LEVEL 5: VALLEY OF THE KINGS
Secrets: 3**
Cut Scene: The traitorous guide crosses the open area ahead.
BUG NOTE: A few players who've used the all-weapons cheat to obtain the grenade launcher or crossbow have reported that using grenades or explosive arrows here may result in your not being able to pick up the key for the Jeep. I have not been able to duplicate this, but, just to be safe, avoid doing this or at least save your game first just in case.
OPEN AREA OUTSIDE BURIAL CHAMBER: Enter the open area cautiously. Von Croy's armed minions (7 in all, not counting the guide) lurk behind every rock. Pick them off one by one. You can use the stone blocks and alcoves for cover, but I found it easier (and less wasteful of ammo and medipaks) to run right up to the current target, shooting with pistols or shotgun. Run past him, roll, and finish him off from behind. This doesn't work as well with the one guy carrying the sword. For him, you can switch to the shotgun and make short work of him, or continue with the pistols, back flipping away from him as you shoot.
During the fighting, there's another brief cut scene, in which the guide approaches one of the Jeeps.
When all the enemies are dead, scour the ground for dropped items: 3 sets of Uzi clips, 3 small medipaks, 1 large medipak and the IGNITION KEY for one of the vehicles. There's a small, dark opening in the rocks to the right of the doorway where you exited the tomb. (One of the blue-robed bad guys emerged here.) Climb in, light a flare and you'll see a ledge at the back of the recess where you can climb up and find secret #1 (19/70), the SHOTGUN and 2 boxes of shells (or 3 boxes of shells if you already have the gun). These are 3 separate pick-ups, so be sure not to leave anything behind. (NOTE: The locations of this secret and the next are shown in this screenshot.)
The dark opening in the corner to the left of the tomb entrance is empty, but from the ledge at the opening, you can jump to grab the stone block on the left (when facing out). Pull up, then climb up to the long ledge above the tomb entrance. This is secret #2 (20/70). In all you'll find 2 boxes of shotgun shells, a small medipak and Uzi clips. Slide down the greenish stone support to the ground.
JEEP RIDE THROUGH CAVES AND CANYONS: This isn't exactly a car chase, since the guide stops to wait for you if you get out of your Jeep to explore. But you can pretend if you want to. As you drive along, you'll want to watch out for the grenades launched from the other vehicle, and take care to brake on some of the long, bumpy downhill stretches so Lara doesn't get hurt.
(NOTE: If you need help with the Jeep controls, see the gameplay page. You may notice as you drive along, that certain areas of the rock wall open into passageways after the enemy Jeep passes. These openings enable you to explore the entire level on foot. However, you must have the Jeep in order to get up the hill at the end of the level. So unless you want to do quite a bit of backtracking, you might as well drive the through the whole level.)
Follow the guide through the caves. When you reach the first big open area, run over the 2 gunmen standing around. Then continue downhill and through the cave. At the LARGE GAP AND ROCK BRIDGE, stay to the right to drive up onto the rock bridge and run over another of Von Croy's henchmen. Stop the Jeep on top of the rock bridge (or just on the other side) and get out. Walk back down the ramp to the side of the gap where you started (the east side).
There's an opening under the rock overhang that juts out above the deep pit lined with spikes. Climb down the rock ladder into the pit, then over to the right and up to this opening. Getting in can be a little tricky. Position Lara's hands on the bottom edge of the opening, release Action to let go and force Lara to lose her foothold. Then quickly press Action again to re-grab the opening, and immediately press Crouch and Forward to pull up into the crawlspace. If you can't do this sequence fast enough, climb to the right as far as possible, so Lara's shoulder is against the right wall. Now release Action and immediately press it again. When she re-grabs the edge of the opening, her legs should continue to hang. Press Crouch and Forward to climb into the opening. (Details are shown in these screenshots.)
Crawl through, turn around and safety drop into the cave. This is secret #2 (21/70), small and large medipaks, plus (4) super grenades. Climb out of the cave and back to the top of the pit the way you came.
(NOTE: It's possible to climb down to the bottom of the pit, sliding to the ground in the middle, where there are no spikes. But in order to get out, you need to go through the spikes, wasting precious medipaks, in order to grab the ladder on the west side. There's nothing of interest down there, though, so don't bother unless you just enjoy a challenge.)
Get back into the Jeep and continue past the rock bridge and into the cave on the right. You'll go down a hill then up another. At the top, you'll need to run over a gunman. Soon you'll come to a deep canyon. Head to the right and circle around the rim counter-clockwise. Run over another gunman at the end of the rock ledge, just before turning right and going down into another cave. As you drive up the next hill, the level ends.
*FYI: The Theban Mapping Project has more info on the Valley of the Kings at http://www.kv5.com/intro.html
**NOTE: There are 70 secrets in the entire game. These are marked "(x/70)" in this walkthrough. To check your progress in-game, press Pause and choose Statistics.
Copyright © 2000 - Stellalune (e-mail stella@tombraiders.net). Special thanks are given to the participants in the alt.games.tombraider newsgroup, without whom some parts of this walkthrough couldn't have been written. Thanks also to George G., Harry C., Jens V. and James Bond for their help on this level. Feel free to copy, distribute and quote this walkthrough, 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.
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