Tomb Raider: The last Revelation

Valley of the Kings

LEVEL 4: BURIAL CHAMBERS

• Secrets: 5

You begin the level sliding. When Lara reaches the lighted area of the slope, jump to grab the concealed ledge above. Pull up to find a secret #1 (14/70), a large med-pack. Drop down and continue sliding to land in a room with various statues. Pull the lever to open the gate.

ROOM WITH TIMER AND SPIKES: Slide into the room and pick up THE HAND OF ORION from the floor. This opens escape routes to the left and right. When the two hands on the timer up on the wall come together at twelve o'clock, deadly blades pop out of the walls and floor. So before that happens, jump out of the depression on the left side. (You can also go to the right, but you'll miss the secret.) Pick up secret #2 (15/70), shotgun shells. When you take the shells, the gate opens.

Continue along the hallway. There is a circular blade trap ahead. To get through, stand Lara as close as possible without injury, position her at the center of the blades facing into them, then roll as they begin to open. (You can also do a diving roll-i.e., jump while sprinting-to get through, but I find this more difficult. Or, stand a few steps back from the blade and as it opens, take a standing jump-grab.) In the next room, break the jar on the left with pistol fire to get the small med-pack inside. Repeat the careful roll through the next circular blade trap, and slide down the ramp into a small alcove.

ROOM WITH ROTATING BLADES: Drop down to the floor to get a small med-pack in the corner to the left. Climb back into the alcove and use THE HAND OF ORION in the receptacle. This causes the spiky blades to recede and the scythe-like blades to begin rotating. If you don't care about the two pick-ups on the platforms, just walk to the edge of the alcove, hop back, wait for one of the blades to pass, then take a standing jump to grab the edge of the blade platform. Traverse around the corner to the right. Traverse around two more corners until the exit is above and behind Lara. Wait for the blades to pass, pull up and back flip into the hallway. If you fall off the platform at any time, go back to the alcove where you used the artifact, climb up and try again.

Or, if you want to get the items, walk to the edge of the alcove where you placed the HAND OF ORION and hop back once. Just as one of the blades passes over the shotgun shells on the platform, take a running jump to land right on top of the shells. Pick them up, then take a standing jump forward to get off the pedestal before the next blade reaches Lara. Walk around to the doorway and climb back up into the alcove. Set up the jump once again by hopping back once from the edge. Again wait for the blades to pass, wait for one of the blades to pass, then take a standing jump to grab the edge of the blade platform. Traverse around the corner to the right. Traverse around two more corners until the exit is above and behind Lara. Wait for the blades to pass, pull up and back flip into the hallway.

To get the other pick-up on the square pedestal, position Lara at the right edge of the doorway, facing into the room with the blades. Turn her to face the pedestal with the SHOTGUN on it squarely. Hop back once, then take two additional walking steps backward. Now wait until one of the blades is just about to reach the shotgun and take a running jump to the pillar. If you've set it up correctly, Lara will land right on top of the gun, and you can pick it up then jump forward to land on the floor unharmed. (NOTE: If you already have the shotgun, you'll get shells here instead.)

Climb back up into the alcove and repeat the jump-grab-and-traverse business to get back to the exit. From the exit door, continue on to the tomb.

Cut scene: The camera pans the room, lighting on the sarcophagus with the Ankh amulet set into it.

SET'S SARCOPHAGUS/AMULET OF HORUS: Avoid the foot of the sarcophagus for now. Standing there triggers a cut scene and prevents you from getting a secret. First explore the walkway around the outside of the room, picking up a small med-pack and shotgun shells in two of the corners. Continue through to the next room, where there's a tall statue and two mummy cases. Get the small med-pack on the floor on the left. Hop down into the pit in the northwest corner to find secret #3 (16/70), a small med-pack and shotgun shells. Return to the sarcophagus and approach the foot of it.

Cut scene: Lara climbs onto the sarcophagus, pries off the AMULET OF HORUS, deposits it in her backpack and hops back down.

The room has changed. Fiery blood now flows from the sarcophagus and the pits in the next room are filled with it.

Go back into the statue room. The mummy cases are now open. Avoid going near them for now, or you'll have to do the next bit of business with 2 mummies slugging away at Lara. They can't be killed, so don't waste your time and ammo. Pull/push the movable statue onto the tile with the circle on it. (The one that matches the tile where the statue starts.)

Cut scene: A door behind the mummy on the opposite side of the room opens.

Lure the mummy out, then run through the door. Follow the hall and drop down. Continue to a large cave.

CAVE: Advance into the middle of the cave. When you hear the dramatic music, draw weapons and look out for 2 black dogs wearing gold jewelry. They come in from ahead on the left and right.

Now survey the area: The passageway where you entered is on the east side. There's a huge, carved gold pillar in the northwest corner supporting a building above; an ornate facade set into the cave wall on the west side; and a ramp and stairs running along the south side to the upper level. On the upper level, east side, is a stairway leading to a wide ladder. Also on the upper level, a wooden bridge leads to the building supported by the gold pillar, which is on the west side.

Head up the stairs to the upper level, making a U-turn around the wall-mounted burner. Just after you pass a square grate on the wall on the right, light a flare and look for a pit to the right of the stairs. Hop down into the pit to find secret #4 (17/70), a large med-pack. Climb out of the pit and continue up the stairs to the room with the wide ladder. Climb to the top.

ROOM WITH MUMMIES AND GOLDEN SERPENT ARTIFACT: Shoot the jars to get the small med-pack and shotgun shells inside. Climb through one of the square openings into the next room. Take note of the closed gate on the wall. This is where you'll exit. Take the GOLDEN SERPENT from the pedestal. The gate opens, the gates over the alcoves where you entered close, and the 2 mummies awaken. Run to the now-open gate in the corner and climb out. (You may be able to jump over the mummy below the doorway if it isn't on its feet yet.) Follow the passage to a ramp.

ROOM WITH SAND AND SPIKES: Slide into the next room, which immediately starts filling with sand, raising Lara closer and closer to the spiked ceiling. Sprint to the near left corner where there are no spikes and you can climb out safely. Follow the passage to an opening in the floor and a large med-pack. Drop down onto the block below one corner of the opening. Drop to the ground back in the CAVE. Go up the rock stairs to the wooden bridge (upper level, west side). Cross the bridge and enter the building, killing the 2 fancy black dogs that awaken. Climb the stairs and drop through the opening near the lit torch. Follow the hall to the next room.

ROTATING OCTAGONAL ROOM: Take a diagonal standing jump from the doorway to the flat ledge on the left. Walk as close to the base of the sloped wall as possible, then take a standing jump into the alcove with the shotgun shells. This is secret #5 (18/70).

Slide down to the floor, and climb up to the longer ledge that runs along the west wall. Walk to the end and jump to the small ledge ahead. Turn left and take a running jump over the blades to land on the ledge with the receptacle for an artifact you don't have yet. The ledge above the receptacle has a ladder on its front face. Jump up to grab it, and climb up to the alcove above. Pull the lever to open the gate below the doorway where you entered.

Climb down from the ledge, go through the open gate, and use the lever there to ROTATE THE ENTIRE ROOM. (How cool is that!?)

Cut scene: As the room rotates, you get a glimpse of the SCARAB TALISMAN in the alcove at the opposite end of the room.

Take a standing jump into the doorway and return to the OCTAGONAL ROOM. Safety drop into the pit and take the HAND OF SIRIUS. Follow the hallway to a ladder. Climb up then forward out onto a ledge in the OCTAGONAL ROOM. Take a standing jump to grab the block ahead. Pull up, watching out for the blades on the ceiling. Either take a standing jump or crawl under the blades to the left side of the ledge. Take another standing jump down to the doorway below the open gate in the side wall (west side). At the end of the short hallway, take another standing jump to grab the back wall, and climb down the ladder.

ROOM WITH CHAIN AND MUMMIES: Stand with Lara's back to the doorway where you entered (so you don't get disoriented). Pull the chain.

Cut scene: The room rotates again, and you see the SCARAB TALISMAN in its alcove, no longer protected by blades.

Run straight ahead through the now-open gate to escape the 2 mummies. Climb the ladder back to the OCTAGONAL ROOM.

Climb up to the receptacle on the side wall and use the HAND OF SIRIUS to lower a rope from the ceiling. Take a standing jump from the edge of the ledge to grab the rope. Rotate Lara to face the alcove with the TALISMAN. Use the Sprint key to start the rope swinging, then let go at the peak of the arc to land on the ledge in front of the alcove. Take the SCARAB TALISMAN from the pedestal.

Squeeze past the pedestal and ready weapons to kill the 2 black dogs in the hall around the corner. Stay alert, because there's another dog just beyond the room with the ornate, square pillars. At the end of the hall drop back down into the CAVE where you started.

ANOTHER ROOM THAT FILLS WITH SAND: Go through the door on the west cave wall, lower level. Climb over the block and enter the sandy room beyond. Use the GOLDEN SERPENT and SCARAB TALISMAN in the two receptacles on the wall. Sand begins to fill the room and the mummy awakens. Run around the edge of the room to stay clear of the mummy (or stun it periodically with your pistols) until the sand level rises enough for you to climb out. Head toward the light to end the level.

FMV sequence: Lara emerges from the ruins and takes the Amulet of Horus from her backpack. She reads the inscription aloud. (I'll post a transcript when I revise the level. For now, just the basic gist.) Her voice fades into that of the author, the high priest Semerkhet, as we shift to a flashback of ancient events: Set and Horus, the jackal (?) and hawk...the human priest Semerkhet...Set being entombed. According to the inscription, when the amulet is removed, at the turn of a distant millennium, the dark god Set will be released, unleashing plague and destruction. But at the same time, along with Set, comes his counterpart and balancing force, Horus. Flash forward to the present day. Lara's guide returns, places a gun to her head and demands the amulet. Lara continues to read the inscription. As she does, an earth-shaking explosion knocks the guide off his feet, giving Lara time to go for her weapons. Von Croy arrives in his Jeep and beeps his horn. The shockwave from the explosion spreads outward toward him, and we fade to black.