Tomb Raider 7: Legend

LEVEL 3: JAPAN - MEETING WITH TAKAMOTO

Items: health packs, grenades, assault rifle, shotgun, ammunition
Enemies: Yakuza thugs, dogs, Takamoto
Rewards: 6 bronze, 4 silver, 1 gold
Time Trial: 12:15

The level begins with a cut scene ("Fashionably Late in Tokyo"). Lara checks in with Zip as she enters the suite where the party is being held. He tells her to see the bartender, who will call Nishimura.

NISHIMURA'S PARTY:

From CHECKPOINT 1, proceed downstairs and talk to the bartender. Then head for Nishimura's office, down the hall to the right when facing the bar.

Opening the office door triggers a cut scene ("Nishimura's Warning"). After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Nishimura cautions Lara to beware of Takamoto, but Lara says she can handle him.

Return to the party room, initiating another cut scene:

Takamoto insists he doesn't have a piece of sword. When Lara presses, things get nasty. Takamoto disappears, leaving his henchmen to deal with Lara. She dives behind the bar, makes a few quick alterations to her party dress and comes up fighting. (This cinematic is titled "Meeting with Takamoto".)

When the cut scene ends, Lara is beside the bar at CHECKPOINT 2. There are 7 thugs in all 3 straight ahead near the column with the television screens, and 4 more in the hallway to the right. Without the tight outfit and high heels, Lara can run and jump again, but she has only her pistols until she picks up another weapon. You may want to take cover behind the bar at first. Pick off the nearest enemies and then move out and grab a bigger gun.

Alternately, as soon as the cut scene ends, run up the stairs to the landing at the top. If you position Lara at the little curve in the railing where the balcony juts out, you should be able to kill all but one of the Yakuza while taking only minimal damage. Then come back downstairs and deal with the last thug, who'll be lurking on the other side of the central structure near the bar. If you shoot down one of the TV screens by pressing Interact with guns drawn, you can see him but unfortunately not hit him from above.

After the fight, Nishimura emerges from his office. He guesses that Takamoto must have returned to his penthouse. According to Zip, security is tight in Takamoto's building. Lara's solution is to go via the roof. Nishimura graciously provides her with a key to the elevator.

Pick up an RC650 ASSAULT RIFLE (if you didn't snag it during the fight) plus any grenades, ammo and health packs the Yakuza goons drop. Then proceed to the elevator not the one upstairs where you entered, but a service elevator at the end of the hall where the bad guys came from.

After activating the elevator, there's a brief cut scene as Lara rides up to the roof. When you step forward, Lara notices the shiny, red Ducati motorcycle behind the glass wall, and Zip jokes that it would be a crime to keep it locked up.

NISHIMURA'S ROOF:

Go through the glass doors on the left past CHECKPOINT 3. If you explore the rooftop a bit, Lara and her helpers will converse over the headset, commenting on which building is Takamoto's, the state of the broken pedestrian bridge, etc., but this isn't necessary to advance the action.

Face the door where you just came out, stand back a bit and use the pistols to shoot the fuel barrel in the storage cage beside the door. After the explosion, a vertical pipe is now accessible. Climb to the top and jump to the ledge on the right. From there, climb onto the roof.

Go to the top of the skylight and climb onto the higher section of flat roof. Switch to pistols and use manual aim (Z/R3/right stick button) to shoot the small wooden box to get the bronze reward (1/6) inside.

Hop down, move to the far end of the skylight and use the magnetic grapple to pull open the sliding window. Drop down through the opening and go down the stairs to the room with the motorcycle and CHECKPOINT 4.

Locate another wooden crate under the stairs. Shoot it and claim another bronze reward (2/6). Then go across the room to the group of cardboard cartons arranged against the wall. Move one of them aside to find another similar wooden crate. This one contains a silver reward (1/4).

Now get on the bike (by pressing Interact) and ride out onto the roof, triggering CHECKPOINT 5. You don't have much room to maneuver the motorcycle, but this isn't necessary. If you're playing on the PC, leave the mouse alone and just use the directional keys to drive out onto the open rooftop. If you move slowly at first, the camera should align itself behind Lara. Line the motorcycle up facing the ramp at the base of the broken pedestrian bridge (the bluish metal structure with the two arches) and then accelerate as if to jump across to the next building.

When you reach the ramp, an interactive cut scene begins. A series of icons appear on the screen. As soon as an icon appears, quickly press the control indicated to keep Lara from crashing to her death. These are:

PC: Left, Up, Down
PS2: Square, X, Circle
Xbox: X, A, B
PSP: Triangle, X, Circle
GameCube: X, A, B

CONSTRUCTION ZONE:

CHECKPOINT 6 registers when you reach the other building. Before engaging in any acrobatics, climb down to the lower level of scaffolding and go to the far end, jumping across the gap partway along. Shoot the crate to obtain another bronze reward (3/6). Return to the other end of the scaffolding and climb back onto the ledge just below the CHECKPOINT.

Jump to grab the black-and-yellow bar. Swing around it and jump to grab the edge of the scaffolding. Pull up, move forward and jump across the gap to the next scaffold. When you reach the window hanging on a cable, use manual targeting (Z/R3/right stick button) to aim at the shiny ring connecting the window to the cable and shoot it to make the window fall, clearing your path.

Jump to grab the dangling cable and swing to the next scaffold. Go to the end of the platform to CHECKPOINT 7. Either jump over the barrel or kick it out of the way. Then jump up to grab the angled cable to slide down to the building across the street to CHECKPOINT 8.

NOTE: If you get to this point and have missed bronze reward #3, you can still get it. Face the scaffolding on the building across the street, where you were before, and use manual aim to shoot the wooden crate. Then grab the reward using the magnetic grapple.

Face the pedestrian bridge with the curved metal arches. Just ahead you'll see a hanging platform. Use the magnetic grapple to pull it toward Lara. Detach the grapple and wait for the platform to swing away. When it swings back toward Lara, jump onto it. Jump off the other end of the platform and quickly press the Jump key again to grapple the floodlight above and swing out past the corner of the building. While hanging from the cable, turn right, swing and jump to land on the small ledge with CHECKPOINT 9.

Use the grapple to catch the first of 2 hanging platforms ahead. Pull it toward Lara and then release the cable. As the platform moves away, step toward the edge. Then when the platform swings back toward Lara, jump onto it. Move to the far edge of the first plat from. Then when it swings close to the second one, jump onto it. (You can also grapple the second platform while standing on the first to bring it closer.) Jump off the far edge of the second scaffold, and quickly press Jump again to grapple another light fixture attached to the building. Turn right to face the gap in the railing of the rooftop garden. Swing and jump to the terrace and CHECKPOINT 10.

TAKAMOTO'S ROOFTOP GARDEN:

A group of security men arrive. Lara is up against 3 thugs and a pair of pit bull terriers. The dogs will quickly knock Lara down, preventing her from fighting back. To avoid that, jump up onto the raised garden bed. Deal with the men first. Along with the usual bullets and grenades, you can shoot the lanterns to cause extra damage. Just be sure Lara isn't standing too close when that happens. Then kill the dogs with pistols while still standing on the planter. Pick up any dropped health packs, grenades and rifle ammunition.

TAKAMOTO'S OFFICES - STAIRWELL:

Enter the building where the men came out. First go downstairs to get a bronze reward (4/6) in another breakable wooden box. Then climb the stairs to the very top. Find the break in the railing and step out onto the pipes. Walk to the bend in the pipes and jump to grab the light-colored horizontal shelf against the left wall. Traverse as far as you can to the right and then jump back onto the pipes behind Lara. Shoot the small crate and take the silver reward (2/4) inside. To get down, walk along the pipes until you are again opposite the light-colored horizontal shelf. Jump to grab it. Drop and grab the shelf below. Drop from there to the floor. Turn right and continue to the doors at the end of the hallway.

OFFICE WITH CUBICLES & BIG-SCREEN DISPLAY:

Enter, crossing CHECKPOINT 11. It doesn't take long for the 6 armed bodyguards to notice Lara. Keep your distance from the guys with shotguns if possible. You may want to deal with the men in the raised conference area to the right first and then run up there to shoot the others from above. Pick up any dropped health packs, grenades and rifle rounds. You can also swap the assault rifle for a SHOTGUN if you like.

Zip says there's no way out, but Lara disagrees. Before finding or, more accurately, making an exit, locate a silver reward (3/4) in the left of the two metal cabinets in the raised conference area and a bronze reward (5/6) in a wooden crate in the tiny office in the far left corner of the room, when facing the big display screen.

Equip the pistols and use manual aim to target and shoot the shiny brackets at the top left and right corners of the huge news display screen. Then grapple the shiny 'T' logo in the middle of the screen and pull it down.

When the screen falls, 2 more thugs appear in the opening. Climb up and deal with them or, if you prefer a cautious approach, hide under the screen and shoot through the crack between the screen and the floor. Lara may take a few hits this way but not many. Then climb up over the screen, pick up dropped health, grenades and ammo, and exit through the doors ahead.

ROOFTOP WITH NEON SIGNS:

Crossing the threshold triggers CHECKPOINT 12. In a brief cut scene, Lara comments on the lovely evening while scanning up the wall of signs. There's a vertical pipe to the right of the doors (when facing them). Climb to the top and jump to grab the metal shelf with the air conditioning unit. Traverse around to the front of the shelf and climb on top of it.

Turn toward the signs and use the magnetic grapple to pull the sign above the door down toward Lara so it forms a flat ledge. Jump to grab the edge of that ledge and pull up. Cross to the other side, jump to grab the next ledge and pull up. Climb the ladder to the platform above. (CHECKPOINT 13)

Go around to the edge of the platform nearest the signs. Use the grapple to pull the next sign down. Jump to grab the horizontal bar, swing and jump to the ledge behind the sign. Climb the vertical bar, jump back to catch the edge of the ledge behind and pull up. Move to the edge of the ledge and jump to grab the long, skinny vertical pole close to the side of the building. Here Alister begs Lara not to look down. (Bet you did anyway.)

Climb almost to the top of the pole. Then jump to grab the horizontal bar attached to the back of the next sign. Lara's weight rotates the sign 90 degrees. Still hanging from the same bar, turn around, move to the right side of the bar (toward the building), swing around and jump back to the vertical pole. Climb up a bit and jump onto the ledge, which is now horizontal since you turned the sign. Cross the ledge and jump onto the next small ledge ahead, which is CHECKPOINT 14. (Is anybody else wondering what the people down in the street are thinking about all this?)

BREAK-AWAY POLE & HORIZONTAL BARS:

The final stage of the climb consists of a vertical pole followed by 4 horizontal bars. These are unstable, so timing will be important; however, the pole won't actually start to break until Lara gets to the top. So just jump to grab it and climb straight up without shifting Lara's angle on the pole. You can tap Interact to climb faster if you like, but this isn't necessary. The camera will start to shift to the right. Let it. Then when Lara does reach the top, the horizontal bars will be directly behind her, and the camera will be pointing toward them. When Zip shouts a warning over the headset, immediately press Jump, without any direction keys or movement on the control stick, and Lara should jump back and grab the first horizontal bar.

The camera should then align itself behind her. (If it doesn't, shift it with the mouse/right stick or just tap the HUD key.) Once Lara has grabbed each bar, she'll have time to swing around twice at most before the bar breaks. So jump to the next bar as soon as you can. Quickly swing, jump and grab across all 4 horizontal bars before they snap. It may help to hold the Forward key (or press the left stick forward) throughout. Then Lara will begin to swing around each bar as soon as she grabs it. On the downswing, press Jump to leap and grab the next bar. If she flubs a grab, quickly press Interact to save. Then complete the next swing and immediately jump. When Lara reaches the fourth bar, swing and jump once more to the balcony ahead.

WAITING ROOM WITH CHANDELIER:

Enter the building and cross CHECKPOINT 15. Takamoto has 6 more bodyguards stationed here. You can kill 2 or 3 thugs right away if you move forward with weapons drawn and hold Interact to target the chandelier, which then falls, crushing the enemies standing below.

Don't go down the stairs yet. Instead, run back toward the entrance and turn into the small lounge, where 2 more goons will be waiting. If you don't see them immediately, go through the lounge and turn left. They'll be on the balcony ahead. This balcony is also a good vantage point for taking out any stragglers that weren't killed by the chandelier, as well as the sixth bad guy, who enters on the lower level when everyone else is dead.

The men drop health packs, grenades, SHOTGUNS or RIFLES and ammunition. There's also a bronze reward (6/6) in a wooden box on the balcony.

The final silver reward (4/4) is in the small computer room off the chandelier area. It's the middle cabinet on the left.

HALLWAY WITH GUN TURRET:

Go through the open doors on the lower level to CHECKPOINT 16. Zip warns Lara about the danger ahead. If you like, you can enter the security office on the left and check the cameras for a peek at what lies ahead. Press the fire alarm to activate the sprinklers and reveal the laser tripwires in the hallway. This isn't necessary to proceed, but it adds a touch of realism.

Return to the hall, pull the ornate carved ball off its stand and have Lara roll it ahead of herself as a shield from the gun turret. After clearing the danger zone, continue along the hallway and through the door.

TAKAMOTO'S PRIVATE OFFICE:

The chime indicating CHECKPOINT 17 sounds just before Lara confronts Takamoto.

In a cut scene ("Takamoto Found"), Lara confronts the crime lord, who still denies having the artifact.

When the cut scene finishes, 3 thugs with shotguns try and put an end to Lara. Kill them quickly to avoid losing too much health. Pick up any health and grenades they drop. You'll also find a SHOTGUN and ammo.

To get out of this room, climb onto the end of the table near the dragon statue's tail. Use the magnetic grapple to pull the dragon toward Lara. Release the cable and let the dragon crash through the window. This draws the attention of 2 more Yakuza goons. Stand below and to one side of the opening to shoot one of them while staying out of the other one's sights. Then move to the other side to deal with the second man. Climb into the opening. This is CHECKPOINT 18. Take any useful items and follow the hall to Takamoto's office. There you'll find a table loaded with rifle ammo (and an ASSAULT RIFLE if you want to swap weapons again).

GOLD REWARD:

The red lacquered chest contains the gold reward (1/1). Move the chest around the corner and down the hall. Shove it off the ledge near the dragon statue. When it falls, it smashes to pieces, revealing the golden Buddha.

It's up to you whether to take a SHOTGUN or RIFLE for the upcoming fight with Takamoto. The shotgun could be the right choice if you prefer in-your-face close combat, but it's slow to reload, leaving Lara vulnerable at times. If you'd rather engage from a distance, take the rifle. Be sure to bring as much ammo as you can carry. You'll probably run out anyway, but every bit helps.

Go to the elevator near the opening overlooking the dragon statue. Use the button to activate it. Then step inside.

Another cut scene ("Artifact Revealed") shows Lara riding up to Takamoto's inner sanctum. Sure enough, he does have a piece of the sword and, after a little persuasion, he makes it clear just why he values it.

FIGHTING TAKAMOTO:

After the movie, Lara is standing at CHECKPOINT 19. Immediately run behind one of the large statues to avoid being shot by the gun turrets mounted beneath the elevated walkway that encircles the room. Climb the pole behind the statue and jump onto the walkway. The automated guns can't hit Lara here, but Takamoto has already leaped to the upper level and is waiting for her. Now you can choose whether to get up in his face or hang back and patiently wear him down or use a combination of these techniques.

If you've got good reflexes, go for the direct approach. Run around the edge of the room toward Takamoto, shooting at him as soon as he's within range (red reticule). Try to keep moving as much as possible without leaping off the edge, and keep Lara's gun(s) drawn. She can jump much higher, as well as perform evasive rolls, when she's holding a weapon. (You may need to holster them momentarily to fix the camera angle if it becomes skewed.)

NOTE: If necessary, review the Combat Controls and information on Combat Modes & Targeting.

Takamoto fires fan-shaped energy blasts, which usually come in groups of three: two low and one high. Jump to clear the low bursts and roll under the high ones. Or hide behind the statues for protection. Try to position Lara close to the edge of the walkway with the statue directly between her and Takamoto; otherwise the edges of the blast may hit her.

When Lara gets close, he'll begin firing vertical beams and slashing with his weapon, both of which cause quite a bit of damage. Keep away from the blade itself, dodge sideways to avoid the vertical beams, and continue firing, since Lara does the most damage at close range.

Soon he'll run off to the other side of the ledge. Keep repeating these same tactics. You'll see his health bar the orange one at the top right diminish each time you hurt him. It doesn't take too long to kill him at close range, provided you can manage to keep Lara alive.

If you run out of ammo for your more powerful weapon, go ahead and shoot with pistols even if the targeting reticule is gray. You'll still hit some of the time. Then try and get closer so you can do more damage. Or, switch to one of the alternate strategies at that time.

Another strategy that's a little safer is the strafing attack. After climbing up to the elevated walkway, hide behind the statue opposite Takamoto. Draw the rifle (or pistols) and run sideways along the walkway opposite where Takamoto is standing, shooting at him whenever you have a clear shot. He will try and blast Lara, but she should reach the next statue in time to take cover. Stay behind that statue until he's done attacking. Then run back to the previous statue, again shooting as you run.

Similarly, just stay behind the statue opposite Takamoto and step out on either side, shoot, then duck behind the statue when he retaliates. If he moves to a new position, run to the statue opposite where he ends up and start again.

When using any of the previous strategies, each time Takamoto takes some significant damage, he'll run along the ledge to a new position. If he moves behind the statue next to the one where Lara is hiding, you may want to try this grenade ricochet tactic: Step out just far enough to see Takamoto but not so far that he retaliates. Switch to manual aim and bounce a grenade off the wall so it lands behind him. He makes no effort to dodge, and it does a ton of damage. If he's still alive and hasn't run off, try another grenade. Otherwise, run to the next statue on the opposite side of the walkway from him and take cover. Then continue fighting as before.

If, you're not too keen on close combat or don't have very nimble fingers, you can use manual aim from cover, or the "boss battle of attrition" strategy: Climb to the upper level and position Lara behind the statue opposite Takamoto, as described in the first strategy. Gradually move sideways until you're just able to see him. Switch to manual targeting. Then just keep shooting, gradually chipping away at his health bar until he is finally defeated. If Takamoto moves, exit manual targeting mode and adjust Lara's position to compensate. Then return to manual aim and keep shooting. If he attacks, quickly quit manual targeting and hide behind the statue.

In the PSP version most of the techniques described above are difficult to impossible to pull off. Russ recommended the following strategy, which I hope will help if you're struggling in the PSP game: Position Lara slightly to the side of a statue, not so much that Takamoto can see her, but enough to just about see him completely. Position the camera behind her so she's facing directly at Takamoto. Now select grenades as your secondary weapon and select manual aim. Move the reticule up until it moves into the circular area at the very top of the dome. (You don't need to be too accurate with a grenade!) Now throw the grenade, and boom! If the trajectory is right Takamoto takes the full blast. A couple of those bad boys and Takamoto is history.

Destroying Takamoto triggers another cut scene ("Recovery and Exit"). As Lara takes the sword fragment, Nishimura arrives by helicopter to help her escape. Once Lara's in the air, Zip contacts her over the headset to say that Rutland's gone to Ghana.