Tomb Raider Legend - Bolivia Redux
Items: health packs
Enemies: mercenaries, Amanda
Rewards: none
Time Trial: 04:15
In the initial cinematic
("Bolivia Redux") Lara returns to the stone dais where she
first met James Rutland. When Amanda, Rutland and their
mercenaries try and stop Lara, she whisks them aside with a
single swipe of Excalibur.
This level is fairly short. After
CHECKPOINT 1 you need to fight off the
squad of mercenaries guarding the
dais. Then, when they are defeated, you'll fight the final
boss.
IMPORTANT: It's a
good idea to save manually at the beginning of the level.
The soldiers drop numerous health packs. Then when you fight
the final boss for the first time, those health packs are
still lying around. However, if Lara dies fighting the
creature, the game reloads from the second checkpoint, and
the health packs are no longer available. If you reload the
save you made and fight the mercenaries again, you'll have
all that extra health for the more difficult fight.
During the battle against the mercenaries, reinforcements
arrive via the zip lines leading down to the platform. When
everyone's in place, there are 5 regular soldiers with
rifles, 4 men in riot gear, a man on each of the
2 machineguns and another 4 men
carrying grenade launchers (they're the ones in green and
white). But even 15 armed men are
no match for Lara wielding Excalibur.
Keep moving, jump and dodge the grenades and slash out
with Excalibur. Use the pedestals and Natla Industries
crates for cover. (A little Easter egg referencing TR1, for
those who remember it.) Try and take out the men on the big
guns first. Then move around the area dealing with anyone
else you encounter. For the guys in riot gear, it helps to
use the aerial attack, where you run toward the enemy, start
firing, press Jump twice, then as the action shifts to slow
motion, plant a few shots right into your opponent. The
soldiers drop only health packs,
but that's all you need. You could use the machineguns, but
Excalibur is more powerful and it's portable. When the last
mercenary falls, another cut scene kicks in.
James and Amanda stagger to their feet, but Rutland
quickly succumbs to his injuries. Lara tells Amanda it
needn't come to this; they can replace the sword together,
but Amanda wants Excalibur for her own reasons. She uses the
amulet she found in the ruins to transform into an even more
hideous monster. (This cinematic is titled "Amanda
Rises".)
CHECKPOINT 2 registers after
the cut scene. Now you must defeat the
Amanda-Creature hybrid. Blast the monster with
Excalibur while dodging its energy
blasts. Note that just before the creature sends out
a blast, there is a telltale shimmer on the ground where the
shockwave will hit. Jump or roll away from that spot when
you see this happen. Pick up health packs
when you need them (see the note marked "IMPORTANT" above)
and avoid the edges of the platform
as much as possible. The monster can easily shove Lara off
the edge.
In order to kill it, you must first injure it so that it
falls down for a few moments. At that point, you'll see the
Interact icon appear above Amanda, who is inside the
creature. Use running somersaults (Forward + Duck) to move
in quickly. Then stab her with Excalibur by pressing
Interact. You need to move fast, or the monster will get up
before you can reach it.
Whether or not you succeed in stabbing Amanda, the
creature will rise up again and regenerate some of its
health. But each time you're able to hit Amanda, the monster
is weakened and regenerates less. So repeat the process
several times: Injure it until it lies down. Then, when the
Interact icon appears, slash at close range with Excalibur.
After three successful repetitions, the monster will finally
be weak enough to finish off. Blast it until the Interact
icon appears again and then deliver the killing blow by
pressing Interact.
Those are the basics. Here are a few additional tips that
may help. (Thanks to Sarah, Liz O., Richard Croft, Nightmist
and other players on the Eidos forums for these tips.
- If you're low on health, follow the advice on saving
and reloading in the note marked "IMPORTANT" above. It
can make a big difference.
- Some of the broken statues (the ones with
rectangular bases, not the pillars) can be used for
cover, at least for a little while. If you find a
"sweet" spot, stay there and blast away. However, you'll
have to run out from cover when it's time to stab
Amanda. You may be better off using the alternatives
below.
- Set the Combat Mode to Advanced Toggle (under Combat
in the Options menu). Since the monster is the only
enemy, this will keep Lara locked onto it.
- Stay right underneath the monster. Then Lara does
heavy damage with each blast from Excalibur and she's
right there when it's time to drive the sword in.
- Once you've gotten the monster down and it rises up
again, stay fairly close to it and keep away from the
pillars and rocks. Then repeatedly slash with Excalibur
whilst doing side flips and backflips. If you keep up
this barrage, the monster won't have enough time to
blast Lara.
- Don't swing Excalibur too quickly. Its power can
knock Lara to the ground, making the fight even more
difficult than it already is.
When the monster has
been defeated, the final cut scene ("Answers Breed
Questions") begins. Lara takes Amanda's amulet. Then,
following the diagrams in her pink Yeti journal, she places
the sword in the stone and activates the portal. Lara tries
to communicate with her mother through the portal, but Lady
Croft doesn't recognize her grown-up daughter or understand
what's going on. Amanda wakes up and shouts at Lara to
remove the sword to prevent the portal from
self-destructing. Apparently Lady Croft hears Amanda's
shouted warning and removes the sword on her side (remember,
we saw her do this in the earlier cinematic, "Nepal - Part
2") and the portal explodes.
Lara demands answers
from Amanda, who explains that the mythical realm of Avalon
is in fact a real place and Lara's mother has gone there.
Amanda berates Lara for preventing her from using the
portal, but her anger is nothing compared to Lara's fury
over the loss of her mother. When she has gotten all the
information she can from Amanda, Lara leaves her at the dais
and heads home. She tells Zip and Alister to make plans;
they've still got work to do.
To be continued...?
NOTE: If,
after finishing the game and finding all rewards, your save
still only displays 98% or 99% completion, try
re-playing Bolivia Redux. Apparently that fixes this bug. As
far as I know, you can replay the level in regular or time
trial mode and use any cheats you wish.

Walkthrough text, maps, diagrams, and all
other original images copyright © 1997-2008 Stellalune.
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