LEVEL 11: TIBETAN FOOTHILLS
Kills: 28 Items: 19 (23)* plus 2 keys and 3 secrets
(*Under found items, the number in parentheses shows total including extra items granted for finding all three secrets.)
The level begins with a movie: Now that she's got the Seraph, Lara uses a floatation device to return to the surface, then steals Bartoli's seaplane and high-tails it to Tibet. (Notice Lara's expression as she spies the cozy leather bomber jacket on the co-pilot's seat. This look alone is worth the price of the game!) Unfortunately, technical difficulties prevent her from landing at the front door of the Barkhang monastery and she crashes in the Himalayan foothills nearby.
Kill the eagle then jump up to the opening on the right. Below is a long ramp with snowballs at the top. Slide down, run and jump over the first wave of snow, then duck into an alcove to the left to avoid the second wave. When the coast is clear, continue to where the snowballs originated and pull up into a cave.
Ahead is a wall of ice. Run up the ramp and jump through the ice. You'll start to slide, so jump and grab the wall ahead. (Notice the texture of the wall. There are a number of these ice ladders coming up. You can identify them by this texture.) Climb to the top right and traverse until you're over the doorway. Drop down and follow this passage to emerge above a small lake. Note the hut and snowmobile in the distance. This is where you're headed, but first....
Turn around then drop and hang from the ledge. Drop to the ledge below. Hang and drop again to a ledge with a doorway. (If at any time you fall in the water and don't want to re-start, there's a small snowy ledge you can climb to from the water. An ice ladder there will get you back up to the ledge above this doorway.) Follow the passageway to a gap with icicles on the ceiling opposite. Jump into the wate and pull up, letting the icicles fall before going on. When you reach another opening over the water, head to the right and climb over the rocks into a passageway. You'll come to a fork. Going forward is a dead-end, so head left. Slide down a slope to a room with a pond and more icicles. Stay close to the left wall and walk forward slowly so the icicles fall in front of you. Continue until you come out above the water again.
Make your way over to the large med-pack: Do a running jump to the flat block beyond the angled one to the left. Drop down to the flat block below and from there, run, jump and grab the ledge where the med-pack is. An eagle will try and interfere at some point. From the block with the med-pack, jump diagonally to the snowy ledge then climb up the snow to the top. You'll need to kill another eagle on the way up.
Head for the hut and take out the 2 guys with guns who try and stop you. Take their large med-pack and 2 sets of auto pistol clips. Go up to the smaller of two gates on the right and take SECRET #1, the Stone Dragon. Now steal the snowmobile and head into the cave that has no gate. (Note that the snowmobile controls are virtually identical to those for the motor boat. You'll need turbo/Action key to get over larger gaps.)
A gunman gets in your way, so run him over. Pick up his shotgun shells before moving on. Continue to a large room with a number of ramps. At the far end is a cave opening barred by two large blocks of ice. You'll have an easier time going on if you move those first. Enter the cave through a smaller opening on the left. Kill the 2 leopards lurking there, then move the blocks out of the opening.
Return to the snowmobile and get it into position to jump into the cave by following the series of ramps: Go to the center of the room, then through an opening between two walls on the right. Turn left to get to the bottom of the first ramp. From here, follow the ramps and walls around perimeter of the room counter-clockwise until you're able to jump the snowmobile into the big cave opening. (I recommend saving each time you make a successful jump, since the maneuvering is a bit tricky and you'll have to start all over if you miss a jump.)
Some tips: You may need to hold down walk at times to make the snowmobile gow slower and action to make it go faster. You can also press reverse briefly to stop it from sliding off an edge from momentum.
Continue on, jumping the next large gap using the ramps on the left. Follow the left passage until you come to a chasm with two openings ahead, separated by a stone pillar. Get off the snowmobile and follow the right wall on foot. (You can do this on the snowmobile, but it's easier walking.) Pick up 2 pairs of grenades lying on the ground near an ice ladder. Climb up the ladder and pull a switch to open a gate ahead. 2 bad guys come out, so climb down and take care of them. Take their small med-pack and M-16 clips before getting back on your snowmobile.
Continue, following the left wall, across the gap and through the gate you just opened. Cross the high, narrow bridge, mowing down the bad guy who stands in your way and his 2 buddies in the next area. The next gap is very wide; you'll definitely need turbo to jump it.
When you get to the other side, climb off the snowmobile and proceed on foot. Walk out toward the right side of the chasm to trigger the avalanche. Jump to the white area, slide down and grab the edge, then drop and grab the cave opening below. Pull up into the cave and take the DRAWBRIDGE KEY. Head through the passage below to a wall of ice. Shoot the thug on the other side. Go into the next room, trip the icicle trap, then pull the switch to open the gate above.
Enter the cavern ahead. (Above is the wide gap you jumped earlier.) In the pit below are 2 pairs of grenades. 3 leopards emerge when you enter the pit, so quickly jump back up to the snowy ledge above and shoot them from here. Cross the cavern floor and climb the ice ladder on the other side. At the top is SECRET #2, the Jade Dragon. 2 leopards appear on the ramp opposite. Kill them from here, so they don't ambush you when you return this way later. Climb back down the ladder and up the ladder on the other side to the top.
Get back on the snowmobile and cross the cave, taking care to avoid any remaining snowballs. Continue to the next large cave. Use the key you found to raise the drawbridge. Then cross it on foot. Run/jump across the flat area to the right, avoiding the avalanche. You'll hear a huge rumbling as the snowy wall gives way in the previous area, blocking the way you came. Continue ahead and to the left to a deep chasm. Jump to the ledge on the left, slide and grab the edge, then traverse to the other side. Continue to emerge again in the room with the bridge.
At the foot of the huge snow bank is the HUT KEY. As you approach it, a baddie on a snowmobile comes in through the same door you entered. Shoot him, while dodging like mad. You can climb up on the snow to the right of the key and shoot at him from there. Just be sure to stand toward the front of the block. He can drive over the snow behind you, but he can't turn sharply enough to run you over. When he's finally dead, take the RED snowmobile (his is very cool with its guns and all, but it doesn't have the turbo feature) and head back to the hut.
You'll have to stop at the snowy barrier just past the cave with all the ramps and walk the rest of the way. Unlock the hut and take the 2 small med-packs, 2 sets of Uzi clips and 2 sets of M-16 clips lying on the floor before pulling the switch. This opens the cave gate, and 2 thugs with guns rush out. When you've killed them, take their large med-pack and auto pistol clips, and head into the cave.
Continue to a large open area where you'll meet another guy on a snowmobile. You can shoot him while dodging or run immediately to the back of the snowy block, where you can climb up to relative safety. Once the bad guy is dead, continue until you come to a deep chasm. From the top you can see the Gold Dragon down in a small opening. Jump and grab the left ledge, traverse across and take the ice ladder down. As soon as you drop to the ground, jump to the side to avoid the rolling snowballs. Repeat for a second wave of snow, then take the dragon, SECRET #3 (along with 4 sets of Uzi clips if you've found all three secrets). Climb back up and keep going.
When you reach the next large opening, 2 guys on snowmobiles will be waiting below. Immediately climb on the rock wall to the right and shoot them from there before climbing down. (The M-16 works nicely for targeting, but you can also take your time and use the pistols.) Proceed down the hill to the wall, where you'll find a moveable block. Push it twice to enter a cave where 2 more thugs are waiting. Another bad guy lurks in the cavern below, on a ledge to the right. Take him out before descending.
To get down to the bottom, you can take any of several routes: (1) First climb over the rocks on the left. Make sure you've got full health, then hang and drop to the ledge below. From the wide snowy ledge you can dive into the water or (2) climb down the rocks on the left. (The sniper isn't carrying anything, so you needn't bother going across to the other cave.) Or, (3), you can drive one of the snowmobiles over the edge and Lara will jump off landing safely in the water. (Thanks to various posters to the alt.games.tombraider newsgroup for #3.) In any case, you're aiming for a small tunnel in the far right corner. Follow this to the next level.
Copyright © 1998 Stellalune. Special thanks are given to the participants in the alt.games.tombraider newsgroup, without whom some parts of this walk-through couldn't have been written. Feel free to copy, distribute and quote this walk-through, but please include this credit line so people can send me their corrections, comments and suggestions. Also, if you'd like to offer this on your own web site, kindly ask permission first.