodies: MP5 clips, Desert Eagle clips, a large med-pack and the ROCKET LAUNCHER. Now, wasn't that worth the walk? :-)

Press the button to re-open the trapdoor into the TRAIN CAR. Then exit. You may encounter another thug on the far side of the big room when you leave. (NOTE: He doesn't always appear. Perhaps it depends on how you approach.) Return to the train. The quickest route is probably down into the WOODEN CRATE ROOM, across the ceiling grates to the drill, down onto the tracks, up the ramp, across the ENCLOSED WALKWAY, down into the hole, up through the train, and down into the hallway where you killed the 2 guys who opened the door for you.

Now exit the level by going down either of the ramps.

A cut scene follows: Lara falls into the lair of the Damned and finds herself before their leader. He correctly guesses that she's looking for Miss Leigh. But obviously not for revenge, he says, since she hasn't got the face for it. Lara asks if he has, and the masked man replies caustically that he doesn't even have a face. He says he took a job as a research assistant in Miss Leigh's cosmetic company. And, after taking part in a failed experiment to discover the secret of eternal beauty, he and the others ended up faceless monstrosities. The supreme irony, he explains, is that when he tried to take his own life, he found it didn't work. He strikes a deal with Lara: If she brings him some embalming fluid from the natural history museum, he and his friends will help her get to Sophia Leigh.

RECOMMENDED READING: If you enjoyed the ambience of this level as much as I did, you might want to check out Neil Gaiman's book Neverwhere, a novel about a more-regular-than-regular guy who falls through the cracks of "normal" society and ends up in the mysterious realm of "London Below." It's full of abandoned tube stations, sewers, secret doors and passageways, etc. A completely fabulous book, which I recommend highly. In case you haven't heard of him, Neil is the guy who did the Sandman and Stardust graphic novels and The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish.)