Level 1 - Caves

For this level keep one thing in mind. The monks in the monastery will NOT attack you unless YOU attack them first. On the contrary they will engage all the bad guys in combat and save you a lot of ammo and medi-kits. If you kill even ONE monk then life will become difficult in this level. The choice is yours although making enemies out of the monks doesn't make the level impossible, you just have to jump and duck around and shoot at more guys.

When you emerge into the corridor there will be a couple of bad guys waiting for you. If you want some fun, just stand at the entrance and don't attack them, the monks will soon be engaged full time with these baddies, you can either stick around and watch this battle or continue with the game.

Anyway, coming out in to the courtyard you will see a lot of steps going up to a temple, hug the wall to your left and turn left at the corner keeping the wall to your left, soon you will come across a ladder. Take it up and watch out for those buzzard things.

After your have climbed the ladder, turn around and jump, grabbing the ledge and pull up. Run over the small rock out-cropping then put your back to the edge (face the direction of the ladder) and hop backwards. Keep the action key pressed so that you hang on to the edge after sliding down. Let go and grab the small crack in the wall, shimmy left till you can pull up, go left and shoot some window panes to enter the building.

Enter the room and go right, there are plenty of monks around here so watch where you shoot incase you don't want them coming after you. In the corridor, go straight and then into another room, go right. Shoot out another window, there is a bad guy behind it (if a monk is following you then shoot the window and run away, let them fight :)) Notice the locked gate, you need a key for that. Run out of this room and in the corridor turn right, and enter the first door to your left (if you go straight you will come to a pair of BIG doors which are locked, you need another key. Also note the room on the right that has two of those rotating wheels of death).

Keep running till you reach a ladder going way, way up and start climbing. At the top turn right and run for it, take the first left you encounter, there will probably be a monk guarding this place but if you are friends he won't mind you. Run along till you reach a raised platform with a key, this key opens those BIG doors you just saw. However don't go back yet, instead as you exit this narrow path turn left again and at the next corner make another left turn and keep going till you jump down into a room with a narrow ramp going upwards. Two words, "Boulder Trap". Trigger the boulder and get out of the way then run up the ramp. When you reach the T-intersection, step out to trigger another boulder and jump back. Once the boulder has gone by take a left turn and continue up on the ramp. You will end up in a large room filled with water and a whirlpool in the middle. As you stand facing this room the path to take is along the wall to your right. Do a safety drop in the water and stick close to the ground AND the wall and start swimming, as you continue after taking a left turn at the corner you will reach an opening to your right. Be quick, the higher you rise in the water the more the whirlpool will try to suck you in. Enter this tunnel and keep going till you have to drop down again.

As you reach the floor you will hear a loud <clank><clank> sound. Players from Tomb Raider one might remember the sliding doors, walk in butcheries so to say, well here they are. Light a flare if its too dark, throwing a flare at the doors will be helpful to time your run across them. There are several doors in this route and you can't go back so continue moving and avoiding the doors till you reach a ladder. Climb it.

You will find yourself in a room with some blocks and a door that seems rather dark. Enter this door and you will see three rows of firepads that are extinguished. Hop/Jump over them (sideways is easier) and at the end go to the left corner and take the prayer wheel. As soon as you pick it up the fire-pads come to life. Again, jump sideways, it is really easy. Exit this room and go to the blocks (taking care of the baddies of course). Start with the first moveable block and pull it completely out, then the next block, moving which will reveal a passage behind it leading to a ladder, climb it and you will end up in the room where you encountered the first boulder. Just follow the path in the reverse direction till you reach the BIG locked doors, you have the key, use it.

As you enter the area with the huge statue of Buddha. Approach the Buddha, go to the right corner and jump on to the platform that has the statue and go BEHIND the statue. Climb the obstacles you find till you find an alcove to your left and HEY, that is one of those secret dragons. Yo, you just found the first secret.

Ok back to work. As you stand next to the big doors facing the Buddha take a right and enter the first door you come across, inside the room seek a narrow passage that has a lot of blades moving horizontally. Again, do a sideways jump and you can clear them without a scratch. After clearing a blade or two you will find another door, enter it and climb the blocks on the right to get another key. Exit this room via the same route and go back to the open area with the statue of Buddha. Exit via the big doors and in the corridor turn left to enter the room with the two rotating wheels of death. As you enter the door you will see the top left corner has a dark alcove. Use simple timing to clear the wheels and reach this safe place. You find a lock here, use the key you have. Enter the door and get another key. Exit the way you came.

Back in the corridor turn left (going away from the big doors leading to the Buddha) and the T-intersection turn left again till you reach the room you saw at the beginning of the level. The gate can now be opened with the key you have so get on with it. Beyond the gate run up the stairs.

As you reach the roof you will see a series of fire-pads arranged in a narrow passage. Go right and beyond the golden statues and you will find a switch. This switch will turn off the fire-pads but only for some time. So run back and start jumping sideways till you have cleared the fire-pads (you need to get the first jump right, after that just keep jumping sideways without a pause and you are through).

Beyond this corridor take the first left turn you encounter. You will come to an area with grated doors covering a small area of the floor and a switch to open these doors. On one of the walls there is also a ladder, take the ladder to find some goodies and come back. Pull the switch to open the doors in the floor and do a safety drop into the room below. There is a glass case with two gems in it, shoot out the glass and pick up the gems. Putting your back to the glass case with the gems, go to the upper right corner and take the ladder back up. Watch out for bad guys.

Go back to the fire-pad corridor but turn left at the intersection, thus going away from the fire-pads. When you reach the top look to your left, there will be two golden idols. Approach the wall beyond these statues and you will find a niche, plug in one of the gems here and turn around. That huge asterix-like thing will have moved back so you can now enter that area. Go left, pull the block out till you can go into the tunnel behind it. Get the second prayer wheel and return to the room with the Buddha.

As you enter the area with the Buddha go towards the upper right corner. If you went after the secret you might have noticed some stairs next to the Buddha's left hand. Go down these stairs and follow the path to your right, leading away from the left arm of the Buddha.

Take the first door to the right. Inside there are several blocks you can push/pull to find some goodies. Anyway keep going straight and take care to avoid a trap door in the floor. At the T-interesection go right, don't stop to fight the bad guys because there is no space to jump around and avoid their fire, instead run up the stairs and when you reach the window turn around and do a safety drop to the floor. Locate the switch to your right and use it to open another set of big doors. Go away from where the bad guys are coming through and start climbing the ladders till you reach the very top. Here you will find a block with a prayer wheel on top of it. Grab the prayer wheel and return to the room with the Buddha.

Once again run through the corridor leading away from Buddha's left hand but don't go into the room to the right, keep going straight till you reach a big empty room. Go left and hope you have mastered the fine art of 'timing'.

There is a series of traps here. A timed fire-pad next to some swinging spiky things and a pit. As you apprach the fire-pad it will temporarily go off. Approach the swinging spikes and time your approach to fall into the pit. If you are too slow or too fast, sorry. Beyond pit will be another one of those wheel things running along the corridor. Easiest way to get across these is to hang on to the edge of the pit and climb up as soon as the wheel goes left and run into the nearest alcove. Once you have cleared the last rolling wheel of death you will find another key.

The last corridor with the rolling wheel has the second secret. To get this you must avoid the wheel and run along the corridor and keep ducking into openings in the left and right wall. The trick is simple, for the first half of the length of the corridor run AFTER the wheel immediately it has gone past you and duck in an opening, for the other half, wait till the wheel has gone by towards the opposite direction in which you are going. At the end of the corridor turn left and WALK. There is one of those sliding meat slicers chomping its jaws. Go through them and get the dragon. Repeat the trick with the rolling wheel and go left to claim the key (if you haven't done it already). Then take the passage going out of this area and you will arrive at a large area filled with water.

Jump into the water and locate a small tunnel towards the left, enter it and get the third secret. Climb out of the water and take the way out of here (there is only one way so you don't need directions :)). You end up in the corridor going towards the Buddha. Follow it.

Approach the Buddha and take the few steps leading towards the big doors you opened at the beginning of the level. However, once past the steps seek the first opening in the wall to your left. This will take you to a ladder. Climb it all the way and you are looking straight into the Buddha's left hand that is holding a fire-pad. Do a running jump and grab on to the edge and pull up. Position your self to make another running jump and grab that will take you past the Buddha's head and on to the right hand. When you reach the right hand walk to the edge away from the left hand and look up. Hmm. An alcove. Jump and grab it and pull up. Use the second gem that you have and plug it into the niche. A trapdoor opens. But where?

Climb all the way down till you reach the platform on which the Buddha is sitting. Do a safety drop from this platform to the floor below. The trapdoor you just opened is BELOW the Buddha. Follow the trench like passage till you find a door leading to this trapdoor and do a safety drop through it.

Follow the passage till you come to a switch (you might have to turn backwards and to your right to see it, depends on how you approach). Pull the switch to open a door and then go through this door. You will find a stream of water and moveable block. Push this block till it is above the stream. This will stop the flow of water and that big water filled area (where you got secret 3) is now dry. Follow the path along which the stream was flowing and do a safety drop at the end. You are now at the bottom of the pool of the water. Turn around and on a platform you will see a moveable block. Go to it and push it out of the way and get another prayer wheel.

Drop back to the bottom and find the ladder going up. Follow the same route as before to return to the room with the Buddha. Go to the door with the stairs that lead up to the Buddha's left hand (the one you jumped to just now) but instead of going in there again go away from it till you reach the opposite wall. There is a lock along this wall. Use the key you have to open yet another trap door. Do another safety drop through this new opening.

Keep running along the path, it is a long way, with the occassional buzzard (eagle, vulture, whatever) and bad guy mooning around. Keep going, going, going till you arrive at a sort of pit to your right with lots of columns projecting upwards. In this area go to the top right corner and climb in to the opening there and take the ladder up. Drop beyond the ladder (carefully) and go right.

You will eventually go through a corridor to reach a clearing with a small room (building, shed, whatever :)) that is locked and you can't get in. Also a few buzzards that will be flapping around. As you emerge from the corridor take a look to the right. A ramp. Climb up this ramp and position yourself for a jump and grab to the ledge further away. From the ledge jump to the roof of the small building and then go through the hole in the roof (I wonder what they do in rainy season :)). Get yet another prayer wheel, use the switch to open the door and go ALL the way back to the room with the Buddha (a few more bad guys along the way).

Ok, drop into the trench leading to the trapdoor UNDER the Buddha. Keep the Buddha to your right and run, go past the door to the corridor, at the end turn right, go up the stairs and plug-in the five prayer wheels into the empty slots (the order doesn't matter, do it anyway you want). Once all the prayer wheels are plugged the doors will open.

Go through the door and up the ramp. Use the Seraph on the niche made for it to open the door to the exit.

See you in the "Catacombs of Talion".

Jitender Saan G10@Doubt.Com
http://www.lwbbs.net/userpage/g10/index.htm