LEVEL 11: THE 13th FLOOR
Kills: 14* Items: 16 plus 1 keycard, 2
access disks, a cloth, 2 vials of chloroform, the Iris
artifact and 3 Golden Rose Secrets.
Starting Inventory: Heckler & Koch assault rifle,
30 HK rounds, headset, Timex TMX watch, 3 small medipaks, 1
large medipak.
IMPORTANT:
The VCI Headquarters levels can be difficult, especially the
final level, Red Alert! Unlike previous levels and previous
Tomb Raider games, you have neither your unlimited-ammo
pistols nor the luxury of accumulating equipment for a dozen
or so levels beforehand. So be sure to conserve ammo and
medipaks, or you may not finish. Whenever possible, I
have described ways of handling things that are least
damaging to Lara.
Cut scene: After sliding
through the chute into the level, Lara makes radio contact
with her assistant Zip. He tells her to go through the ducts
and try not to attract too much attention. During their
conversation we see a nearby vent with a medipak behind it
as well as a 360-degree view of Lara in her rubber catsuit.
VENTILATION DUCTS: Start by going to the left
toward the large medipak you saw
in the cut scene. Set the HK on sniper mode, use the scope
to target the vent and shoot it. Crawl into the duct, pick
up the medipak and continue forward past the light blue
bars.
Cut scene: A view of the
SUIT ROOM below. Note the golden rose on the floor. A man
wearing an armored suit enters. Zip tells Lara about the
suits and the weaponry—lasers with a limited range but a lot
of power.
Continue to a T intersection with a
laser trap. Hold the crawl button and go to the right
underneath the laser. Pick up the large
medipak. Crawl back in the other direction, past the
passage where you came in to a vent in the floor
crisscrossed with more deadly lasers.
When the moving laser array goes toward the other end of the
duct, stand up and take a forward jump over the
laser-trapped vent. Run on to the next T intersection.
Shoot the vent on the left. The duct below contains
another laser trap. Wait for the
laser to move off to the left. Then jump down and
immediately crouch. Turn to face the ramp. When the laser
passes behind Lara, stand and run to the wall. Crouch and
crawl through the opening before the laser returns.
Alternatively, once Lara is crouching under the laser array,
crawl about halfway up the ramp, wait for the lasers to pass
behind her, then continue crawling up the ramp and into the
opening.
Continue to a vent, which opens when you approach. You
lose control of the Look button here, but fortunately the
SUIT ROOM below is safe. Jump down and pick up the
golden rose you saw in the
previous cut scene. (This is secret #1,
28/36.)
Climb back into the duct and face the
laser array. When it approaches
Lara then moves away, crawl out, stand, and run forward a
few steps, then duck. Crawl on to an opening above on the
right. When the laser moves away, pull up into the duct. Or,
crawl to the opening and wait for the lasers to move away.
Crawl out after them, and continue crawling down the slope.
Continue crawling forward and to the right so Lara is
directly under the opening to the duct. When the lasers pass
away, stand and quickly pull up into the opening.
Once back inside the duct, crawl through to another T
intersection. Continue straight ahead to an opening on the
left. Jump down into the DIMLY LIT STOREROOM. Search
the shelves for a small medipak,
HK clips and a
HAMMER.
The door won't open, so climb back into the duct and head
back to the start of the level. To get there, start by going
to the right. Turn left at the T, walk to the edge of the
square depression with the
laser-protected vent. When the
moving laser array passes the vent moving away from
Lara, take a standing jump across the vent. Duck
immediately. Then crawl forward and through the opening on
the right. Go straight on past the opening with the light
blue bars overlooking the SUIT ROOM to the next overhead
fan.
The duct around the corner (where you started the level)
now contains 2 moving laser arrays,
one above the other. Getting through without taking damage
is very difficult, so be sure to save your game first.
Notice how the lasers are staggered slightly: The lower
one comes a little closer than the upper, and doesn't go
quite as far in the other direction as the upper one.
Position Lara facing the lasers but not too close. Use the
Look button to see what's happening. When the lower laser
approaches then moves away, run forward just a few steps—not
far enough for the upper laser to reach Lara. Wait for the
top array to approach then move off. The lower array comes
toward Lara just after this. Take a standing jump over it.
Then run forward several steps and duck just before the
upper laser array reaches Lara. Quickly crawl forward as the
upper laser passes overhead. Don't hesitate, or the lower
laser will catch up. Still crouching, turn to face the
ladder. Wait for the upper laser to return and move away.
Then stand, grab the ladder and climb up. Follow the duct to
a vent above the IRIS ROOM.
Cut scene: Lara asks Zip to
find a way to deactivate the force field protecting the
IRIS. He says he's on it.
After the movie, continue forward and pick up the
HK clips under the fan. Keep
going.
Cut scene: A brief view of
another guy in an armored suit standing in the room below.
The duct along the ceiling is the one Lara is in now.
PADLOCKED GATE: The duct ends at a locked gate.
You can choose between two methods of opening it. If you
shoot the padlock, the duct
collapses, dumping Lara into the room with the
guy in the armored suit. If you
use the HAMMER to open the lock, the duct remains intact.
You avoid the armored guy but miss one pick up: a small
medipak. (After using the HAMMER, continue with the section
titled ROOM WITH FISH-BONE LADDER, below.)
If you choose to take on the armored guy, set the HK on
sniper or burst mode and use the scope (Look button) to
shoot the lock. When Lara slides down the chute, turn and
immediately use the scope to aim for the armored guy's face
(his one vulnerable spot). Or, avoid him by immediately
climbing back into the duct. To do this quickly, roll, run
forward to the wall, back flip onto the top of the broken
duct, hop back once, then take a standing jump forward into
the opening where the duct separated. In any case, this is
the way you'll need to leave this room whether or not you
kill the suit guy. After climbing up into the broken duct,
look for an opening in the floor just ahead.
(NOTE: If you missed secret
#1 in the SUIT ROOM, you can still go back for it as long as
you don't drop into this opening. Instead, jump over it to
grab the other side. Pull up and follow the vent back past
the IRIS ROOM to the ladder. Climb down to the duct where
you started the level. You'll need to make your way back
through the laser traps,
following the walkthrough above in reverse.)
If you already got secret #1 (or don't want it) and are
ready to go on, drop through the opening in the floor into
the duct below. Go through the duct with the slats and loud
explosions. Pick up the small medipak
on the floor and climb the ladder.
ROOM WITH FISH-BONE LADDER: Before climbing this
ladder, pull up into the alcove behind it to get some
HK clips. Drop down and go around
to the front of the fish-bone ladder. Climb to just below
the moving laser array. Climb to
the right side of the ladder. (This will buy you a little
more time to get past the lasers.) Then, when the lasers
move off to the left, climb up past them. At the top, shoot
the hole-riddled panel on the left. Climb into the duct and
pick up the HK clips on the left.
13th FLOOR - HALLWAY WITH SODA MACHINE AND
GUARD: Getting into the hall at the end of the duct
requires a bit of finesse. If the guard
on patrol sees Lara, he'll run to the left end of the hall
and activate a machine gun turret
on the ceiling. To prevent this, walk cautiously toward the
small opening. When you hear the dramatic music, stop, draw
your weapon and make sure it's set on sniper mode. The guard
won't notice Lara if she doesn't go any farther forward. Use
the scope (Look button) to line up a head shot as the guard
passes back and forth. If you're careful, one round will
take him down.
Jump down from the duct. There are
deadly lasers crossing the hall just beyond the
Fizwiz Cola machine. (Easter egg alert!) To get past them,
shoot the vent near the floor opposite the duct where you
came in. Crawl through to the higher spot just before the
vent at the other end. Shoot this vent and crawl out.
There's an ELEVATOR down the hall to the left and a
sleeping guard in the glassed-in
office to the right.
Cut scene: Zip warns Lara
that she'll need to avoid waking up the guard in order to
steal his access card.
If you run or make noise near the sleeping guard, he'll
awaken, call another guard and
activate a machine gun turret
over the desk, making it next to impossible to get the card.
It is possible to sneak into the office and get the card.
But if you don't kill the sleeping guard, you'll meet two
more guards later on. At that point you'll use up more ammo
than you'd save by letting sleeping beauty live.
Walk quietly into the glassed-in office and
take out the sleeping guard with a single shot to the head.
As long as you kill him stealthily, the second guard doesn't
appear. Pick up the HIGH-LEVEL ACCESS
CARD on the desk and use it in the receptacle on the
wall nearby. This open the STOREROOM and deactivates
the lasers out in the hall.
Search the shelves in the STOREROOM to find a
small medipak and
2 sets of HK clips. Exit the
office and continue down the hall to the ELEVATOR.
Press the button on the wall to
call the elevator. Enter and press the
button inside to ride up.
Cut scene: Two guards in
conversation at the right end of the hallway.
THE 16th FLOOR: If you run out of the
elevator as soon as it opens, the 2
guards will be alerted and start shooting. This will
alert a third guard, who comes up
the ramp at the end of the hall behind the first two. To get
past this spot with no health loss and only three rounds
spent, set the HK on sniper mode and walk
slowly toward the open elevator doors. If you position Lara
at the left side of the opening, you can use the scope (Look
button) to target the head of each guard from behind the
large gray box. Shoot the one on the left first, and the one
on the right won't move right away, leaving you plenty of
time to set up your next shot. Run out from behind the boxes
toward where the guards fell, then walk to the
end of the hall. If you were able to take out the first two
with quick head shots, the third guard at the bottom of the
ramp will not be alerted. You can then kill him from behind
with another head shot.
Go to the end of the hallway behind the crates (farthest
from the guards). Use the HIGH-LEVEL ACCESS CARD in the
computer console to open the triangular door. The
2 orange-suited workers in the
COMPUTER ROOM ignore Lara as long as she doesn't draw
her weapon. (If she does, they'll cower and activate a
machine gun turret.) Press the
button on the square console to
activate a hologram of the IRIS. Doing this also opens a
door at the far end of the hall.
Exit, and follow the hall past the ELEVATOR to the end.
Turn right and go down the ramp. If you pressed the button
in the COMPUTER ROOM, the next door opens as you approach.
Go through the room with the metal dome above the IRIS and
enter the SUIT LOCKER ROOM. Press the
button to the right of the
orange-suited worker to open the
locker. The suit emerges and an ACCESS
CODE DISK falls on the floor. Pick it up and go back
to the ELEVATOR the way you came. Press the
button to ride back down to the
13th FLOOR.
BACK ON THE 13th FLOOR: If you killed
the sleeping guard in the glassed-in office earlier, this
hall will now be clear. If you didn't kill him, get ready
for an ambush. Draw your weapon and kill the
2 guards on the right. Then
follow the corridor past the Fizwiz Cola machine. Use the
ACCESS CODE DISK in the console at the end of the hall to
open the grate above. Climb into the duct.
Cut scene: A series of
explosions begins in a vertical shaft with a pole. Notice
the opening about halfway down the shaft.
Walk forward and turn right to face the
climbing pole, but don't get
too close or the explosions will
cause Lara to catch fire. Use the Look button to position
Lara facing the pole squarely. Now observe the pattern: four
strong blasts followed by several less powerful ones. On the
last of the four strong blasts run forward and press Action
to grab the pole. Slide down about halfway. When Lara is
between the two sets of slats, press Jump to back flip into
the opening behind her.
At the end of this duct is a golden
rose (secret #2,
29/36). Get it then drop to the bottom of the shaft with the
pole. Go through the crawlspace to a BIG ROOM WITH
CATWALKS. Start across the catwalk.
Cut scene: Zip chimes in
over the headset, advising Lara to be especially wary of the
"hulk" in the armored suit below. He suggests she again take
advantage of the suit's open faceplate.
(BUG NOTE:
Some players have reported that their game freezes as Lara
steps out onto the catwalk. If this happens to you, try
restarting the game. Then next time, keep to the middle of
the catwalk and walk instead of running forward.)
Cross the catwalk and enter a hall with overhead pipes.
Go into the DARK STOREROOM on the right and take a
small medipak and a
CLOTH from the shelves. Continue
along the hall with overhead pipes to a second catwalk
parallel to the first. Cross this catwalk and go down the
stairs.
Skirt the perimeter of the room, keeping the wall on
Lara's left. Be sure to walk to avoid
attracting the attention of the guy in
the armored suit. Use the HIGH-LEVEL ACCESS CARD to
open the door on the far side of the room. Still
walking, enter the ROOM WITH THE INSECT CAGES
and stay close to the right wall. Search the first cabinet
in the near right corner to get a large
medipak and a VIAL OF CHLOROFORM.
If you move to the second cabinet, one of the cages shatters
and a swarm of bugs emerges. You
can avoid this by skipping the second cabinet for now.
Instead walk out of the room. When you do the glass case
shatters, but the bugs will have dispersed by the time you
finish this next bit of business.
Walk back out to the big room and approach the guy in the
armored suit from behind. Don't get too close—a few steps
away is enough. Combine the CLOTH and CHLOROFORM, and use it
on the guy.
Cut scene: Lara subdues the
man by holding the chloroform-soaked cloth over his open
faceplate.
Once the suit guy is taken care of, you can return to the
INSECT CAGE ROOM and look in the second cabinet. Inside
you'll find a small medipak and
another VIAL OF CHLOROFORM.
(NOTE: I have heard from
several players that it's possible to kill the armored guy
by aiming for his open faceplate. However, once you attract
his attention, another guy in an armored
suit enters through the door in the far corner.
You'll need to use the crates for cover to avoid having
these two gang up on you. I found the chloroform method much
easier.)
Use the ACCESS CARD to open the door he was guarding. On
the floor just after the hallway narrows are some
HK clips. (I missed them at first
since they're hard to spot on the textured floor.) When you
move forward, the door closes behind and another
guy in an armored suit emerges.
Hop back if you want to, then use sniper mode to aim for his
open faceplate. When you've killed him, pick up the
IRIS LAB ACCESS disk he drops. (It
is also a bit difficult to see on the textured metal floor.)
Use the disk in the computer console to open the door at the
end of the hall.
LASER-TESTING ROOM: Advance just to the first
window. Inside the glassed-in laser room, an orange-suited
worker is testing a laser. A guard
patrols the hallway outside. If he sees Lara he'll run to
the far end of the hallway, activate the
gun turret on the ceiling then
attack. You may want to save your game before
attempting to get past him.
Stand near the first glass panel and watch the guard to
learn his routine. He comes toward Lara but turns around
just before reaching the corner. When he does, run out
behind him and into the first alcove on the left. Stand Lara
at the back left corner (right corner if she's facing out
into the hall). If she is positioned correctly the guard
won't notice her when he passes. Use the Look button to
watch the guard. He'll pass going to the right, then turn
and go back to the left. When he does, follow him and duck
into the next alcove. This time, position Lara at the back
right corner (left corner if facing out). Wait for the guard
to pass to the right. Then run to the left end of the hall
into the SMALL CONTROL ROOM.
Cut scene: Zip tells Lara
that the next door requires two access cards used
simultaneously. He advises her not to kill the worker since
she'll need his help to open the door.
After the cut scene, turn around and shoot the
guard, who is now alert to Lara's
presence.
Now you have a choice of two paths: If you take
Zip's advice and don't kill the orange suited worker, you'll
miss a secret. So ignore Zip this time and shoot the
worker. I found it impossible to
aim for his head and had to use burst mode or about eight
single rounds to kill him.
(NOTE: If you choose not to
kill the orange-suited worker, you'll need to threaten him
to make him open the door. Draw your weapon and approach
him. A cut scene ensues in which Lara forces the worker to
open the door then knocks him out. Go through the door you
just opened. Pick up the walkthrough below at the section
titled STAIRWELL NEAR THE IRIS ROOM. You enter the stairwell
at the middle landing.)
Cut scene: Zip criticizes
Lara as two guards enter the hallway beyond the
LASER-TESTING ROOM.
Go back into the hallway but don't turn the corner, since
the gun turret on the ceiling is
now functional. Wait for the 2 guards
to come to you. Then kill them. Sprint past the gun turret,
taking a little damage in the process. Continue to the end
of the hall. When the guards came in, they opened a panel on
the left. Follow this hallway, killing 2
more guards on the way down.
Continue to a T intersection with a
laser trap. Crawl in under the laser array and turn
left. When the laser passes behind Lara, stand and run up to
the end of the duct. Pick up another
golden rose (secret #3,
30/36). Turn around to face the laser array. When it moves
away, run after it and duck at the low point in the floor.
Wait for the laser to pass in the other direction. Then
stand and run up the ramp and through the door, which closes
behind you.
STAIRWELL NEAR THE IRIS ROOM: Straight ahead is a
door that opens automatically. Behind it is the hallway
leading to the IRIS ROOM. For now, the IRIS is protected by
a force field. Climb the metal
stairs to a control room. The switch
inside next to the door shuts off the force field for about
20 seconds. You'll need to run down the stairs to the IRIS
ROOM and grab the artifact before the force field comes back
on. This task is made even more difficult by the loss of the
Look button in the stairwell.
You can probably figure out your own method, but here's
what worked for me. If you find the Mission Impossible-style
music distracting, run the gauntlet once then save your game
at the switch. Next time the music won't play. If you use
Sprint at all, wait until you're inside the IRIS ROOM, since
it's impossible to make tight turns while sprinting.
Now the run: Pull the switch, turn right and run through
the doorway and down the stairs. Circle to the left as you
come down the first set of stairs. Then run across the
landing, veering to the left a little to go down the
opposite set of stairs. Circle to the right as you come down
the second set of stairs. Then cut to the right into the
hallway leading to the IRIS ROOM. If you make it this far
without running into anything, you should be home free. Now
you can see where you're going, so just run up to the
IRIS and grab it.
Alternatively, to shave a few seconds off the run, pull
the switch, side flip to the right, take a running jump to
clear the railing and land on the next landing below. Roll
then run down the stairs and around to the left (i.e.,
Lara's left, which is the right side of the screen, since at
this point you're seeing Lara from the front). Continue
around to the left into the hallway leading to the IRIS
ROOM. Run or sprint up the ramp and across the room to get
the IRIS.
Or, if you don't mind cheating a little, you can exploit
a bug in the game. (I figure it's only fair, with all the
bad bugs you have to deal with.) Flip the switch,
sidestep once to the left, back flip twice to land just in
front of the angled windows above the IRIS ROOM. Then crouch
and crawl backwards. Hold the Action key as if backing down
off a ledge, and Lara should crawl THROUGH the window to
drop into the room below. Roll and run across the room to
get the IRIS.
Exit the IRIS ROOM through the hallway on the other side.
*Note on Kills: The number of kills varies
depending on how you play certain areas. The number 14 is
based on following this walkthrough.
Walkthrough text, maps, diagrams, and all
other original images copyright © 1997-2008 Stellalune.
All
rights reserved.
Tomb Raider
Chronicles
Escape with the Iris
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