Tomb Raider 8: Underworld

LEVEL 1: MEDITERRANEAN SEA - PART 2: NIFLHEIM

ROUGH STONE ROOM WITH POOL AND LEDGES:

After climbing out of the pool on the square block, walk up the ramp formed by the broken column. Climb onto the rectangular stone block ahead and a bit to the right. From there, jump to grab the narrow, light-colored stone ledge on the wall ahead. Jump up to stand on it. Step to the left and jump up to grab the horizontal crevice in the wall. Use the left analog stick to climb the cracks upward and to the right. Continue climbing around to the right side of the brownish panel with the curved lines carved into it. When you can't climb any farther, jump to the right onto the wide gray ledge.

Turn right and jump to grab the horizontal pole sticking out of the wall. Move the camera behind Lara. Then press forward on the control stick to swing around the pole. Just as Lara passes the lowest point in the swing, press Jump to leap from the pole and grab the ledge ahead. Pull up.

There's a shiny treasure in the alcove just ahead. You can't reach it from here though, but you'll come at it from another direction shortly.

For now, turn left into the short hallway. Jump across the two holes in the floor and grab onto the horizontal handhold on the wall of the second opening. Drop onto the slope below and slide to the floor. Turn around and jump over the small hole in the floor. Go through the doorway to emerge on another ledge overlooking the pool.

NOTE: If you fall through the small hole, Lara won't die, but she will end up in the flooded passage where you first entered this area. Then you'll have to swim back through the rectangular opening into the main pool, climb out of the water and repeat the climb back to this point.

Ahead and to the left is a horizontal, metal beam you can use to cross the hole in the floor. But first, go after the treasure you saw earlier. There are two ways to get there:

The first path to the treasure employs a new move, the chimney jump. There's a brownish, square column with carved lines next to the low pile of rocks at the end of the metal beam. Step into the alcove beside this column. Position Lara facing left, with her back toward the brown column. Jump toward the wall on the left (i.e., in front of Lara). As soon as Lara makes contact with the wall, press Jump again to spring back toward the brown column behind her. When she touches it, press jump again to make her leap back once more and grab the ledge on the left. After the first jump you can release the control stick, but the move should work even if you continue to hold it.

Once Lara is hanging from this ledge, climb around the corner to the right. Then jump up to grab the ledge above. Climb around the next corner to the right so Lara is hanging from a crack in the brownish column. Then jump up once more to grab the crack above. Press back (or left) on the control stick (depending on where the camera is positioned) to lean away from the column. Then jump to grab the ledge behind. Pull up next to the treasure (3/8).

NOTE: You can also reach the treasure by climbing the wall opposite the end of the metal balance beam. Climb the cracks in the wall upward and to the right to reach the alcove above. Once inside this alcove, turn right, vault up onto the low ledge and turn right again. Grab the horizontal crevice in the wall, climb to the right, and jump straight up to grab the ledge above. Pull up and drop down on the other side to land next to the treasure.

To get down, hang from the edge of the ledge so Lara's back is toward the square, brownish column with the carved lines. Then drop down twice to reach the floor.

Vault onto the low pile of rocks and walk across the narrow beam to the opposite ledge. If Lara loses her balance as you're doing this, just ease off the stick and she'll right herself. If she falls, she should grab the beam automatically. Just pull up and continue. If you accidentally drop into the pool, swim back to the wide area where you can surface and repeat the climb to this point.

Move toward the dais with the switch.

Cinematic: Lara examines the carvings and finds them to be early Germanic in design, yet somehow much older. She deciphers the runes: "World of Mist," which she takes to mean Niflheim, the Norse realm of the dead.

GATE WITH PRESSURE PADS AND SERPENT HEADS:

Opening the way to the next area requires a little ingenuity. The switch on the low platform in the middle of the room does not function yet. To make it work, you'll have to depress the 2 pressure pads on the floor on each side of the gate.

First, approach the pressure pad on the left and grapple the metal ring on the stone serpent's head next to it and pull it onto the pad to hold it down. (Press Square then Triangle.) This causes one side of the gate's locking mechanism to retract. Then stand a few steps back from the pressure pad on the right, grapple the ring on the second serpent's head above and pull it down onto the pad. This opens the other side of the lock.

Now step up onto the low platform and pull the switch to open the gate.

Go through and follow the hall upstairs. The passage takes several turns but does not split. Just continue along until you come to a pit. Slide down the ramp into the pit. Go to the opposite wall and jump to grab the lowest handhold. Jump up to the handhold above. Climb to the left and jump to grab the next one. Then jump back to grab the horizontal crevice on the ledge behind. Jump up twice to stand on top of this ledge. Turn around and jump to the base of the staircase.

NOTE: As you become familiar with the controls, jumping in different directions will be come instinctive. But if this is your first time out with Lara, it may help to press the control stick until you see her lean away from the wall before jumping to ensure she goes in the desired direction. Depending on which way the camera is pointing, you may need to press Back or Left on the stick here.

TORCH-LIT HALLWAY WITH LEVERS:

Climb several flights of stairs. Then continue forward into a small, torch-lit room with hallways leading out from each side. Pull the lever just ahead on the left to open the door next to it. Go through. (The other levers here don't work yet; you'll be back shortly.)

Cinematic: Well, you've found the owner of the tentacle you saw earlier. A gargantuan kraken hears Lara coming and lashes out, smashing the ledge just ahead of where she's standing. Once the beast calms down a bit, she pulls out her camera and surveys the area. Right above the sea monster's head, there's a conveniently placed spiked platform. That will definitely come in handy. Lara zooms in on one of the kraken's clouded eyes. "I hope it's as blind as it looks," she says.

KRAKEN ROOM & SURROUNDING HALLWAYS:

Don't bother shooting at the kraken. You can't harm it with conventional weapons, and if you get too close, it will swat Lara with its tentacles. This can be painful or it can be deadly, depending on how close Lara is to the beast when it happens. Most of the pool itself is safe for swimming, but if Lara touches the kraken's body or falls onto it from above, she'll die. The ledges surrounding the pool just above water level are fairly safe, but Lara will take a hit if she lingers in one spot for too long.

The goal at this point is to find a way to drop that spiked platform onto the kraken. To do this, you must operate two mechanisms—one on the left and one on the right side of the kraken's pool. It doesn't matter which side you explore first.

NOTE: I refer to these areas as the LEFT SIDE and RIGHT SIDE GEAR ROOMS, based on their positions when Lara is standing at the entrance to this area facing the kraken.

From the spot where you begin after the cut scene, return to the small torch-lit room, turn right (i.e., right when Lara is facing away from the kraken) and go past the lever you just pulled and into the hallway beyond. At the end of this short hallway there's a second lever. Pull it to open the big, stone door ahead. Go through and continue along this hallway.

Near the end of the hall, you'll pass through a small, torch-lit room with rectangular doorways. Go straight through into the GEAR ROOM.

LEFT SIDE GEAR ROOM:

Climb the blocks on the left and jump to grab the horizontal pole. Swing and jump to grab the corner ledge ahead. Pull up, turn right, and jump to grab the second pole. Swing over to the wide ledge above the gears.

The mechanism will not work with the humongous tentacle entwined in it. You'll have to do something about that. Turn right and grapple the giant gear just above the level of the floor where Lara is now standing. Pull on the cable to slide the gear away from the wall until it won't go any farther.

Now go to the lever sticking out of the floor near the tentacle. Press Interact to pull it.

It may not be entirely clear what happens next, but when the gears turn, not only does the kraken let go and retract its tentacle, but the iron walkway that leads out of this room, beneath the heap of fallen rocks in the doorway, and on into the KRAKEN ROOM retracts, freeing one side of the circular, spiked platform.

Before going on, pick up the treasure (4/8) lying near the lever.

FROM THE LEFT TO THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE KRAKEN AREA:

Safety drop to the floor (i.e., hang from the edge of the ledge and drop down to minimize the damage Lara suffers when she falls). Follow the hallway out of the room and back the way you came.

When you reach the TORCH-LIT HALLWAY WITH LEVERS, continue straight on past the first two levers, which you've already used. When you come to the third lever, pull it to open the big stone door ahead.

Go through and follow the hallway to the end, again passing through a small room lit with torches just before reaching the GEAR ROOM.

RIGHT SIDE GEAR ROOM:

Here you'll find another monstrous tentacle entangled in a gear mechanism. Grapple the metal ring on the support pillar and pull to topple the pillar, causing the kraken some serious pain.

Go around behind the gears, where the support pillar used to be, to find the next treasure (5/8).

Then climb the light-colored ledges in the corner near the entrance. Step onto the slope and slide just briefly before pressing Jump to leap forward and grab the horizontal pole. Swing around the pole, jump and grab the narrow, horizontal ledge on the wall ahead. Climb to the left and around the corner until you can pull up onto the ledge.

NOTE: On lengthy stretches like this, try pressing Triangle in time with Lara's movements to climb faster.

Pull the lever to activate the gear mechanism, retracting the second iron walkway leading out to the circular, spiked platform. (Again, because of the rubble blocking the doorway, you can't see this, but it does happen.)

Drop down to the lower level and follow the hallway back to the area with the three levers.

Pull the middle lever (the first one you used upon entering this area) again to re-open the door leading back to the KRAKEN POOL.

KRAKEN POOL:

Go down the steps toward the pool. When you reach the ledge that runs around three sides of the room just above water level, turn right and head toward the side wall.

This wall has many cracks and rough handholds. Grab the lowest handhold, jump up to grab the one above, and climb to the left, toward the edge of the wall nearest the tentacle. (Don't worry; it won't hurt Lara.) Jump up once again to grab the handhold above. Then climb diagonally upward and to the right to the next handhold. Climb to the right, then jump to the right to grab the next handhold on the same level. Climb along it to the right, then diagonally up and right, until you reach the handhold nearest the right edge of the wall.

Now start climbing to the left. When Lara won't go any farther, jump to the left to grab the next handhold on the same level. Jump up to grab the wide handhold above. This is as far as you can climb. So jump back to grab the horizontal beam behind Lara and pull up to stand on it.

NOTE: If you fall into the pool during your explorations, don't worry. As long as you keep away from the kraken's body, Lara is not in danger here. Swim to the small, square column that's broken off just above water level and climb on top of it. Turn right and jump to grab the jutting ledge ahead. Pull up and run forward before the kraken smacks Lara with its tentacle. (This won't kill her, but it is painful.) Vault up onto the ledge above the small flight of steps. Then head around to the left and try the climb again.

Once Lara is standing on the beam, turn right and walk along the beam toward the kraken. When you've almost reached the end of the beam, drop and hang from it, so Lara's back is toward the pool. Traverse to the left, around the square support column with the tentacle gripping it. When you can't climb any farther, jump to the left to grab the small, square ledge near the retracted iron walkway. Pull up. Hop onto the iron walkway just ahead. Then turn left, jump onto the metal beam and cross over it to the spiked platform.

BUG NOTE: I advise you to save your game manually before beginning this section. Do not rely on the autosave, or you may run into trouble with the following timed sequence. There are two potential bugs here that can prevent the levers from working correctly. (See below.)

KILLING THE KRAKEN:

Pull the lever on the circular platform to raise it. When the platform moves upward then stops, you have about 30 seconds to complete the next part of the sequence. After that, the platform lowers again. There's no need to panic or hurry, though, as long as you have saved your game ahead of time. If you make a mistake, you can always reload.

First, go to the other side of the platform so Lara is facing the alcove above and behind the kraken. Now grapple swing across the gap to the alcove.

If you're new to the game, here's how do that: Move to the edge of the platform and fire the grapple (Square) to hook the metal ring above. Step or jump off the ledge so Lara ends up hanging from the cable. Move the camera behind Lara (Click Left Stick) and make sure she's facing the alcove. Press left or right on the control stick to adjust her angle if necessary. You probably won't need to adjust the length of the cable this time, but if you find you have to, you can do that by holding Interact (Triangle) and pressing Forward/Back on the left stick. To swing back and forth, just press the stick forward and hold it there. Lara will build momentum as she continues to swing. When she's swinging high enough to reach the alcove, wait for her to swing that way, and then press Jump to release the cable and leap into the alcove.

Now face the big chain on the right wall and press (L1) to target the weak link, which is up near the ceiling. Then shoot (R1) to break the chain, dropping the spiked platform onto the ugly beastie below, killing it and revealing the exit from this area. If you can't immediately target the weak link, quickly pull the lever in the alcove to raise the spiked platform a bit more. This will bring the weak link in the chain down near floor level so you can shoot it more easily.

If you take more than 30 seconds to do this and the spiked platform moves back down, just pull the lever in the alcove to raise the platform again. Then shoot the weak link in the chain to drop the platform on the kraken.

If Lara falls and dies before pulling the first lever on the spiked platform, then you may encounter a bug in which that lever no longer functions. The only solution I know of is to reload a save from an earlier checkpoint and try again.

If you manage to pull the lever on the spiked platform and swing over to the alcove but then take longer than 30 seconds to pull the second lever and shoot the chain, you may find that the spiked platform lowers and the lever in the alcove no longer works. Again, you'll have to reload your previous save and try the sequence again.

EXIT FROM THE KRAKEN ROOM:

Once the kraken is good and dead, climb down to the ledge below using the handholds beneath the protruding sections at the front edge of the alcove. Go to either edge of this ledge and grapple one of the metal rings on the nearby support column. Step off the edge. Lara will hang from the cable with her feet braced against the column. Hold Interact (Triangle) and press back on the control stick to rappel down to the floor. Press Crouch (Circle) to disengage the cable.

Go through the door the kraken was guarding. Swim through the flooded passageway and surface in the room beyond. Go past the Norse warrior statue toward the gate.

Cinematic: Through the gate, Lara identifies the huge statue as depicting Thor, the Norse god of thunder. She spots a glowing object that looks like some kind of glove. According to the Eddas," she says, referring to a collection of Old Norse poems from which most of our knowledge of Norse mythology comes, "Thor needed special iron gauntlets to wield his mighty hammer, Mjolnir." She wonders if this could actually be one of those fabled gauntlets.