Tomb Raider 8: Underworld

LEVEL 1: MEDITERRANEAN SEA - PART 1: THE PATH TO AVALON

Available weapons: Pistols and sticky grenades

Another cinematic follows the introductory credits. It opens with Lara's boat floating on the Mediterranean. The caption reads, "One Week Earlier." Lara hears a beeping climbs down into the boat's cabin to activate her laptop computer and speak with her colleagues, Zip and Alister, over a satellite uplink. She says she hasn't made much progress yet but thinks she's close to finding the entrance to Avalon, which her father believed was nearby. Alister warns her not to lose perspective. After all, the odds of finding her mother still alive after all these years are remote at best. Lara agrees but insists she must still search for the truth.

SUBMERGED RUINS:

You begin the level underwater. Lara is equipped with scuba gear, so she won't run out of air. Use the left analog stick upward to control Lara's movements while swimming, along with (Circle) to dive and (X) to swim.

From the starting position, look down and to the right to spot a shiny treasure (1/8) lying on the stone bridge that leads toward the ruins. Swim down and press Interact to pick it up.

The entrance to the ruins is located within the tall stone tower straight ahead. If you like, you can pick up another treasure (2/8) beside the tower on the right. Then return to the tower entrance and swim inside.

You don't actually have to enter the tower first, but doing so will give you an idea of what to do next. Once inside, try to avoid the luminescent jellyfish, as their stings are poisonous. Follow either of the curving staircases down to the lower level and then swim through the small, square doorway.

Ahead is an ornate, metal door mechanism consisting of three interlocking circles. One of the circles has a wheel-shaped handle at its center. The other two are missing their handles. You'll need to find them to open the door.

FIRST MISSING DOOR HANDLE:

Swim back out of the tower and turn left. Swim toward the edge of the ruins and look for a tumbledown structure made of long, rectangular stone slabs. There's an opening on the side farthest from the stone tower beneath those slabs. Swim down into the small, dark room, avoiding the jellyfish.

On the bottom, you'll find the FIRST MISSING HANDLE. Swim close to it and press Interact to pick it up. Carry it back to the tower and plug it into one of the sockets on the PUZZLE DOOR. (Do that by swimming close to the door and pressing Interact.)

SECOND MISSING DOOR HANDLE:

Swim back out of the tower and turn right. Swim around behind the heap of rocks on the sea floor to find an opening beneath the rocks. Swim through and follow the passage down to another small room. The SECOND MISSING HANDLE is lying on the floor here. Press Interact to pick it up. Take it back to the PUZZLE DOOR inside the tower and plug it into the remaining socket.

OPENING THE PUZZLE DOOR:

With all three handles in place, you're now ready to open the door. Examine the carvings on the eye-shaped segments that make up each circle. The goal is to rotate the three circles so that all three light-colored segments are part of the top center circle.

If you haven't turned any of the handles yet, this is not difficult. First, swim close to the handle at the center of the top circle and press Interact to turn it once. Then turn the left handle once. Then turn the right handle twice. When you've solved the puzzle, the door opens. Swim through.

PASSAGE TO NIFLHEIM:

Try to avoid the jellyfish as you make your way along the corridor. It twists and turns but does not branch off, so you can't get lost. Just keep going forward until you reach the round hole with the huge tentacle sticking out of it. This appendage may swat at Lara but it won't injure her.

Now any normal person would probably say "no thanks" at this point, but you're Lara Croft, so swim through the hole where the tentacle went and make your way onward. Swim through the small, rectangular opening straight ahead then upward to the surface.

ROUGH STONE ROOM WITH POOL AND LEDGES:

Swim to the square block near the middle of the pool and climb out of the water.