Atlantis

LEVEL 14: ATLANTIS

• Kills: 32
• Items: 50
• Secrets: 3

Objectives: Make your way to the top of the pyramid for the penultimate confrontation with Natla.

Walk-through: Walk forward. The lights come on and you'll find some Uzi clips on the ground. In the room ahead are 6 incubators ready to hatch some nasty Atlantean mutants. Step forward cautiously and the first egg on the left will hatch, releasing a spew-spitting mutant. Back flip into the doorway and kill it from there.

Advance forward and to the right and the first egg on that side of the room will hatch. This one contains a fireball-launching mutant. To minimize the damage, you can back flip then side flip into the doorway while shooting. When it explodes, go down the right or center to the opposite end of the long room. As you approach the Uzi clips on the floor, the last egg on the left explodes and another mutant emerges. Use those side flips to avoid the fireballs, kill the mutant and pick up the clips.

Here at the back of the room are 3 doors: one on each side and another in the center. The door on the left opens as you approach. Enter and go up the stairs. The see-through flooring is safe to walk on. Pick up a small med-pack in the far left corner. Note the closed door opposite the one you just came through.

Head up the left (west) side of the room. When you near the middle, step out toward the walkway across the middle and the egg below will hatch. Kill the flying mutant from above. Keep away from the edge of the floor and you'll be fine. When the coast is clear, walk out and get the shotgun shells. Continue to the far right (northeast) corner. In a dark alcove here you'll find a switch that opens the door across the room (in the northwest corner). Behind that is another switch. This opens the door in the southwest corner.

Exit the switch room, walk back toward the alcove with the switch, turn right and continue along the left (east) side of the room. When you reach the middle, the egg below will explode releasing another flying mutant below. Kill it as you did the other, then cross over the bridge at the center and continue along the right (west) side. The remaining egg will hatch below and another mutant will come up the stairs in the far left (southeast) corner. If you don't run forward, you should have plenty of time to kill it as it approaches.

Walk forward and go down the stairs on the right (southwest). On the way down, you'll see another switch. Throw this to open the middle door in the room below. Continue down. The door at the bottom of the stairs opens as you approach. Go forward then to the right through the door you opened with the switch. Advance to a ledge above a large lava pool. Kill the flying mutant that comes down from above.

(NOTE: This will happen several more times as you make your way to the top of the pyramid. The flyers can knock Lara off the ledges. Also, they explode when you kill them, and Lara will take some damage if she's close to the explosion. Since they can't fit through the small doorways, the best strategy is to draw them down then back up and kill them from cover.)

When the flyer explodes, turn and drop to hang from the outside edge of the ledge. Let go and grab the ledge below. Pull up and enter the passageway, which is SECRET #1. Pick up a large med-pack and clips for the magnums and Uzis. Continue forward and up until you come to an opening in the floor where you can drop down into another tunnel. On one side is a ledge above the big lava pool. (This is within jumping distance of the ledge you stood on previously, but by finding the secret, you avoided that jump.) There are chomping blades in the doorway, but you need not worry about them. Go the other way.

Here you'll find a room with a lava pit below a transparent bridge with a gap in the middle. Down in the gap is an incubator. Walk to the right side of the bridge and take a standing jump to grab the crevice in the wall. Drop and grab the bottom of the doorway below. Pull up and follow the tunnel to a switch. Pull it to open the red door on the far side of the bridge. Continue to the opening, pick up 2 sets of Uzi clips and take a standing jump down to the bridge. Take a running jump across the gap to grab the other side of the bridge. As you pass the incubator, the egg will hatch, releasing a winged mutant. Pull up and head for the doorway. You can kill the mutant from here or, if you don't want all the kills, just keep going.

Continue to a room with a pool of water in the middle. On the left is a part of the angled outer wall of the pyramid. Like the visible part of the pyramid at the end of the last level, there are several flat spots. There are also two spike pits at the bottom of the slope and a couple of stone blocks. On the right side of the pool are some rocks and pillars. These are climbable but there's no way to get onto them from the water. Opposite the entrance is a red door.

You'll need to go across the pyramid twice: once to spring some boulder traps and find a secret, and again to get out. Take a running jump from the doorway to grab the tall square block ahead. (Note the square ledge below on the right. You can climb out of the water here if you fall in.) Turn to the left and take a running jump from the top of the tall block to the nearest flat spot on the pyramid. A boulder rolls from above, so quickly take a standing jump to the next flat spot higher up and to the right. This spot is safe. Now angle Lara slightly uphill and take a standing jump forward to land on the pyramid and slide down to the flat spot just above the second spike pit. Another boulder rolls down. If Lara is facing uphill, you can immediately take a standing jump to the next higher flat spot to get out of the boulder's way.

There are no more boulders here so you can now take your time. Take a standing jump uphill and to the left to land on the next flat spot, which is a little difficult to see. Turn to the right and jump to the next higher flat spot, then the next. Now you can make out an opening in the rock wall on the right. Climb into it for SECRET #2, magnum and Uzi clips, plus a large med-pack. Exit this room and slide down the pyramid to the flat spot near the red door.

Take a running jump across the water to grab the lowest step on the other side. Pull up and go up the step to the right. From here, take a running jump to grab the edge of the tall block. Pull up and take the large med-pack. Take a running jump to the next higher block, pull up and enter the room on the left. Pick up the 2 sets of Uzi clips on the ground and pull the switch. This alters the terrain in the next room enabling you to exit.

Jump into the water and find an underwater lever between the step and the pillar where you just got the med-pack. When you pull it, the red door opens and you have about 40 seconds to get through it before it closes. Here's the sequence: Pull the lever, turn around and swim to the ledge below the tall pillar near where you first entered the room. Climb out of the water and up onto the block. Take a running jump from the top of the block over the spikes to the flat spot.

(NOTE: I found it fastest to climb out of the water onto the ledge so you're already facing the block. Then you can climb up and press Forward and Jump without having to set up first. Use the right arrow key to twist in the air so Lara lands on the flat spot facing the far wall. These maneuvers will save a couple of seconds, which you can then use to set up the next two jumps. Also, if you make it to the first ledge without stumbling, save your game. Then, if you mess up, you can just reload and skip the business with the switch and the swimming.)

Once on the flat spot facing the wall with the exit door, step back, then take a running jump to land on the slippery part of the pyramid and slide down to the flat spot just above the second spike pit. Now take another running jump toward the wall. Turn and run through the red door before it closes.

In the next room is a partial walkway and 3 lava slides. (There is also a door leading back into the room with the pool, which is closed, and an inaccessible switch. See the note below.) Face the door opposite the entrance and take a running jump to grab the left side of the walkway (the lower of the two steps). Follow the walkway to the end and take a standing jump diagonally to the left into the doorway.

(NOTE: If you neglected to pull the switch in the small room above the pool, this room will instead contain a larger elevated walkway and 3 closed chutes. You won't be able to reach the exit from the walkway. You can go back through the red door, or drop down, walk around the right side of the walkway and climb up next to the switch. Use this switch to open the door opposite and return to the pool room that way. In any case, you'll have to climb up to the room in the far left corner--on the side of the water opposite the pyramid--and pull that switch now. Do the timed run through the exit door again and resume the walk-through with the paragraph above. Thanks to MrCairo for this tip.)

Follow the passage, jumping over the spike pit, until you reach the top. Jump into the pool and swim down and forward. There are some shotgun shells on the bottom and a lever that opens the door opposite. Go through this door and surface. Walk forward and pick up the 2 sets of Uzi clips on the ledge. The chomping blades only begin to work after you pass. Once again, you find yourself above the big lava pool. A flying mutant approaches from above. You can either jump back through the blades and kill it from within this doorway or take a running jump over the lava to the next ledge on the right and do it from there. Either way, you need to go to this ledge next, and you'll find 2 more sets of Uzi clips there.

Enter the doorway and go up a short ramp to find another pool of water. Swim down and forward into a room with 4 underwater pillars. Behind the first pillar on the right is a small med-pack. The room above contains 4 mutant incubators, 3 underwater doors (below on the left) and 5 switches. You only need to pull 3 of the switches to open the doors. Stand above the entrance so the wall with 3 switches is on the right. Pull the first switch on the left to open the outer door. Walk up the short ramp between the two switches to get 2 sets of Uzi clips. Continue around the perimeter and pull the third (farthest) switch on the right to open the middle door. Lastly, pull the middle switch on the right to open the inner door and activate the incubator on the right side of the three doors. (NOTE: You can tell when an incubator is active because the arms that support the egg begin to move.)

You can now choose to skip the next four kills, or take between one and four of them. For no kills, after throwing the third switch, jump into the water and quickly swim away through the 3 open doors.

For one kill, after throwing the third switch, approach the incubator to hatch the egg and kill the fireball-hurling mutant. Use the usual back flip/side flip routine. Just be sure not to fall into the water or you'll have difficulty getting out without being toasted. Now leave through the underwater doors.

Or, for additional kills, use the switch under the egg that just hatched. This will activate the incubator opposite. Walk toward it to hatch the egg, releasing another mutant that also shoots fireballs. The remaining lever activates the last 2 incubators. The one just above the switch hatches immediately, and a winged mutant attacks. You can roll and start shooting and moving along the bank of 3 switches. But don't approach the other egg yet, or it will hatch and you'll have 2 mutants on your hands at once. When the flyer is dead, hatch the remaining egg and kill the fourth mutant, which shoots fireballs. Swim through the 3 doors you just opened.

Surface and follow the passage to a hallway with pulsing, fleshy walls. Turn right and throw the switch to open the door. Enter and pick up 2 sets of Uzi clips on the ground. As you walk across the room, a boulder will roll down the ramp and stop at the bottom, blocking the doorway. Find the movable block to the right of the boulder and pull it once, then go around to the right side and push it against the wall so it's in the path where the boulder rolled. Exit through the pulsing tunnel and go around to the left to the door and switch. Use the switch again to open the door and reset the boulder trap. (How this works, I'm sure I don't know.) This time, when you enter, the boulder rolls down and is stopped by the block. Exit through the doorway that was previously blocked by the boulder.

Continue to another ledge above the lava pool. Kill the winged mutant and take a running jump to the next ledge ahead and to the right.

Advance down the passageway to the next room. Go slowly to hatch the 2 eggs one at a time. Kill each of the 2 winged mutants from the doorway. Position Lara facing the pulsing floor on the slope opposite (not the tan stone, which is slippery). Slide down the slope and jump at the bottom to clear the spikes and land on the fleshy floor. Go to the top and pick up 2 sets of Uzi clips, a large med-pack and some shotgun shells.

Follow the fleshy tunnel to a ledge above a lava pool. There is an incubator on the left and an uneven bridge made of stone and fleshy stuff spanning the middle. Approach the Uzi clips on the ground near the end of the bridge and a winged mutant rises up from the middle of the room. Kill it and take the clips. Then return to the entrance and face the incubator. Take a diagonal standing jump to the ledge on the left. Take a running jump from this ledge to land on the small square ledge that juts out just in front of the incubator. The egg will hatch, releasing another winged mutant, which you can kill from the doorway.

Turn around and follow the passage to its higher opening, picking up some Uzi clips on the way. Take a running jump from the right side of the doorway to the tan ledge projecting from the fleshy bridge. Walk forward onto the bridge and turn around to face the wall you just jumped from. Now you should be able to see the 2 mutants in the cave on the left. One spits and the other shoots fireballs. Don't jump around too much or you're likely to slide into the lava. Instead lock onto either target and sidestep to the left so you're out of range of the mutants' attacks. Just keep shooting until the enemy explodes. Then repeat the same maneuvers for the second.

Turn around to face the opposite wall and walk out onto the flat projection on the other side of the bridge. (There is a fleshy area just below in the lava pool.) Take a running jump to the opposite side and go to the right, up the ramp to the switch, picking up 2 sets of Uzi clips on the way. Use the switch to open a door you can't see. Turn around and follow the walkway down to where you jumped across. Continue forward, taking a running jump across the gap, until you come to a movable block. Pull it once to uncover the door you just opened with the switch.

Enter and follow the passage to the chomping blades. Jump through just as the blades begin to open. Turn right and take a running jump to the cave where the 2 mutants were. Go forward up the slope then to the left. Climb up 3 blocks to a hallway where you'll find a small med-pack and more Uzi clips. Continue to another ledge above the big lava pool. Kill another winged mutant that swoops down from above. Then take a running jump to the next ledge ahead on the right.

Go through the door, which opens automatically as you approach, into a room with square pillars set in a lava pool. Go to the end of the walkway and take a running jump to the next walkway ahead. Enter the hall on the left and pull the switch to change the heights of the pillars. Return to the lava room and take a running jump back to the walkway by the door. Go forward, turn left and take a running jump to the nearest pillar. Take a standing jump to the pillar on the left, then a running jump to the higher of the 2 pillars near the door. Take a standing jump and press Action to land in the doorway.

Go to the end of the hallway and use this second switch to move the pillars again. Return to the doorway and take a standing jump to the pillar on the left. Take a running jump to the next pillar ahead. Turn left and take a standing jump to the pillar near the exit. From here, take a running jump into the doorway, then follow the passage to the left.

If you step into the next room and stand just inside the doorway, you can kill the 3 mutants on the opposite side of the room and take very little damage. When they're dead, go back into the hallway that you just came from and stand on the one floor tile WITHOUT the gold pattern on it. This opens a SECRET DOOR at the top right side of the ramp where you just killed the mutants. Inside is SECRET #3, consisting of Uzi clips, shotgun shells and a large med-pack. Exit and continue through the door on the right.

Advance into the tunnel. The door opens automatically. DON'T USE THE SWITCH AHEAD ON THE RIGHT. It's a trap. Instead of opening the red door, it causes lava to flow into the hallway. Instead climb up through the opening in the ceiling just in front of the first door. Proceed to a ledge above the big lava pool. Take a running jump to the next ledge on the right, pick up 2 sets of Uzi clips and enter the passage beyond.

Advance into the next room toward the Uzi clips with weapons drawn. Kill the mutant on the opposite side, then get the clips. Continue forward to the bottom of the ramp. There are dart pipes on either side, blades at the top of the ramp and, for good measure, a boulder up at the very top. This looks a lot more difficult than it is. Face the ramp and run along the wall to the right. You'll take little or no damage from the darts. (If you're desperately low on health here, you can do a swan dive/roll--Walk + Jump + Forward--to get past the darts.) Once you're in the corner, turn and pull up onto the ramp--between the darts of course--then immediately hop back to avoid the boulder. Climb back onto the ramp and continue to the top.

Here you'll find a room with what looks like 3 thrones. Notice that they are labeled with the initials of the Atlantean rulers: Natla, Tihocan and Qualopec. The "seat" of Natla's throne is actually a movable block. Push it twice to get into the area behind.

Head to the right and you'll find 2 trapdoors and switches with a red door between them. It doesn't really matter which trapdoor you choose, since both lead to the same place. For the one on the left, throw the switch, hop back off the trapdoor, then turn around and drop back to hang from the opening. Let go and, as soon as you hit the ground, jump over the spikes. Continue up the slope and turn left.

For the trapdoor on the right, throw the switch and fall through (taking a tiny bit of damage). Turn and take a standing jump over the lava pit, then immediately back flip to where you first landed to avoid the boulder. Hop back across the lava and continue forward then to the left.

Climb up through the opening and throw the switch to open the red door between the trapdoors above. Continue climbing to emerge above the throne room. Drop down and return to the switches. Go through the red door and then to the right up the ramp. Draw weapons and advance into the next room. A centaur hatches from the egg opposite the entrance. Do the back-flip/side-flip-while-shooting routine to avoid the fireballs. When it explodes, pick up 4 sets of Uzi clips (in two piles) near the entrance.

Cross the room and throw the switch to the left of the centaur's incubator to open the exit door. This also activates the two incubators flanking the exit. You can avoid these or kill the mutants inside. As long as you don't step on either of the low, fleshy ramps next to the door, the eggs won't hatch. But if you do, 2 more mutants--one with wings, one without--will hatch, and you'll have to take care of them.

Be sure you're at full health before exiting down the ramp. At the bottom are 2 more mutants. It's probably easiest to just keep moving and shooting, but you can also run into the next room and to the right to climb on a safe block. You've got to be quick to do this, though, and you may lose as much health as you would just fighting.

Once they're dead head for the middle of the room. After examining this next fleshy creature for a minute, you'll realize it mirrors Lara's movements precisely--including shooting at her if she shoots at it. You have to kill it in order to leave, and to do that, you'll need to lure it into a trap.

Here's how: Face away from the entrance and go around the tall column to the right. Walk up the short ramp and climb onto the square block. Turn around and take a standing jump to the tall, square pillar. From there, take a running jump to the right side of the raised platform beyond. Here you'll see a switch, a trapdoor in the floor and the exit door. Pull the switch to open the trapdoor above a lava pit. This is timed to close after a little while, so don't dawdle. Roll, run past the exit door off the platform to slide down an angled block and land on the ground. Run forward, climb onto the block ahead. (The flesh creature will now be climbing up the block you first climbed onto on the other side of the room.) Take a running jump to the tall pillar. Now take a running jump to the platform and run to the middle. The flesh creature should then run to the middle on her side and fall into the lava pit. When she does, the exit door near the pit will open. Climb/jump back up to that platform and go through the door.

(NOTE: The flesh creature is not counted as one of the official kills. BUG WARNING: If, as you're moving around this area, the flesh girl gets stuck and won't move, try jumping onto the ramp where you slid into the level. Sometimes doing this will un-stick her.)

Pull up into the next room, pick up the Uzi clips and advance to the bend. Go around the bend to attract the attention of the centaur. Lock onto your target, then back flip down the hallway shooting. As usual, flip from side to side to avoid the fireballs and keep pumping it full of lead until it explodes. Go back up to the bend and pick up some more Uzi clips. Now advance to the opening of the next room. A mutant lurks inside on the right. Kill it, retreating down the tunnel if necessary.

This next room contains a C-shaped walkway above lava. There's a switch at each end: the one on the right raises the bridge; the one on the left opens the exit door, which is opposite the entrance. Both are timed, but the door stays open longer than the bridge stays up. Here's the drill: First, follow the walkway to the left and pick up some Uzi clips. Don't use this switch yet. Now go all the way around to the right end of the walkway and throw that switch to open the door. Run all the way around to the left switch (take running jumps along the straight parts to cover more distance) and use it to raise the bridge. Roll, then run/jump back to the center and across the bridge to exit.

Just beyond this door is the room where the Scion is kept. Pick up 2 sets of Uzi clips on the floor, then try and take the Scion to end the level.

(NOTE: This room is located high above the lava pool, presumably at the center of the pyramid. You'll wind up on the big platform below at the beginning of the next level. There's nothing to find there now, but if you do jump down there, you're not stuck. Just face the opening above and approach the left corner. A door will open in the wall and you can jump into it. Follow the passage up to the top to emerge in the drawbridge room near the switch on the right.)

A movie follows: Lara touches the Scion and receives another mysterious vision. In this one we see Natla held captive by the other two Atlantean rulers, Qualopec and Tihocan. Qualopec passes sentence on Natla, condemning her for her misuse of power, for waging war on both himself and Tihocan, and for useing the pyramid's powers of creation for her own "mindless destruction."

Natla retorts, "Mindless?! Look at you! Neither of you have one squirt of inventive juice in your heads. Wasters!" Then she appeals to Tihocan, but he stands by Qualopec, accusing Natla of using the pyramid as a "freak factory." The camera reveals a mutant standing nearby.

"They're survivalists...." she argues. "A new generation."

Tihocan is unswayed. He concludes, "And you. We're going to lock you in limbo.... Greet your eternal unrest, Natla!" Qualopec gives the signal to the mutant, who activates the machine that will entomb Natla.

As the freezing process begins, Natla yells, "You won't rest either...or your damned continent, Atlantis!"

Next, a cut scene: Lara staggers back from the altar and sees Natla draw near. "Back again?" Natla asks.

Lara returns, "And you?" Lara responds, "For a grand re-opening, I assume?"

In the typical overconfident-villain-revealing-her-evil-scheme speech, Natla explains, "Evolution is in a rut...natural selection at an all time low. Shipping out fresh meat will incite territorial rages again, will strengthen us and advance us, even create new breeds." She indicates the nearby incubator with its huge, yellow egg.

"A kind of evolution on steroids, then?" Lara asks.

"A kick in the pants," Natla says emphatically. "Those runts Qualopec and Tihocan had no idea. The cataclysm of Atlantis struck a race of languoring wimps...plummeted them to the very basics of survival again. It shouldn't happen like that."

"Or like this." Lara waves her arm to encompass the whole room, maybe the pyramid itself. A computer voice announces a status report, "Hatching commences in fifteen seconds...."

"Too late for abortions now," Natla says haughtily.

"Not without the heart of the operation." Lara aims a pistol at the Scion, and Natla screams, "No!" She tackles Lara, hurling them both over the edge into the pit. Lara manages to grab the ege of the platform below, but Natla plummets into darkness.

Lara pulls up onto the platform below the incubator as the electronic voice counts down, "Five...four...three...two...one...."