Tomb Raider 3: Adventures of Lara Croft

India

INDIA PART 4: CAVES OF KALIYA

• Kills: 15
• Items: 8, plus the GRENADE LAUNCHER, the INFADA ARTIFACT and 2 save/power-up crystals
• Secrets: none

Objectives: Make your way through the maze of corridors to the bottom of the level to take on your fellow explorer and claim the Infada artifact.

Walk-through: The beginning of this level is basically a three-tiered labyrinth. Below that is an anteroom and finally the room with the India boss, Tony. There are a number of paths you can take to reach the bottom. I have provided maps of the three levels, kaliya1.gif, kaliya2.gif and kaliya3.gif. The most direct route, which bypasses the middle level entirely, is marked with red dots.

UPPER LEVEL: Pit #1 contains flares. There is a cobra in one of the dead-end passages and Uzi clips near the opening down to the lower level. To get there, head left at the start of the level. To get to the middle level, go right at the beginning of the level, down a ramp (sprinting into either the alcove or the hallway at the end of the passageway to avoid being flattened by a boulder). Follow the passageway past another boulder trap and climb up into the middle level.

MIDDLE LEVEL: Pick-ups are shotgun shells, plus a small med-pack guarded by a cobra. Both of these are in dead-end passages in the area with the brown stone floors. There's also another cobra in the dead-end passage to the left as you enter from the boulder trap area. To get down to the lower level, locate the movable block in the middle of the level (between the three radiating passages with raised steps) and move it aside to open up a fourth passageway. Follow this to pit #3.

LOWER LEVEL: Enter via pit #2 (from the upper level) or pit #3 (from the middle level). There is a cobra in one of the dead-end passages and flares and a save/power-up crystal near pit #4, which leads to the end of the level.

At the bottom of pit #4 is a dark room containing 10 cobras. Drop a flare down into the pit then safety drop down. Kill the 4 cobras in the first area without stepping between the angled blocks. This sets off a boulder trap. When the first group of cobras are dead you can trip the trap and jump back into the clear area to get out of the way. Now advance into the next area and kill the remaining 6 cobras.

Continue past where the boulder landed and crawl through the low opening. Get the small med-pack and save/power-up crystal at the top of the ramp. Then slide down to meet the boss.

The boss, who you later find out is named TONY, stands on a small block in the center of a large room with stone platforms set in a pool of toxic liquid. As soon as you enter, he'll start warming up his fireball attack. If you have trouble killing him, try this: Draw your shotgun before you slide so you can start shooting right away. Take two or three shots from the ramp and first platform. Then jump to one of the larger platforms on the side and position Lara so she has room to side flip back and forth while facing him. Continue to pump him full of shotgun shells, jumping to the other side of the platform every time he launches an attack, and taking care not to fall into the pool.

Alternately, slide down and jump right onto the platform where Tony is standing. He'll send the fireballs up toward the ceiling, so you may need to sidestep left and right to avoid them as they fall. At close range, pistols work fine and shotgun blasts are even more effective (only about six or seven will do it). When he dies, he'll disappear in a huge explosion, leaving the INFADA ARTIFACT behind.

Before getting it, pick up a small med-pack, the GRENADE LAUNCHER (loaded with 4 grenades), plus 4 more grenades on the next platform. Take the artifact last to end the level.

An FMV sequence follows: Lara emerges from the ruins and sees a boat chugging down the river. The pilot calls out to her and she goes aboard. He apologizes for the unfortunate incident with Tony, who was one of his employees, and introduces himself as Doctor Willard. (He's the same guy we saw earlier in Antarctica and heard over the radio at the jungle camp.) He tells Lara he's inspired by the way she handled Tony and would like to offer her other work. She hesitates. Then he explains that the Infada artifact is actually one of four similar pieces fashioned from meteorite ore by Polynesians who settled an island off Antarctica. He scans the artifact and shows her an analysis of the material on his computer, explaining that the ore is unique, an unknown material. Lara asks how it ended up in India. He says his investigations led him to the diary of a sailor on Charles Darwin's ship, the HMS Beagle. Lara begins to read and we flash back to the voyage.

August 14, 1834.... The sailor writes that he's restless and hungry. He and a few of his mates go ashore on a hunting expedition and discover four mysterious objects in a cavern of ice. We see one piece, which resembles the Infada artifact but is shaped like a lizard. Before they can decide what to do with the pieces, a wolf attacks, killing one of the sailors. The rest barely manage to escape as the ice cavern collapses.

Willard informs Lara that of the original group that found the artifacts, only Stephen, the diarist, survived. His compatriots were killed for their pieces in India, the South Pacific and Nevada, and Stephen sold his artifact after returning to London. The doctor is hot to investigate the remaining three locations. Lara agrees to sign on.

(IMPORTANT NOTE: When you finish this level, you will be able to choose which area you want to go to next. Although you can play the three middle areas (Nevada, London and South Pacific) in any order you like, I strongly recommend playing Nevada first. If you don't mind a spoiler, read the beginning of the walk-through for the High Security Compound level to find out why. Otherwise, you can either trust me or take your chances.)