Tomb Raider 8: Underworld

LEVEL 1: MEDITERRANEAN SEA - PART 2: NIFLHEIM

ROUGH STONE ROOM WITH POOL AND LEDGES:

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 control 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.

Turn left into a short hallway and 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.

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 repeat the climb back to this point.

Beyond the small hole is a ledge overlooking the pool. Go to the left, 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.

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 B then Z.) 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. (Press Interact to engage the switch, then hold the nunchuk and remote up with your thumbs pointing toward each other and yank downward.) This opens the gate.

Go through and follow the hall upstairs and around to the right. 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.

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.

Jump up twice to stand on top of this ledge. Turn around and jump to the base of the staircase. Climb several flights of stairs. Then continue forward through two doorways toward the open area ahead.

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. The huge creature is blocking the exit. You'll need to do something about that. Fortunately, 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:

This area consists of the big, open room with the pool and a bunch of interconnected passageways on this level and below. There is no one correct order for doing things here. Here is one possible sequence, which I hope is direct and not too difficult.

In any case, 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.

From the spot where you begin after the cut scene, turn right and advance to the big hole in the floor. Jump to grab the uppermost horizontal crevice on the square support column against the right wall. Drop down several times to the floor. Ahead is a dead end, so turn around and follow the hallway beneath the spot where Lara was just standing. You'll pass several openings on the right that overlook the pool. Just continue straight ahead toward the end wall. Turn right there, then left. Make the second right after that and continue along the hallway to a room with kraken carvings on the walls and a mechanism consisting of several huge gears.

NOTE: I call this the LEFT SIDE GEAR ROOM to distinguish it from the RIGHT SIDE GEAR ROOM, which you'll visit shortly, because this is the left side of the area when facing the kraken from the entrance.

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.

Turn around and approach the gearbox puzzle on the wall opposite the actual gears. Press Interact to examine the puzzle. This one's pretty simple: Just point the remote at one of the smaller gears, hold A to grab it, point the remote at the spindle on which you want to place the gear, and then release A to drop the gear into place. Put the two smaller gears on the upper spindles and the medium-sized gear on the lower spindle to connect the two large gears, which can't be rearranged. When you do this, the gears begin to turn.

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.

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. But don't return all the way to the beginning. Instead, after the first turn to the left, turn left again and go forward to a pit with lit torches on the walls.

Jump to grab the uppermost handhold on the right wall. Then drop down three times to reach the floor. Go through the doorway into the flooded room beyond. Swim through to the KRAKEN POOL.

As long as you keep away from the kraken's body, Lara is not in danger here. Swim to the small, square column just ahead—the one 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.

Follow this ledge around to the other side of the room (i.e., to the left from here, but on the right side of the room when facing the kraken). 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. The camera goes a little wonky here. So be sure to press Back on the control stick until you actually see Lara lean away from the wall before jumping back to grab the horizontal beam behind her. Otherwise, she'll miss the beam and fall to her death on the ledge below. Once she's got hold of the beam, pull up to stand on it.

Walk along the beam toward the kraken. When you've almost reached the end of the beam, turn slightly to the left, tap the (C) to center the camera behind Lara, and jump forward to grab the horizontal pole jutting out of the same column that supports the beam. Swing around and jump forward to grab the small ledge ahead. Pull up.

Lara is now standing above and to the right of the kraken. The circular platform with the spikes is off to the left. Jump across the small gap to the metal walkway that connects the circular platform, on the left, and the gear room, on the right. At this time, you want to go to the right into the gear room.

RIGHT SIDE GEAR ROOM:

The lever here doesn't work yet. So go past it and drop down to the lower level of this 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.

Climb the light-colored ledges in the corner. 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 shaking the Nunchuk from side to side 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.

Follow the iron walkway back out of this room. When you reach the end of it, jump onto either of the statue's upraised hands, and from there to the circular platform with spikes on its underside.

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. But don't hurry; there is an alternate strategy if you don't make it in time.

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 (B) 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 (C) 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 (Z) and pressing Forward/Back on the control 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.

Pull the lever in the alcove to raise the spiked platform a bit more. Then face the big chain on the wall beside the lever and press (Z) to target the weak link in the chain. Fire to break the chain, dropping the spiked platform onto the ugly beastie below, killing it and revealing the exit from this area.

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.

EXIT FROM THE KRAKEN ROOM:

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 (Z) and press back on the control stick to rappel down to the ground. Press Interact/Crouch 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.