Tomb Raider 8: Underworld

LEVEL 3: CROFT MANOR: PROTECTED BY THE DEAD

Available weapons: Pistols, shotgun and sticky grenades

Cinematic Back at Croft Manor, Lara enlists Zip, Alister and her faithful manservant, Winston, to help carry gear down into the family crypt. Winston opens a secret panel, revealing a dark, cobwebby staircase. Lara carries the flashlight and leads the way down. Winston follows, and the two younger men bring up the rear, carrying a heavy box of equipment.

Lara locates her grandfather's tomb and begins examining it. She soon finds a concealed switch, flicks it, and the coffin slides to one side, revealing an opening.

TUNNELS:

The level begins in the rough tunnel beneath the crypt. Follow the tunnel forward. Climb down several ledges and up several more. Continue through a low-ceilinged section, followed by a couple of short drops. There are no forks or branches, though, so no way to get lost.

When you come to the wide gap before the well-lit opening with wooden supports, there's a brief cut scene showing the ahead. Take a running jump down to the ledge on the opposite side of the gap. Continue along the passageway to a second chasm, where there are wooden platforms jutting out from both sides of the tunnel. Before jumping across, look just outside the tunnel opening on the right to find the first treasure (1/6).

Now step out onto the wooden platform and hang from the right side (i.e., right when facing out across the gap). Climb to the right corner and drop to grab the plank wall below. Climb to the right and jump across the chasm to grab onto the planks nailed to the posts supporting the wooden platform on the other side. Climb around the corner to the right. Jump up to grab the next set of planks above. Climb around the next corner to the right. (Now the first platform, where you started, should be on Lara's right.) Climb up a little and then jump up to grab the top of the platform. Pull up but don't run forward; there's a gap in the floor just ahead. Turn right and move carefully into the tunnel.

CAVE WITH RUINS:

Follow the tunnel to a medium-sized cave with some partially excavated ruins. To reach the upper level, and ultimately the exit from this area, begin by backtracking a short distance along the tunnel. Where it forks, go through the circular opening on the right (the left fork is the way you came). Follow this narrower tunnel past a locked iron gate and on to an opening overlooking the ruins.

NOTE: As far as I know, the iron gate does not open in the PS2 game. It serves as the exit from this area in the Wii game, which includes a whole separate side area involving a waterwheel puzzle. I'm not sure why this wasn't included in the PS2 game, but the Wii walkthrough includes details in case you're curious.

Jump from the opening onto the top of the nearest square column. Turn left and walk across the narrow beam to the top of the next column. Step to the edge and jump forward to grab the edge of one of the rectangular openings on the wall ahead (i.e., the higher of the two stacked rectangular openings). Climb to the right and jump straight up to grab the edge of the doorsill above.

If you don't want the next treasure, pull up and continue forward (skipping this paragraph and the next). To get the treasure, traverse along the doorsill to the right as far as Lara will go. Then drop and grab the ledge below. This will be the lower of the two stacked rectangular openings on the right side of the wall. Climb up so Lara is hanging from the higher of these openings. Then climb to the right and jump back to grab the edge of the square column behind Lara. Pull up, step to the left corner and jump from there to grab the edge of the ledge with the treasure (2/6). Pull up.

Once you have the treasure, jump back to the square column. From there, jump to grab the stacked rectangular openings, climb to the left and jump up to grab the doorsill once more. Pull up into the small room with lit candles in niches on the wall.

Go through this room and out the other side. Follow the long earthen passage to the next area.

RUINED CHAPEL EXTERIOR:

Step out onto the scaffolding overlooking the ancient chapel. If you aren't interested in treasure hunting, you can use the bars of the scaffolding to drop down to the floor gradually then proceed from there. (Skip down to the section titled ENTERING THE CHAPEL, below.)

To get the next two treasures, first hop down to the lower scaffolding platform just ahead. Turn left and jump onto the narrow, metal beam ahead. Turn right, walk to the end of the beam and around the corner to the left. (If Lara won't walk past the corner, hang from the beam and traverse around the corner. Then pull up.) Turn to face the ledge with the treasure (3/6) and jump forward to grab the edge. Pull up and take the prize.

To get down, do not drop directly to the floor from here. It's too far and Lara will die. Do not try and jump from the ledge to the nearest metal beam; Lara will overshoot it and die. Instead, stand at the edge of the ledge and jump to the longer metal beam that's closer to the scaffolding platforms where you started. Drop down to the beam below and from there to the floor.

ENTERING THE CHAPEL:

Climb the low steps at the front of the room on either side and go through either of the arched doorways. It doesn't matter whether you go left or right to start. They both lead around to the same area. I flipped a coin and chose right. We'll explore the left side of the chapel shortly.

LOWER LEVEL CORRIDOR - RIGHT SIDE:

Follow the hallway to the end and around the corner.

Ahead is a LARGE ROOM WITH STAINED GLASS WINDOWS high on one wall. You can't do anything useful there yet, so instead of going inside, turn right through the next arched doorway, which leads into a stairwell. Climb the stairs to emerge on the upper level.

UPPER LEVEL CORRIDOR - RIGHT SIDE:

Go forward along the walkway to the horizontal pole sticking out of the left wall. Jump up to grab it, climb in toward the wall and then jump straight up to squat on top of the pole. Turn Lara to face the wall and then jump straight up to grab the handhold above. Climb to the left or right and then up into a low-ceilinged alcove, where you'll find another treasure (4/6). Take it, drop down to the floor and continue to the end of this walkway.

Grab the handle of the turnstile-shaped lever and step back twice. This rotates the handle clockwise two notches, positioning the metal-cut outs below so the angel in the stained glass window on the right side of the chapel is illuminated.

Now, notice the two squat, broken columns near the edge of the walkway overlooking the room below. Go to the second one (i.e., the one closer to the stained glass angel) and climb on top of it. Jump forward off the edge, grapple the metal ring on the ceiling above the middle of the room and swing across to the opposite walkway.

NOTE: If you prefer, instead of grapple swinging, you can return along the walkway and down the stairs. Turn right at the bottom and go through the LARGE ROOM WITH STAINED GLASS WINDOWS and out the other side. After a few steps along this hallway, turn right, go through the arched doorway into another stairwell and climb the stairs.

UPPER LEVEL CORRIDOR - LEFT SIDE:

The setup here is the mirror image of the other side of the chapel. If you swung across using the grapple, first go to the right to the horizontal pole sticking out of the wall. (This pole will be just ahead on the right if you've taken the alternate path and come up the stairs.) Grab the pole, press jump to pull up onto it, turn and walk along the pole toward the wall and then jump up to grab the handhold above. Climb to the left or right and then up into the alcove with the treasure (5/6). Grab it, drop back down and continue to the end of the walkway.

Again, grab the handle of the golden turnstile with Lara's back toward the open room. Then step back three times. This positions the metal-cut outs below so the angel in the stained glass window on the left side of the chapel is illuminated.

With both angels lit up, this activates the larger turnstile in the room below. Go down the stairs to the LARGE ROOM WITH STAINED GLASS WINDOWS. (Or drop down from above, losing a bit of health in the process.) Grab either handle of the larger turnstile and turn it 180 degrees to open the exit, which is high on the wall between the two illuminated windows.

Let go of the handle and go to the tall, square column opposite the exit. Climb the handholds on the right side of this column to reach the top. Turn left, take a running jump off the edge, grapple the metal ring on the ceiling and swing across to the exit.

Go through and follow the hallway to a lever. Pull this to raise the door just ahead. Continue along the hallway and up the stairs to the room where Lara's father hid the gauntlet.

Cinematic Lara approaches the desk at the center of the room and discovers a cassette recorder. She presses Play and hears her father's last message to her. He says that this room contains everything he recovered from the site at Bhogavati. Along with THOR'S RIGHT GAUNTLET, he's left the copy he made of the map showing the locations of the other artifacts needed to open the way to Avalon. He warns Lara to be especially careful with what he refers to as the "thralls" found guarding the gauntlet. She touches the artifact and, as before, the non-magical parts crumble away, leaving only a small device, which she attaches to her hand. In the background, we see the runes on a nearby column start to glow purple.

NOTE If you have Training Text enabled in the options menu, a message appears on screen explaining how to fight the enemies that are about to appear. Thralls can't be killed with bullets alone. After subduing them, you must press Interact (Triangle) to stomp on the thralls' corpses to destroy them permanently. Although the training text doesn't say this, it helps to keep the thrall targeted by holding (L1) as you do this. You can also use grenades to finish them off.

RICHARD CROFT'S SECRET STUDY:

As soon as you regain control of Lara, the first of 2 tiger thralls bounds out from behind the column ahead on the left. Sometimes the second thrall doesn't appear until the first one is completely destroyed, but it may show up while you're still fighting the first. So stay alert.

These undead cats are pretty fast and, just like their living counterparts, they'll pounce on Lara and knock her down. Try to keep your distance, but watch out for the running along one side of the room. It's a long drop and Lara will die if she falls off the edge.

If you like, you can switch to the shotgun by pressing the Change Weapon button (D-Pad Down). The shotgun is more powerful than pistols at close range, but it does make Lara a bit less maneuverable, and it takes quite a while to reload, making Lara vulnerable for a few moments while she fumbles with the shells. These are the only enemies you'll be facing in this level, though, so there's no need to conserve ammo or grenades.

When the first thrall falls down, stomp on it by pressing (Triangle), as described above, or finish it off with a grenade. You don't have to shoot the thralls before throwing grenades at them, but if you nail one with a sticky grenade while it's still running around, it may carry the grenade right back to Lara.

When you've destroyed both thralls, pick up the final treasure (6/6) in the level. It's stashed inside an open crate at floor level on the right side of the room when facing the entrance.

CLIMBING TO THE EXIT:

Now you're headed for the well-lit tunnel high on the wall. To reach it, go to the movable pillar with the glowing purple runes, grab onto it and drag it across the floor. When Lara is pulling it, the camera shifts to an overhead vantage point. Move the pillar clockwise around the slightly raised circular area in the middle of the room, beginning at roughly 3 o'clock and dragging the pillar first toward bottom center of the screen (6 o'clock), then around and up the left side of the screen to about 9 or 10 o'clock position.

When you're done, the movable column should be positioned near the broken column with the flat top and the horizontal crack near the top. Climb onto the narrow ledge running around the broken pillar. Jump to grab the edge of the movable pillar and pull up to stand on top of it.

Now jump to grab the horizontal crack on the broken pillar. Jump up twice to stand on top of the pillar. Jump onto the short, carved stone beam jutting out from the next column. Hang from the beam and traverse along past the middle of the column and onto the beam sticking out from the other side of the column. Pull up to stand on it. Then walk to the end of the beam and jump to grab the handhold on the next column, which extends down from the ceiling and is broken off below. Climb around to the right until Lara's back is facing the exit. Jump back to land on the ledge there.

A brief cut scene shows the power of the gauntlet fading away, as it did the last time.

Go through the short tunnel to re-enter CROFT MANOR only to be met with an earth-shaking explosion.

HOUSE ON FIRE:

This section is identical to the Croft Manor sequence in the PROLOGUE. Refer to that walkthrough if necessary. This time, after grapple swinging across the burning staircase and dropping down into the main hall, the action unfolds more fully.

Cinematic Lara discovers Zip and Winston trying to leave via the front doors. As we saw earlier, Zip shoots at Lara and Winston tries to stop him. This time, Lara draws her own guns and orders Zip to drop his.

"What, so you can shoot me again?" Zip asks.

"It wasn't Lara," Winston insists. "Why would she set fire to her own home?"

Zip then explains how Lara—or someone who looked very much like her—barged in and opened the vault using the retinal scanner. Whoever she was then took the Wraith Stone that Lara obtained from Amanda (during the events of Tomb Raider: Legend).

Lara asks what happened to Alister, but neither of the other men knows. She tells them to wait outside while she takes a look at the security video. Winston then helps Zip out, leaving Lara to her mission.

The tech room is directly opposite the burning staircase, where you swung across earlier, but the doors won't open. You'll need to climb over the glass wall. When the cut scene finishes, turn right and approach the fireplace. Grab onto the lowest light-colored stone handhold on the right side of the mantel. Then jump straight up three times to reach the uppermost handhold. Climb around to the right and jump into the hallway.

Turn around and follow the balcony forward. Turn right and jump to grab the top of the glass wall. (You can reach it from here, so there's no need to use the pole.) Climb over the wall and drop down on the other side.

Cinematic As Lara prepares to view the security recordings, she notices someone standing beyond the glass wall. She moves closer to the glass to get a better look, and the other figure moves in closer as well. With a shock, Lara realizes this is not just an ordinary intruder but a copy of herself. She draws a pistol, and the copy does the same. In fact, it mimics her every movement.

Alister staggers into the room, but before Lara can do anything to help him, the doppelganger shoots and Alister crumples to the floor. Lara quickly goes for the door switch, but the double is faster. She's on Lara in a flash, dodging her shots and disarming her before she knows what's happened. Then the doppelganger dashes out of the room. With super-human strength and agility, she leaps up the burning staircase and out through a hole in the roof.

Lara rushes to Alister's side, but she's too late to help her friend. With his last breath, Alister says he'll see her in Avalon.

The scene shifts to Zip and Winston waiting outside in the drive. They watch in amazement as the doppelganger drops out of the burning building and darts off into the night. Moments later the real Lara staggers out carrying Alister's body.

When Zip demands answers about the double, Lara explains that she's only seen something like it once before. Many years ago she encountered another double, one of Natla's creations and apparently an early prototype, since this new "Lara" is much more sophisticated. [Players of the original Tomb Raider or TR: Anniversary will remember the Atlantean flesh creature that mimicked Lara's movements.] Zip doesn't understand how Natla could have sent it, seeing as she is now Amanda's prisoner, but Lara takes a guess: the two must be working together. "Amanda and Natla, her pet Atlantean god," Lara says sarcastically.

Lara then announces her intention to follow the trail her father left, starting with a trip to southern Mexico to retrieve Thor's belt.

"What?!" Zip demands. "Alister's dead and it's just. . . business as usual?" But Lara knows she's going to need more than just guns and brains to deal with Natla.

"I need Thor's belt to get his hammer," she explains, "and I need the hammer to kill a god."

She then turns away, staring into the night as her home burns to the ground. We hear sirens in the distance as the scene fades to black.