Tomb Raider 8: Underworld

LEVEL 1: MEDITERRANEAN S/EA - PART 3: THE NORSE CONNECTION

Health Items: 2
Treasures: 7
Relics: 1
Keys/Puzzle Items: 0

GAUNTLET ROOM GATE:

In order to open the gate, you must solve another puzzle involving pressure pads and weights. Face the gate and go to the right corner of the room. Grab the narrow column and climb to the top. Point the camera toward the hole in the wall and jump to land there. Drop down into the room beyond.

Here you'll find a health potion, 2 small, carved blocks and another pressure pad. Pick up one of the small blocks and stand on the pressure pad, which opens the door leading back to the gate room. Step to the edge of the pad nearest the door, face it squarely and then press the Grenade key to toss the block through the door. Repeat with the second block. Then stand at the edge of the pad and roll forward through the doorway before the door closes.

NOTE: As in the serpent-head puzzle in The Path to Avalon, the small blocks can be a little temperamental—at least in the PC game using certain video cards. If you're having trouble throwing the blocks far enough, try tapping the Grenade key lightly rather than mashing it down. Or position Lara at the edge of the pad angled slightly toward one side of the doorway. Then chuck each block so it bounces off the doorframe and out into the room.

Place the 2 small blocks on one of the pressure pads on either side of the gate. You'll need both blocks on one pad to weigh it down. Doing this retracts one part of the gate's locking mechanism. Stand Lara on the other pressure pad to retract the second part of the mechanism. Now grapple the metal ring on the gate, step onto the other pressure pad and press Interact to yank the gate out of the doorway. Now you can go through and approach THOR'S LEFT GAUNTLET.

Cinematic: As Lara reaches out to touch the glove, it glows blue and disintegrates leaving behind a small turtle-shaped device. She places it on the back of her hand and it extends four straps to encircle her hand. Faint tracings of blue energy outline the shape of a phantom gauntlet.

As Lara ponders the connection between Thor's hammer and Avalon, a squad of mercenaries in wetsuits sneaks up behind her. They hold her at gunpoint while their leader takes the gauntlet device. As they make their exit, the leader plants an explosive charge and tells Lara, "Amanda Evert sends her regards." Lara quickly takes cover behind the pedestal as the bomb detonates, sealing the exit under a pile of rubble.

When the movie concludes, go toward the Thor statue and locate the clay jars on the ledge to the left. One of these holds a treasure (20/26).

EXITING THE RUINS:

With the exit blocked, you'll need to find another way out. Go through the room with the 2 pressure pads and into the smaller room on the right. Break the shiny jar on the left to get the treasure (21/26) inside. The explosion must have knocked the large stone block out of the wall, since it wasn't here earlier. Climb onto the block and vault up into the opening. Then follow the passageway.

Before entering the next room, look for a single breakable jar in the corner just to the left of the door. Break it and take the treasure (22/26) inside.

LONG ROOM WITH BROKEN COLUMNS:

Before starting to climb, run to the far end of the room and locate another treasure (23/26). It's in one of the jars in the far left corner.

Return to the entrance, turn around so the doorway is behind Lara, and then climb the first column on the right. When you reach the top, jump to grab the next column. Climb to the top and jump onto the ledge behind Lara.

NOTE: If you're having trouble jumping from column to column, understand that it doesn't matter how Lara is positioned on the column where you start. The important thing is to point the camera toward the column or ledge where you want her to go. Then just press Forward + Jump and she'll do it correctly.

Cross the ledge and turn to face out over the left side of the room. Jump forward to perch on top of the broken column ahead. Jump forward to grab the next column. Climb up a bit and then jump to the broken ledge beyond. Turn right and take a running jump from this ledge to perch on the nearest broken column on the other side of the room. Turn left, point the camera toward the next broken column and jump forward to land on it. Finally, jump from there to the ledge ahead.

PASSAGE TO KRAKEN ROOM:

Follow the passage forward. Duck to get through the low tunnel on the left. When you come out of the tunnel and Lara stands upright, look to the left. One of the breakable jars here contains a treasure (24/26). Take it and continue along the dark hall to emerge on a high ledge overlooking the KRAKEN POOL.

A brief cutaway shows the mercenaries leaving the area.

Head forward and to the right. Step to the edge and grapple the metal ring on the ceiling. Then take a running jump off the ledge to swing across. If Lara has enough momentum, just press Jump as she nears the opposite ledge and she'll detach the cable and land there. Otherwise, keep the camera pointing forward and press and hold the Forward direction key (or push the left stick forward if you're using a gamepad or controller) to swing back and forth. When you've built up enough momentum, wait for Lara to swing forward and then Jump.

Go straight ahead toward the dark area near the wall, where you'll find more breakable jars, one of which holds a treasure (25/26).

OBTAINING THE RELIC:

Now go around to the other side of the rock pile. Pick up the health potion and then climb to the top of the rocks. Jump to grab the horizontal pole sticking out of the wall. Swing and jump to the next ledge. Go toward the corner, turn right and slide down the slope onto the ledge below. Drop and hang from the ledge so the KRAKEN POOL is now behind you.

Traverse along the ledge above the entrance, jumping to the right to clear the gaps in the ledge. When you reach the end of the ledge, pull up. Break the light-colored jar and retrieve the final treasure of the level (26/26).

Turn right and jump to the broken ledge ahead. Go forward and to the right and duck through the low opening. Inside on the left you'll find a golden orb, the only RELIC in the level.

NOTE: When you pick up a relic, it not only heals Lara completely, it also permanently raises Lara's maximum health. So by the end of the game, she'll be able to withstand much more damage than she could at the start. For more information, see the Underworld Rewards page.

RETURNING TO THE START OF THE LEVEL:

Exit this small, dark room the way you came. Cross the ledge to the right and jump back to the ledge where you found the last treasure. Hang from the edge of the ledge and drop down to the doorway below.

Go forward then to the left. When you reach the wide corridor where you first entered the KRAKEN ROOM, turn right.

Follow the hallway away from the KRAKEN ROOM. From here on out, you'll be retracing the path you took to reach this area earlier. Head down the stairs. To traverse across the two pits, jump up to grab the handhold on the left wall. Jump up again to grab the handhold above. Then traverse to the right. Jump the gap in the handhold below the torch and continue on to the right. At the end of the ledge, drop down twice, climb around the corners and pull up into the low opening.

Continue down the stairs. Climb the rocks and jump onto the ledge that spans the width of the hallway. Drop down and continue through the puzzle room with the serpent heads and pressure pads. Go past the switch platform to the edge of the broken floor overlooking the pool. Jump down to the small, stone ledge on the left side of the pool and climb up into the doorway. Climb over the rocks and go through the doorway on the right to the pool where you first entered the ruins (back in the PATH TO AVALON section).

HEADING FOR THE SURFACE:

Dive into the pool and swim down and forward through the big, round hole in the wall. (This is where you first saw the huge tentacle.) Follow the twisting underwater passage, avoiding the stinging jellyfish, until you reach the puzzle door with the 3 metal circles. Swim up and out through the doorway ahead. Head for the surface and swim to Lara's boat.

Cinematic: Lara climbs on board and spots another, larger boat in the distance. She uses her camera's zoom feature to scope it out and spots several armed mercenaries on deck. Never one to be put off by a few bad guys with guns, she motors directly toward the threat.

BUG NOTE: PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 players may encounter a bug here in which the final cinematic won't start. So far I know of no 100% sure solution or prevention, but here are a couple of suggestions: (1) Try swimming around the boat. The trigger point for the cinematic may be on one side. (2) Reload an earlier save and play through some or all of the level again. (3) Without reloading, make your way back through the level to the kraken room. Then return to the surface again. These may cause the cut scene to trigger normally. If you know of another solution, I'd love to hear it.