Tomb Raider 2 Level 7: 40 Fathoms
Kills: 16 Items: 7 (11)* plus 3 secrets
(*Under found items, the number in parentheses shows total including extra items granted for finding all three secrets. Note that two of the regular pick-ups here will be the shotgun and harpoon gun if you didn't get them in previous levels.)
This level begins with a movie. Lara hitches a ride on the submersible and winds up stranded at the bottom of the sea.
UNDERWATER: You had better find some air and fast! Turn around 180 degrees and swim forward, veering a little toward the left. Following the trail of junk on the sea floor to a sunken ship, and avoid the great white shark. At the far left end of the wreck you'll see the anchor sticking out the top. Behind it is an opening. Swim inside, surface and get some air.
The shark will follow you in, along with a second shark not far behind. You can try and harpoon them or hurry to the next safe area: Go through the large underwater opening on the right. Swim up and through a small passageway on the left. In the next room at the far left is another small opening. Go through this opening and head for the back left corner. Pull the lever that opens the trapdoor in the floor nearby. Go through the trapdoor, then into the next room where you can surface for air. (Players of TR1: Note the creepy recycled Atlantis music.)
INSIDE THE SUNKEN SHIP: Swim through the opening behind the stack of crates. Pull the switch, which drains the water from the previous room. Return and use the crates to climb into the opening at the top. Drop down into the next room, taking care of the goon with the shotgun and avoiding the four center squares, which are actually a trapdoor into the room below. When the goon is dead, take his shotgun shells and SECRET #1, the Silver Dragon. (NOTE: If you didn't pick up the SHOTGUN earlier, you'll get it from this guy instead of the shells.)
Now drop through the floor, kill the 2 thugs waiting below and grab their small medipak and harpoons. Climb the wooden blocks to get to the opening high in one corner.
TIMED DOORS AND BURNERS: The following area involves several timed doors and twisting passageways. To make it easier, I've included a diagram (below). In the descriptions that follow I refer to areas marked with letters and numbers, and paths marked in various colors. You can probably manage without the map, but it may help.
First, go for the secret in the water outside. The switch (1) on the wall to the left as you enter this area opens a door at the far end of the passage and to the left (A). It's the fairly well camouflaged door on the short side of the wet floor. The door is on a timer, so flip the switch, press Look, then roll, and run down the passage, jumping over the floor level pipes [light blue path on diagram]. Once you're inside the door, it'll stay open.
At the end of this short passageway is a hole leading to the outside. Follow the underwater passage to an open area. SECRET #2, the Jade Dragon, rests on the sea floor to the left. (You can see it through the portholes in the passageway to the right of the area with water on the floor.) A shark and 3 barracudas stand guard. Theoretically, you can harpoon them, but I found it easier to just swim fast and avoid them as well as you can. When you've grabbed the dragon, return the way you came.
Now you'll need to get past the series of burners to the door beyond. This is nasty, so make sure you're well rested. First, the lay of the land: After returning from getting the Jade Dragon (door A), turn right into the main hall, then left into a low, narrow hallway. Continue to an opening in the ceiling. In the room above is a switch (2) which opens a door elsewhere (B). You only need to do this part once, as door B stays open. After opening the door, go there by dropping down, heading to the right down the narrow hallway, then turning right at the wide corridor, continuing past the corridor with the burners, then turning right again.
NOW THE TIMED RUN: Begin in the room at the end of the hallway (B). Flip the switch (3) to turn off the first pair of burners. Press Look, roll, and run like mad to the burners [yellow path on diagram]. Flip the first switch here (4) to open another door (C) in the area with water on the floor. Look, side flip to the left twice, then run like mad to that door (C) [green path]. Flip the switch here (5) to turn off the second set of burners, then run back to the room (B) with the switch (3) that turns off the first set of burners [pink path]. Flip that switch again. All the burners should be off now, so run back to the hallway with the burners [yellow path again] and stop after the last burner. Now you can breathe deeply and pull the last switch (6) to exit. Whew!
MY TIPS: Once you know where you're going, press Look as soon as you flip each switch to get Lara's perspective back. You can press Roll at the same time, then immediately start running. Take running jumps through the low doorways rather than pulling up. Do running jumps down the straight hallways to cover more ground, and of course do a smooth series of running jumps over the pipe hurdles. Lastly, if you've run any leg of this gauntlet successfully, save your game as Lara is working the switch. Then if you flub the next run, you won't have to start all over.
[NOTE: If you just can't manage the fancy finger work, you can either download a PC savegame or Macintosh savegame (this file includes various other saves as well), with Lara on the other side of the burners. For help using savegame and .zip files, see here. Or, try sidestepping or side-flipping along the wall past the burners, pulling the levers and feeding Lara medipaks as you go, until you reach the other side and can jump into the water. I find this a major waste of medipaks, but if it's the only way....]
STACKED UNDERWATER OPENINGS: The room beyond contains a pool. Take a dip to draw out a barracuda, then shoot it from above. Now comes yet another test of your patience. Swim down then up through a trapdoor. Head up through the next two openings. In the top area find the lever and pull it to open a door at the bottom (and close your escape to air). Head down into the opening you just made, and pull another lever to open the hatch at the very top. In an alcove near the lever is SECRET #3, the Gold Dragon. You can get it now, or surface for air first. Three more barracudas appear, so swim back to the top, get out of the water and take care of them. Now return and get the secret if you didn't get it at first. (NOTE: The bonus for all three secrets is 4 bundles of harpoons.)
BIG ROOMS FILLED WITH DIRT: Follow the passage from the water and drop down into a big room full of reddish dirt. Follow the wall around to an opening in the floor. Drop down into an even bigger dirt-filled room below. Find the movable crate in the corner. Pull it twice and use it to climb into the opening above. Pull the switch here to open the trapdoor above and dump a lot of dirt from above into the larger room. Climb down from the alcove then climb up the dirt pile to the two small openings in the ceiling along the left wall. (There are ladders painted on the wall below them.) Go up through the one on the left. (The one on the right is where you came down earlier.) From this room, continue up through an opening in the ceiling. Pull the switch here to flood a large room elsewhere. Return to the lowest dirt-filled room and climb up through the right opening of the two next to each other. Climb up the dirt pile in this room to the large, rectangular opening high on one wall. Flip another switch here to open a door in the room you just flooded.
Return again to the lowest dirt-filled room and climb over to the far left wall, beyond the open trapdoors. Enter a winding passageway and follow it to the end. Jump in the water and head for the door. A scuba diver lies in wait. Harpoon him or climb out and shoot him. Go through the passageway he came from, and climb out of the water to find yourself under attack by 2 goons with a gun and wrench. When they're dead, lift a large medipak and shotgun shells, plus 2 bundles of harpoons lying on the floor. (NOTE: If you don't already have the HARPOON GUN, you'll get it here instead of one of the bunches of harpoons.) Pull the switch to open the door and exit the level.
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