| The first part of
this level can be described in one word: Weird. Continuing along
the lines of the previous level, Temple of Xian, Floating
Islands is also full of traps. However the main thing to
keep in mind in this level is that for the first half
there is no floor. Everything is made up of green chunks
floating above a dark abyss. One slip and fini.
Save often.
Go
straight from where the level starts to the edge of the
platform you are standing on. Pay attention to the sound
and you will soon hear a high-pitched whirring. It is a
jet-pack. Keep watching the sky a bit to your left and
you will soon see one helluva big guy coming in your
direction. Shoot and observe the way in which he dies. He
will turn into a green statue and just explode. From now
on these green guys are your primary enemy and threat.
They are sort of timed traps. When you first see any of
these guys they will be nothing but green statues,
kneeling on one knee and holding a spear in each hand.
Doing a certain task (walking over something, pulling a
switch, etc.) will kind of thaw them out. They don't have
any long range weapons but this level doesn't really have
much room for Lara to hop around. Recommended weapon: Uzi
Once this
dude is dead look right. There is a big island with a
room resting on some pillars. Look left and you will see
a building with a roof and walls made of vertical and
horizontal bars. The second room is your destination. The
route is as follows. Jump down to the sliding ramp just
below the edge of the platform on which you are standing.
Slide down (and forward) and just before the ramp ends
jump forward to land on another ramp sliding downwards
and to your right. As soon as you start to slide on the
second ramp jump and hang-on to the edge of the room.
Pull up and go to the other end to use the switch. This
will open a trapdoor that will allow you to access the
room resting on pillars (the one you saw earlier).
After
flipping the switch return back to the sliding ramps.
Stand at the edge of the room and position yourself close
to the wall on your right. Look down towards the next
island. There will be another sliding ramp there. Jump to
it directly or slide down from the edge and do a shorter
jump to it. On the next island go ahead and kill the bad
guy you find there then start climbing the ramps on your
left till you reach the highest ledge. Look towards the
building with the trap door. You have to make running
jumps across various islands to reach the big island with
the building. Once there, use the trapdoor to climb into
the room and pick up the Mystic Plaque that you find
there. As soon as you pick it up a couple of those green
guards come to life. You CAN kill them by shooting when
they walk under the trapdoor but it takes time, or simply
jump to the ground and fight it out.
Once the
green guards are dead go under the room with the trapdoor
till you are behind the room. Climb on to the platform
there and turn right to face the tree. To the left of the
tree is a flat platform on which you can jump without
sliding down. Jump to this platform and turn around. You
are now close to the roof of the building and directly
infront is the first secret
of this level. Grab it and return to the ground floor.
If you want some fun then stop reading this
walkthrough and try to get off this island without using
the path which brought you here :)
Stand under the trapdoor and postion
yourself in such a manner that the platform from where
this level began is to your right. Walk straight to the
edge. If you observe the edge you will find that a
portion of it is green while the rest is made up of the
grey-ish rock. Stand on the green part and look down. You
ought to be able to see a crevice. In case you don't just
turn around and hop back, hang on to the edge and you
should see it now - a big, square hole. Drop down and
immediately press the CTRL key to hang on to the edge of
the hole below. Pull up and go through the hole. Directly
ahead is a closed gate. Go left making a U-turn and flip
the switch you find there to open the gate.
From here the path - although dangerous -
doesn't need a walkthrough. Go through the gate and keep
jumping to the next closest green island. When making
long jumps keep the CTRL key pressed to hang on to edges.
The path is simply this: going past the open gate jump to
the island immediately in front. Walk to the edge of this
island and do a sideways jump to your left to land on the
flat platform. Turn left and keep going in this direction
till you reach the last island. Turn right and start
climbing the steps to the top. If you look left from the
top most step you will see the biggest island with two
huge doors both of which are locked.
For now put your back to the above island
and make a running jump to the roof of the caged room
where you pulled the switch to open the trapdoor. On the
roof, stick to the edge and circle around till you can
see a flat platform to which you can jump down. Follow
this platform around the edge and keep looking down.
There will be another island below with another Mystic
Plaque. Jump down and get it. Now you can open the doors
on the big island.
From this island position yourself so that
you are facing the island with the room with the
trapdoor. Use the islands lying in between to go back to
the island with the trapdoor. From this island take the
same route again. Drop from the green edge, let go and
hang-on to the next edge, pull up, go through gate, jump
to next island, side flip, turn left, keep jumping to
next islands all the way to the end, turn right, start
climbing the steps all the way to the top. From here turn
left to face the island with the big doors. Make
absolutely sure you are standing on the highest point
before making the jump. Once you land on the big island
use the two Mystic Plaques (place a plaque in the two
locks, one on the side of each door) to open the doors
and go in. Another green dude comes floating down on a
jet-pack so shoot him down.
From the point where you entered the open
doors go right towards some trees. A close inspection
will reveal a dark passage behind one of the trees. This
passage leads to the second secret
of this level. Do a running jump to enter the tunnel and
follow it around to the dragon. Take the same path in
reverse to get out of here. (No, you can't jump to that
bridge in front :))
Go back to the big doors and approach the
bridge opposite to them. Don't climb the bridge, instead
look down and to your left. You should be able to locate
a sliding ramp jutting out parallel to the bridge. What
you have to do is this: slide off this ramp and jump,
while in air press the right arrow key to change the
direction and land on the bridge that is exactly below
the one above. The trick here is to avoid the floor of
the upper bridge. You must change the direction just a
little late so that when you turn right Lara doesn't
collide with the upper bridge.
On the lower bridge turn around and go into
the passage. If you go straight you will reach a platform
with a zip-line going a long way down. Note this and go
back and take the other path to go to the next room. As
you enter the room a section of the wall will rise
revealing three green guards and a switch. This is a good
test of how well you have mastered your combat skills in
Tomb Raider 2. As you approach the switch the guard in
the middle will come to life. Kill him and then flip the
switch. This will bring the remaining two guys to life.
Be prepared.
After they are dead go into the next passage
and use the zip-line. Wheeee! At the end of the zip-line
is a ladder. Hang-on to the ladder after you let go of
the zip-line. Start climbing. At the top shimmy to the
next ladder and press the jump key to back-flip to the
ledge behind. After landing on this ledge turn around and
run to the edge. Put your back to the edge, hop back,
hang on, shimmy left till you are above a flat ledge and
let go.
Go left till you reach a green pillar. Jump
and pull up to stand on this pillar. From there jump to
the next higher ledge and from there to the next higher
one. As you exit through the opening you will be back at
the upper bridge.
Face the bridge and look left till you see a
green boulder. There are two ways to tackle the next
trap:
From this ledge turn to face the island with
another zip-line. Watch out for another green guard with
a jet-pack and hop to the zip-line and enjoy the rather
long ride. At the end, turn around and walk to the edge.
Look down and notice the long and deep corridor. To the
right of the corridor is a wide flat platform, jump to
this area. You will find a green block here. Pull it
twice then used it to climb to the platform above. On
this platform you will find a switch, flip it. Watch out
for a green guard with a jet-pack.
When he is dead push/pull the green block to
the edge of the pit and then push it towards the wall
from where you jumped down here. After that go to the
edge of the deep corridor and look down. There will be
lots of places to land into this corridor but most of
them are sliding ramps that will dump you into the lava.
Locate a flat platform and do a safety drop to it. Locate
and flip the switch. This will open a trap-door in the
lava covered floor upstairs. Exit from this platform by
the opening to the left and make your way back to the
platform with the green block. Go away from the deep
corridor and climb the wall at the other end of the room.
If you look at the floor you will see the trap-door you
just opened.
You have to dive in through the
trap-door. Do a running jump with and press the SHIFT key
as soon as you hit the ALT key to perform a graceful
swan-dive through the trap-door and splashing into the
water below. Weird physics but ... never mind :))
Surface from the water and flip the switch
in the room. Dive again and follow the underwater tunnel.
From the intersection go left and surface again. There
will be a corridor with swinging blades in front. Turn
around and use the switch to stop the blades from
swinging then go through the passage with the blades and
climb the ledge you find there all the way to the top
then make a right turn to go back to the passage over
looking the deep corridor. Notice the ledge next to the
zip-line you have to land on that. If you can't make it
from here then use the green block to make an easy jump
(you may have to pull the block close to the opening if
you didn't do it earlier).
From this ledge go straight. Ignore the
closed door to the left. Walk carefully to the edge of
the passage and look down. Eww, spikes. Do a running
jump-grab to the crevice in the opposite wall. Shimmy
right, pull up and flip the switch to open the door you
ignored earlier. Do another running jump to clear the
room with spikes and go through the now open door.
In the next room is a hole in the floor. Do
a safety drop through it. When you land on the floor look
around. You will see a switch and a lot of those green
guards scattered about. Pull the switch and this will
cause some ninja guys to show up. They are armed with
shurikens (you know, like the ones in Shadow Warrior :)).
After the ninjas are dead you have to deal with those
green guards. Before doing that make sure you are
standing on the platform with the switch. Put your back
to the switch and run to the wall you are facing. You can
climb this wall on the right and left sides, the middle
being blocked by a pillar. Now save your game and
approach the green guards. When you get close enough to a
guard he will come to life. So as soon as you see the
green color fading off of them run like hell and climb
the wall and shoot them from there. Of course, feel
welcome to fight more bravely if you want, the choice is
yours.
These guards were blocking the passage to
several switches lying around this room. Once all the
guards are dead approach each location that the guards
were blocking and flip all switches you find. Sometimes
the switch might be on the outside wall rather than
inside so look carefully. Once all switches are flipped
the only door in this area will open. Go through it and
start running up the stairs. These stairs lead to the
room with the hole in the floor from where you dropped
down. Unfortunately that room is now filled with a bevy
of green guards. All of them hopping mad because Lara
disrupted their sweet dreams. Once they are dead go
through the door (not the door from where you first
entered this room, the other one). The next room has a
ladder going up and spikes on the floor.
Start climbing. When you reach the cieling
shimmy right and continue climbing upwards. Stop climbing
when Lara is 5 to 6 rungs from the top. Now comes the
twister that you have already performed a couple of times
in the Temple of Xian. So once again, here we go, hit ALT
to back-flip, in mid air hit END to twist around,
immediately press CTRL to hang-on to the ladder that you
now face. If you keep falling on the spikes then try to
climb a rung or two in any direction, up or down, before
doing the back-flip (a good idea to save the game in this
position, as I had mentioned earlier). Start climbing the
new ladder and stop when you reach the rungs of two or
three different colors. Again perform the twister jump to
hang on to the next ladder.
Climb to the top of this ladder and pull up.
You are sliding, you are sliding. Start hopping from one
side to another while changing direction in mid-air. Go
away from the ladder till you reach a flat platform. Go
to the edge and you will find another zip-line going into
the building some distance away. However the zip-line is
too high. Look to your side. Hey there is another block.
Pull it out. Don't stop when it is under the zip-line,
pull it one more time in the same direction. Now climb
over it and go to the other side.
The reason to bypass the zip-line is that it
leads straight to the exit of this level so using it
means having to say goodbye to the third secret. So go to the place
where the block had been resting. From here do a running
jump to the rocks on your left. Depending on how you
jumped you may or may not slide a little after landing.
But go away from the platform with the block. Before
reaching the other end turn and look to your right. There
will be a small section in the opposite wall where you
can land without danger of falling into lava. Locate the
square bit of rock jutting out from the edge you are
standing on and do a running jump to the gap in the
opposite wall. On landing turn around and make another
jump across the lava pit to the next ledge. Pull up and
take the path down and then right leading straight to the
third secret. Follow the same path in reverse and stop
when you reach the edge overlooking the lava pit. Do a
straight jump (avoiding the gap that is a little to the
right) and hang-on to the edge. Pull up and back-flip to
land on a flat surface. Look left and there is the exit.
Jump on to the building and go through the door to end
this level.
It is finally time to settle the score with
Bartoli and we shall meet in the Dragon's Lair.
Last stop before Lara heads back for home
sweet home.
Jitender Saan G10@Doubt.Com
http://www.lwbbs.net/userpage/g10/index.htm
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