Tomb Raider 3 INDIA PART 3:  THE RIVER GANGES

*There are two paths through this level. The totals above are for the path which leads past all of the secrets. The alternate path, through the ruins, will give you 29 kills and 24 items, plus 2 keys, 3 save crystals and only 4 secrets. One of the secrets will include the SHOTGUN if you didn't get it in a previous level. Be sure to find all the secrets so you can access the bonus level at the end of the game.

Objectives:  Travel down-river on your borrowed quad bike to find the level exit. If you take the path through the ruins, you'll need to locate 2 keys and open the gates that will let you drive the quad bike through for the final jump across the river.

Walk-through:  Don't get on that bike yet; first, find a secret. Turn around, go past the temple and the fallen blocks to a ledge above the river. Turn around, drop back and climb down the rock ladder and left to a green ledge. (NOTE: Save your game frequently if you can. If at any time you fall into the river, you'll need to restart since the strong current and the piranhas will quickly put an end to poor Lara.) Turn around and take a running jump to the stone ledge ahead. Run, jump and grab the next ledge; pull up. (This jump is quite tricky. Be sure to jump from the left side of the block and hold Forward and Jump the entire time.) Turn left, take a running jump to grab the next ledge, and pull up. Turn right and take a running jump to the L-shaped ledge. Take a standing jump to the next ledge, using Action to lower Lara's arc so she doesn't hit the low ceiling. Take a running jump to the next ledge and another running jump to grab the last. Enter the room for SECRET #1.

Inside is a series of angled blocks above sharp blades. Stand with the first angled block on Lara's left. Side flip onto the slope and hold Jump to spring off each of the blocks in turn, landing on the square pillar above. Collect shotgun shells, a save/power-up crystal and a large med-pack from the ledges and drop down. (NOTE: If you don't already have the SHOTGUN, you'll get it here instead of the shells.) Return to the beginning of the level the way you came.

(NOTE: I recommend saving about 20 shotgun shells for the end of the India levels. They'll come in handy taking care of the powerful "boss" character.)

Above and behind the quad bike is a small opening containing MP5 clips and flares. Pick those up then get on the bike and ride around almost to where you climbed down the ladders. Jump the bike over the river from the little hill into the tunnel on the other side. (NOTE: To get up some extra speed use "turbo": hold the brake—same key as Sprint—and press Action to rev the engine. Then release the brake and go.)

Ride through the tunnel, past the pit on the left. Park and get off the bike before the next gap. (NOTE: To dismount, press Roll + Left/Right.) Climb down the ladder into the pit to get SECRET #2—shotgun shells, flares and a large med-pack. Climb back up and ride over the pit. Continue to an area with several ramps. Jump the first gap, turn left and jump the next gap. Park the bike near the gold gate. Climb down then up to the top of the first ramp. Jump to the opening on the left.

Follow the passage. There's a cobra just around the first bend. Kill it and continue. Soon you'll come to a hole in the floor above the gold gate and bike. Jump over it. Continue, killing another cobra and picking up a small med-pack from the ground nearby. Drop through the next opening, kill 2 monkeys, grab the save/power-up crystal and press the button to open the gold gate.

Drive through the gate and choose your path at the fork. The LEFT PATH skirts the ruins and allows you to find all the secrets. The RIGHT PATH leads into the ruins and bypasses one of the secrets.

ALONG THE RIVER (left at the fork):  Ride up the main path. Jump the next large gap on the right side and quickly cut to the right to keep from falling into the chasm. Ride forward slowly, hugging the right wall past the hole. Continue to the opening on the left. Ride down onto the stone bridge and dismount. Jump to the ledge on the right, where you'll find some Desert Eagle clips. The small opening above leads to SECRET #3—harpoons, Uzi clips and a save/power-up crystal. Return to the bike.

Continue forward, jumping the gap, and proceed to a fork. Drive down to the left and park. Walk forward past the ramp to an opening with a tree on the right. Go around the tree and jump to the root that sticks out over the river. Take a running jump to grab the rock ledge opposite. Pull up and take the Uzi clips. Shoot 2 vultures and return to the bike the way you came.

Slowly ride up and around the narrow ledge. Stay on the rocks when you come to the trees, or you'll fall through. Continue around to a straight-away with a small gap. Use turbo to jump the small gap and keep going over the river to the other side.

Dismount, grab the save/power-up crystal and climb down the rock ladder, getting off on the block on the right side. Kill the cobra, take the Desert Eagle clips and climb back up. Drive the bike around to the area above the cobra ledge. Now jump the river one more time. You'll end up in a rocky canyon on the other side, where you can leave the bike.

Slide down the slope near the left wall to land on a small ledge. Pick up the walk-through below at the **.

THE RUINS (right at the fork):  Drive the quad bike down the rocky path and jump the river. Dismount, kill a monkey and pick up a small med-pack. Climb down into the hole. Go up the slope past a small opening on the right. At the top of the slope are two openings on the left. The first is partly concealed by greenery. Inside is a cobra and the FIRST GATE KEY. The second opening contains flares and Uzi clips.

Return down the slope and climb through the small opening (now on your left). This leads into the building. Kill 3 monkeys and pick up a small med-pack and shotgun shells (in the small alcove). Continue around to the left, where you'll see a relief of Ganesha (the Hindu god with the elephant head) and two locks in raised alcoves on either side. Continue underneath Ganesha to an alcove where you can climb up through the ceiling.

The next area has two locked gates and a pool of quicksand in the far right corner. There's a save/power-up crystal on the ledge opposite the quicksand, and a monkey lurking about. Climb up the rocks to the left of the first gate. Jump to the branch and from there to the opening in the wall.

Drop down on the other side and head toward the gate with quicksand around the bottom. There are shotgun shells in the high alcove opposite. Pull up at either end where it's lower. Return to the tree and climb the rocks below to jump to the branch. Walk across the branches, kill the monkey in the L-shaped alcove, and follow the ledge to an entrance into the building.

Go in past the opening in the floor to the next room. Kill 2 monkeys, pick up a rocket, Uzi clips and the SECOND GATE KEY. Then kill 2 more monkeys. Return to the hole in the floor and drop down on the side away from the fire-breathing statue. Kill another monkey. Go around to the left, kill yet another monkey, and push the button to open the small gate and a larger gate outside. This also lets in 3 more monkeys.

Exit through the small gate, climb the rocks, jump to the opening in the wall and drop down into the previous area. Drop into the hole behind the tree to re-enter the first building. Use the gate keys in the two locks to open the big gate outside. Go around to the right, past the torches, and crawl through the green opening where you entered. Return to the quad bike.

Drive the bike down into the hole. Follow the passage up the hill, through the gate and up to the ramp near the quicksand. Use turbo to jump the quicksand and sail through the second gate. Drive to the right past the tree and around the building to the opening in the green wall. Dismount and kill 2 monkeys.

You're now next to the river again. If you want to, you can go for a rather difficult pick-up. Jump to the tree root that juts out over the water. From there, take a running jump to the green stone ledge. Now make a tricky running jump across the water to grab the left edge of the tree root. (Angle this jump so Lara takes off from the peak of the ledge and grabs the left side of the root.) Take a standing jump to the other triangular area of root. From there, jump to the ledge. Pick up Uzi clips and harpoons. Take a running jump from the tree root closest to this ledge to grab the green ledge on the other side of the water. Take a running jump back to the first tree and return to the bike. (See the diagram.)

Jump the bike across the river to the GREEN CAVE opening.

GREEN CAVE:  Kill 2 monkeys and get a save/power-up crystal. Now head to the left, past the opening that leads to the WATERFALL area, to arrive at the bottom of a ROCKY SLOPE.

(**) If you took the path ALONG THE RIVER (above), you'll enter this area by sliding down the ROCKY SLOPE. (NOTE: If you're using the PSX version, you can pick up another save crystal now by going through the opening at the bottom right of this area into the GREEN CAVE.)

ROCKY SLOPE:  Kill the pair of vultures. Find the jutting block along the rock wall. (You'll be standing just below it if you took the river path and slid down from above.) Take a standing jump from the edge of the flat spot below to grab onto it; pull up. Cross the ledge and jump to the next ledge, a path between two clumps of rocks. Go through to the other side and take a running jump to grab the high ledge opposite. Pull up and walk to the end of the ledge. There's another smaller ledge with a green opening in the cliff wall ahead. Take a running jump to land on the angled block just to the left of the opening. Slide back and grab the edge. Traverse to the right, pull up onto the ledge and crawl in to find SECRET #4—Desert Eagle clips and a small med-pack.

Crawl out of the cave and turn to the right. Take a running jump to the angled block near the wall and hold Jump to land on the ledge to the left. From there, return to the ground the way you came.

(NOTE: This series of screenshots shows how to get to and from the secret cave.)

WATERFALL:  Go through the opening on the right at the bottom of the ROCKY SLOPE into the GREEN CAVE. If you haven't already done so, kill the 2 monkeys and get a save/power-up crystal.

At this point, it's impossible to jump back across the river to the RUINS, even if you use the quad bike. So continue to the end of the level. Go through the opening near the save crystal to the small pool. Cross the rocks on the left and jump the gap to the stone ledge. Kill 3 more vultures. (Notice the broken raft in the pool below the falls. Apparently your quarry came this way as well.) From the end of this ledge, jump to the small square ledge ahead. Safety drop to the ledge below and pick up harpoons and MP5 clips. Take a running jump across the pool to grab the crevice. Traverse to the right, pull up and craw into the cave. This is SECRET #5—harpoons and shotgun shells. Back out and drop into the pool.

Swim down and grab the small med-pack on the bottom. Then climb out and go through the rocky passage behind the falls to finish the level.