UPDATED
11/02/06
TR2GOLD - LEVEL 1: THE
COLD WAR
ZIP LINE: For an alternate path, get on the ice block
to the left of the crate. Prepare to lose 60% of health. Walk up to the edge of
the block, a little in from the right. Aim near the left side of the ice ridge
you're trying to get over. Move back a hop and a step. Run/jump without action,
then press and hold Left while holding Jump. Release Jump when the second jump
occurs. As soon as the Lara lands on the slope, press and hold Action. Slide
and catch the edge. Release Action for an instant to lower Lara's grip a few
"inches". Drop to the bottom of the chasm, taking the damage. Be
ready to kill 2 eagles, then a leopard in the exit cave.
OPEN AREA
WITH THREE WOODEN BLOCKS: If
you face the door where you entered this area, the corner bug "works"
on the left edge of the building with the entrance door. However, Lara is
trapped in limbo; looking reveals her; wiggling extracts her. This is of no
use.
ICE CAVERN: After getting the med-pack on the tall
block of ice, there are other ways to exit than the two described, but I
couldn't find one without health loss.
UP THE RAMP: Facing back down the ramp, the high wall
on the left has an indentation with a flat square at the bottom, with a dropoff
to the ramp; an ideal corner bug location. It "works", but Lara is
imbedded in the wall, and can only drop with Action. I assume the wall goes to
the top of space.
I tried the
corner bug atop the flat wall next to the gate. It "works", but Lara
is inside the structure and immediately falls. Probably the wall goes to the
top of space.
SHAFT B/EXIT:
Before crossing the
bridge, turn left and walk to the corner with the dropoff to the right. The
corner bug "works", but Lara is stuck at the ceiling (use Look to see
her) until you press Action.
Turn left on the
bridge. Note the dim recess in the building on your left, past the corner you
just bugged on. Throw a flare to see it better. It's possible to take a running
jump (without Action) from the center of the bridge and "fly" left
into the recess. This gives a view above the deep pit on the way to where the
automatic pistols were found.
After you take out the eagle and the two
snipers in the last open area, bugs allow a lot of exploration. Turn back to
the well-lit wide opening to the area. The arch bug works on both edges of the
opening. The left is easier to line up, since the right side has sloping ground
where Lara has to jump. The corner bug looks like it should work on the left of
the structure, but it doesn't. The wide flat area on top leads nowhere,
however; I'd hoped to go over the tops of buildings to the beginning of the
level, but Lara is blocked by no-space. Return to the ground without damage by
a safety drop; or jump to the sloped metal opposite the entrance and slide to
the ground.
Be sure to throw the switch to open the
trapdoor. To get onto the high structures just before the trapdoor, go toward
the trapdoor along the right wall. Note the last high column, which is even
with the wall topped by a slope. Use the corner bug where the column meets that
wall; it doesn't look like a corner at ground level. Lara will be trapped high
on the column; light a flare to see her situation. Then turn right, and she'll
drop to the flat wall top that still has the snipers' bodies (I couldn't get
the corner bug to work on the corresponding place on the other side). Lara can
move to the back wall and around to the other side. On the end of either side,
she can take a running jump over the coils of barbed wire below, but she'll
slide back to the ground. If she takes a standing jump, she lands in front of
the barbed wire. Turn inward toward the rusty face and walk to the corner with
a dropoff to one side. Turn Lara almost 45 degrees toward the dropoff, and
begin an arch bug search - jump up twice, attempt to run forward, and if
nothing happens, turn a little more toward the dropoff and repeat. Soon Lara
will be running across a high beam; be sure not to run off the other side.
You'll see a sort of fan-shaped metal
structure stretching from side to side, with square pylons at both ends. Jump
past the sloped block toward the fan, landing on a flat surface in front of it.
From the center, Lara can hang and drop (with about 10% damage) to the flat top
of the structure housing the switch. Or Lara can pull up to the top of either
square pylon. From there, take an experimental vertical jump; Lara will hit the
"top of the sky". This shows why she can't take a running jump to the
top of the fan. At both ends of the fan, horizontal strips lead to the opposite
side; Lara can jump to the higher level next to the fan from that side, too.
The info relating to the last three
pictures appeared on “Theresa’s Expert Challenge using the Corner
Bug”.
Once
there, walk to either end. Aim Lara at the far corner of the shaft and
do a swan dive into it. Because of the deep shaft, this may be the highest dive
Lara can safely do in the games.
LEVEL 2: FOOL'S GOLD
Walk-Through: At the passage to the small
room with large med-pack, an arch bug at the right corner takes Lara directly
to SECRET #2, the gold bars. The three dobies do not appear. Return down
with a safety drop bug to the opening above where you bugged up.
OPEN AREA
WITH VARIOUS SMALL(?) BUILDINGS: When on the roof, Lara can go counterclockwise instead, doing a
running jump and catch across the gap in front of the giant fan.
Use the corner bug from the ground on the
building where the circuit board was kept. Look over the back edge for views of
the rotating fan and other special objects (2 doors, 3 switches, a dead guy and
the fan motor(?)). Start a counterclockwise circuit of the rooftops from here
by jumping to the column in the next paragraph.
The corner bug works on the tall brick
column outside the area leading to the circuit board. Great view. Lara can't
jump to the building housing the circuit board pickup, but she can make it around
the other three sides of the open area. She can jump to and hang from the
"V" near the start of the fourth side, but then can't traverse either
way.
Or use an arch
bug at the left side of the large opening into the circuit board building (a
normal corner bug works on the right face)..
BACK OUTSIDE WITH NASTY SNOWMOBILERS: Hopping on the snowmobile, then
going through the door behind the block works well. Go out on the roof to the
left, then turn around to point at the door you just came through. As the first
snowmobiler comes out, waggle back and forth while shooting your snowmobile's
guns, which kills him pretty fast. The second guy comes out in 15-20 seconds;
give him the same treatment.
Before getting SECRET
#2, the gold bars, make the circuit on your snowmobile until you're
by the three latticed windows overlooking the gold bars. Drive into each window
area, and blast away through the lattice. In the leftmost window I heard
yelping as one Doberman was taken out; only two appeared when I later
approached the gold bars. After you open the door, drive the snowmobile through
it and up to the ledge before the last switch to the secret area. Throw the
switch, run back and mount the snowmobile. The two remaining dobermans
helpfully run out and bark at Lara from the ledge; spray them with the
snowmobile machine guns for a quick quietus.
SNOWY AREA
WITH IRON SUPPORT BEAMS AND WOODEN CRATES: Near the edge overlooking the guy walking around, use the
corner bug to leap into the stratosphere. Lara can draw pistols. Attempting to
fall back leads to a program crash.
LEVEL 3:
FURNACE OF THE GODS
MOLTEN GOLD
POOL AND 'WATERFALL': If
Lara does not have the grenade launcher at this point, that is what she finds
instead of the grenades.
Instead of going right around the tall
outcropping, descend to the square next to the river of gold, then do a running
jump to the square in the river below the M-16 clips. Both crows appear; kill
them. Jump (without Action) over the incline to the M-16 clips. Of course, you
have to go back if you want the automatic pistol clips.
LEVEL 4: KINGDOM
CAGE AND
SLOPE LEADING DOWN TO FINAL AREA: To get down quickly from the wall of
ladders, jump onto the slope at either side. The shorter fall costs no health.
I first
discovered the arch bug while trying to avoid the difficult pickups in the
guardian's room. When you're on top of the wall of ladders, of course you'll
see that the large structure that disappears when you place the Mask of
Tornarsuk looks like a giant mask. If you want the med-pack in the
'temple", get it now. Descend the wall of ladders, then walk back to the
other side of the mask. You'll know you're in the right area when you look up
and see a narrow strip of blue sky, interrupted at the center with the bridge
to the guardian's room. To get there, you just walked through a large arch
underneath the huge mask.
The underside of this arch is curved,
except that there's a short vertical section at each end, about six
"feet" high. At the right side, place Lara at the vertical face with
the outside of her left foot even with the short vertical. Turn to the left a
little less than 45 degrees, and begin the arch bug search: jump up twice,
attempt to run forward, then if nothing happens, turn to the left a tiny bit
more.
Repeat until you see Lara RUN INTO THE
EYE (!) of the giant mask. The first time I did this, I had given up, and
pressed Forward and Left together in order to leave. I was so shocked that I
let her run off the edge to her demise. Move to the outside corner of the eye,
and she can jump to the same slope at the side of the wall of ladders, and drop
to the ground undamaged. The left side of the arch works the same.
But leave that
for later. Move to the inside corner of the eye. Aim at the golden bridge
leading out from the nose area, and jump to it.
For an interesting side trip, save your
game; then use the corner bug where the bridge meets the giant mask. Lara is
transported to a region so high that the ground isn't visible - there's only a
distant forest wall and the sky. Press Look and release; suddenly the camera
position is a hundred feet from Lara, and it quickly zooms into her. You'll be
in danger of vertigo. Jumping is impossible, which means her head is touching
the "sky"; that's also why the camera position is at or below her
level. When you Look down, there's only blackness, but Lara can move a few
steps and turn at first, which may lead to a non-fatal fall. But soon she can
only turn in one spot. Reload the save game.
Continue up the golden bridge to a
gigantic closed door with a large face, where the guardian is imprisoned, but
strangely the door has no thickness. Back Lara against either side of it, and
you'll see Lara partly showing through the door.
Proceed to the large med-pack and
grenades, but ignore the switch (even if you pull it now, the doors to the
temple still close when you place the Mask of Tornarsuk). Take some time to
explore the palace area, including the side walkways. Then go back down the
golden bridge, jump into the giant eye, and jump to the slope at the side to
slide and fall without damage. Climb the wall of ladders, place the mask, and
dash toward guardian. Cut to either side (which were formerly the bottom of the
eyes) and run out to the end with the guardian right behind you. But he doesn't
go all the way to the end. Turn around, take a step or two toward him (so you
can see better), and plug him with the weapon of your choice. He'll stomp
around awhile, trying to avoid your fire, but he'll reel and fall soon enough.
This ends the level.
You can also trap the guardian in the
temple in the normal way, then use the arch bug as before to explore the room
area. The huge door with the face is broken away now.
LEVEL 5: NIGHTMARE IN VEGAS
I recently discovered a form
of flicker motion in TR2 Gold. I performed an arch bug at the top level of the
atrium with the sculpture. The corner was chosen so the wall was high enough to
have no openings next to Lara when she rose to the ceiling.
The flicker-at-top bug
caused a closeup of the wall texture to be displayed, as it typically does in
TR2; holding Look shows an overall view of Lara. I tried all the keys I could
think of to evoke an interesting result. Turning back along the wall, which
produces flicker motion in TR3, leads to a fall almost at once; turning forward
causes a fall after 45 degrees. Lara can draw and fire weapons, or light and
throw flares. But best so far, pressing Roll causes her to change direction and
flicker-move along the wall to the other side of the square! She stops there;
Action causes her to drop, but not straight down; she moves forward and away
from the wall during the fall. Hold Look while she’s moving to let you
see Lara’s motion. There appears to be no need to have a particular offset
from the corner, as is required in TR3. At other locations, this could allow
her to get on nearby platforms above her original starting level. Perhaps
she’ll move more than one square on other walls. Time to explore TR2
again!