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Navigate
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| Friends and Foes | ||
4. KNOW
THY ALLIES AND ENEMIES |
In this game, Lara will have a few allies and lots of new enemies.
One important aspect of identifying your enemies is learning what they
sound like. I strongly recommend playing Tomb Raider in a quiet
environment with the speakers on your computer or console turned up.
The sounds you hear will clue you in to what's coming up. Don't be in
a rush to run/jump/fall into a room. Know what you're getting into.
If you listen carefully, you can tell if there's an enemy waiting for
you in the next room before you get there. In many cases, enemies will be "asleep" as you approach the room or area it is in. In fact some enemies require very specific conditions to set them off. Some enemies can be shot at while they are asleep, while others cannot be. All of this is important because, you can learn how to wake enemies up from a safe location. In this game, the action that triggers the enemies are, in general, closer to the enemies, so you have a lot fewer choices in terms of safe Some enemies don't stay at the same "level" anymore. In the past, enemies would not climb up tall steps or jump down into pits, but that has changed. Some enemies, particularly the human ones, will climb after you, so keep this in mind if you are attempting to make a getaway. One important thing to reiterate is that, although some enemies can climb up or drop down, all the enemies do not cross from dry land into deep water or vice versa. When attempting to get away from an enemy on land, try jumping into a pool of water. The same is true of underwater enemies. Although Lara can be equipped with a harpoon gun, you will find battle underwater to be extremely clumsy. Clear out enemies in water from dry land before entering. Note that in the descriptions below, though a weapon of choice may be given, you may not have that weapon yet unless you are using the weapon cheat or you're playing the second time through. It's okay, it's not like the pistols won't work, but I'm just telling you what works better. Unique enemies are labeled in red instead of blue and listed mostly in order of appearance, except where they can be grouped together for convenience. |
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Bats
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In the Streets of Rome, you will occasionally encounter flocks bats. Because these bats occur in enormous flocks, you will be unable to target individual bats. Instead of drawing weapons and shooting them down when you encounter them, you should make a run for it and keep moving until they disperse. | |
Rats
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Also in the Streets of Rome, you will encounter swarms of rats. Like the bats, the rats in Rome occur in packs too large to deal with individually. Your only recourse is to, once again, run for it and wait for them to scatter in the light of day. | |
Doberman Pinschers
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Finally, an enemy against whom your weapons are useful. Dobermans are used as guard dogs in the Streets of Rome. They are fairly quick and quite tenacious. It will take quite a few pistol shots before they fall. If possible shoot at them from a safe location, but if you must face them, target them early and flip away to avoid their bites. | |
Mechanical Sentry
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In Trajan's Markets, you will encounter a sophisticated machine that guards one of the artifacts. The mechanical sentry consists of a base with several metal tenticles that rotate, and a bronze head that is clad with a Roman centurion's helmet. When activated, the head will float up over the base and scan around for a target. When it acquires its target it will fire beams of from its eyes, instantly incinerating its victim. The only way to destroy it is to shatter the two gems that form the sentry's eyes. The good news is that the sentry takes a fairly long time to acquire its target and it takes quite a while to recharge between blasts. Your best bet is to take cover somewhere with some cover rather than trying to run around trying to avoid its blasts while trying not to trip over its tentacles. You must use a revolver equipped with the lasersight to take aim on the sentry's eyes and shoot them out. | |
Legionary
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Also in Trajan's Markets, you will encounter a huge statue of a centurion that will come to life. It will be clad in armor and armed with a sword. However, that's no ordinary sword. Not only will the centurion use its sword to cut you down, it can fire bolts of lightning from it. Again, there will be a decent recharge time between bolts. In order to take the centurion down, you will need to blow off its armor and then take enough shots to bring it down. If you're carrying the shotgun, this formidable foe will be a good candidate for it. Keep flipping from side to side to avoid its blasts and back flipping to stay out of range of its swing. Be careful not to miss if you're using the shotgun, becuase you're going to need quite a few shells later. | |
Gate Serpents
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Finally, in Trajan's Markets, you will discover that the three serpent heads on the garden building are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. To enter the gate, you must defeat all three of them. Once they come to life, they will not move from the their post. If you get too close, they will reach out and take a bite of you. If you keep your distance but stay in one place, they will launch strange little fireballs at you. However, these fireballs don't fly in a straight line once they're launched. They can weave just a little, but enough that if you leap out of the way of the fireballs too early, they will maneuver towards where you land and hit you anyways. The worst part of this is that each serpent must be destroyed individually and it will take a significant number of rounds of ammunition to destroy each serpent. You will have the revolver and the shotgun in your arsenal. Both weapons will be appropriate, but the shotgun will probably be more effective if you can use it at close range. Use the building as necessary for cover. | |
Lion
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In the The Colosseum you will encounter lions. Lions are not very fast, but they will attack with swipes of their big paws. Unfortunately most of your encounters with these big felines will be in close quarters. Pistols are sufficient to take these creatures down, but they will inflict their share of damage before you can take them down if you don't keep moving. Taking jumps over them, reverse rolling and repeating to stay out of reach is the most effective tactic against them. | |
Gladiator
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Also in the The Colosseum you will encounter gladiators. They are armed with a short sword and a small leather shield. The shield won't do much to protect them from your gun fire, but they are extremely fast runners. Don't run around to try to escape them because they can out-run you. Your best bet is to draw pistols, face them and blaze away at them, taking a back or side flip to stay just out of reach. They should fall under pistol fire before they get close enough to use their sword. | |
Centurion
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Your final enemy in The Colosseum will be an iron statue of a centurion that will come to life. The iron centurion will be armed with a large war hammer. When centurion slams the hammer down, it will generate a shockwave that will radiate out and inflict damage on you. Since this will be the last enemy you will face in Rome, feel free to empty all your various clips into this guy. It will only fall when you punch enough holes through it, but it won't take as much as you think. When facing this foe, there is actually a safe location conveniently nearby where you can duck to and shoot at it safely an at your leisure. | |
Russian Soldiers
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Starting at The Base you will encounter Russian soldiers. These soldiers are dressed in formal uniforms and armed with pistols. It's unclear whether these soldiers are smarter or simply more cowardly than most enemies. If you duck behind something for cover, these soldiers will also duck for cover and shuffle their way forward. However, it is quite easy to simply trick them into ducking for cover, and when the soldier also attempts to duck for cover then stand and take the soldier out while he's still shuffling toward you. Pistols will work quite well. Later when you encounter these soldiers in the tight quartesr of The Submarine, you will find that you don't have the luxury of distance and places to hide. Instead, two blasts from the shotgun may prove to be more effective. | |
Guard Dogs
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You will also encounter guard dogs in The Base, which resemble a German shepherd breed, except they are more aggressive, bigger, faster, and higher jumping than German shepherds. Ironically, you will probably find these fast-moving and high-jumping hybrid dogs to be more of a threat than the soldiers you encounter at the soldiers in the base. When dealing with guard dogs, attempt to retreat as quickly as possible and do your best to avoid allowing the dog to jump behind you. Find higher ground to retreat to if you can, but there isn't much to speak of in the base. | |
Russian Sniper
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As you finish your explorations of the loading docks at The Base, you will encounter a couple of Russian snipers. These two snipers will be holed up in two upper rooms armed with high-powered rifles. The rifles are not automatic and they repeatedly withdraw from the window to reload, so the snipers can't get off too many shots before you take them out. You will need the lasersight and the Desert Eagles and you will have to sniper them back to take them out. Use whatever is available for cover. | |
Cook
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The first enemy you will encounter in The Submarine is the cook. He is somewhat limitedly armed with a large chef's knife, but you will be practically unarmed. Luckily for you, he's somewhat engrossed in his work when you arrive. You need only stay out of his line of sight, which includes his peripheral vision, and clock him across the back of the head with the crowbar. If he catches a glimpse of you he will chase you around the galley and slash away at you. You need you get out of there and let him get back to work. | |
Russian Mafiosos
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Conveniently, when you manage recover some weapons in The Submarine, you will encounter Russian mafiosos. These mobsters will be dressed in either black or white T-shirts and armed with automatic weapons. They're quite hard to deal with at a distance, because as soon as they lock onto you with their guns they'll tenaciously fire on you until you're dead. Your best strategy is to storm them with guns blazing, and when you're practically in front of them, repeatedly reverse-roll while conitinuing to fire until they fall. They'll be too confused to take a shot at you as you roll around. | |
Deep Sea Minisub
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Out in the depths of the Deepsea Dive you will encounter a few Russian deep sea minisubs. These little yellow subs are not very fast and far less maneuverable than the EDS. To make up for that disadvange, they are armed with little heat-seeking torpedoes. The EDS is not equipped with any offensive armaments. You're only options are to deploy chaff flares as decoys, or to dodge the torpedoes. You can't sink any of them, you can only out-run them. | |
Imps
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In the Gallows Tree you will encounter a few little imps. These little demons are not very fast, and are more of a nuisance than a hazard. However, seeing as you are unarmed, you're not left with very many options. Just keep your distance and keep moving. Later in the Old Mill these annoying little imps will have learned to throw rocks. That makes them much more of a threat, but by that point they will have also developed a phobia to fire. That's an important fact that you can used to your advantage. | |
Ghostly Skeletons
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You will encounter some ethereal sword-wielding skeletons in the Labyrinth. They don't move around, but rather float in place. If you get too close to one of these skeletons, they will become more solid until you are within reach of their swing, and then they will take a swing at you. You must simply avoid them and keep as much distance between you and each of them as possible. | |
Guiding Lights
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The guiding lights that you encounter in the Labyrinth are not enemies, but as their name implies, they will guide you through the labyrinth. | |
Labyrinth Beast
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When you enter the maze in the Labyrinth you will encounter a beast. The beast is a squat hairy thing, but it has the ability to leap and is both persistent and aggressive. Keep moving to stay ahead of it and you'll do just fine. It can jump over pits, so don't assume you're safe after you've cleared a jump. Don't let the beast panic you, because that's it's real purpose. Keep your cool and concentrate on getting through the maze. | |
Sea Hag
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In the Old Mill you will encounter a sea hag. The hag isn't dangerous when you first encounter her. She's just very protective of her treasure. If you manage to snitch a single cent of her precious treasure, she'll become quite aggressive and chase you around the little pond, swatting you with her large claws. As usual, you're ill-equipped to deal with the hag. However, the hag's greed is her weakess. A weakness that you can expliot. | |
VCI Cyber-Troopers
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In The 13th Floor you will encounter a couple of VCI employees wearing these cybernetic suits and armed with laser weapons. These suits are armored and proved the wearer extremely good protection. Your only shot is to keep your distance and target the wearer's head and take him out with a single shot. Pun definitely intended. | |
VCI Guards
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Also in The 13th Floor, you will encounter some uniformed guide. They are only armed with hand guns, and they will recognize when they are out gunned. Most often they will call for reinforcements or activate overhead machine gun turrets. The more noise you make, the more trouble you'll attract. In general, if you employ stealth and sniper techniques, you will find that you will encounter resistance from these fellows. | |
VCI Workers
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The last group of people you will encounter in The 13th Floor, are VCI workers. These poor employees are dressed in thick yellow radiation suits but are unarmed. In general they won't be much of a problem at all. If you leave them be, they will leave you be. Actually, they don't have any choice, being unarmed. However, some workers don't take well to being threatened, and will activate overhead machine gun turrets. Only intimidate a worker if there is something you need from him. from one | |
VCI Mercenary
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In Red Alert! these mercenary soldiers will be called in to neutralize you. They're not significantly tougher to deal with than the standard security guards. They're slightly better armed, but it will make practically no difference to you. They're wearing bullet-proof vests, but still suffer the same weakness as the guard and the cyber-trooper. A well-placed head shot will put these guys down in a hurry. | |
VCI Commando
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You will encounter these VCI special-forces commandos in Red Alert!. These guys are dressed in black body-armor, but they're also wearing bullet-proof helmets with visors, so you will be unable to take these guys down with a single head shot. You will have to simply deal with them the old-fashioned way and plug enough hot lead into these guys until they fall. | |
VCI Cyborg
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Finally in Red Alert! you will encounter the VCI cyborgs. These unassuming bald characters dressed in black suits and dark sun glasses are the most formidable enemies you will have the displeasure of dealing with. Their skin is extremely, and it will take many shots to damage their armored shell, and damage is the best you can do, because no amount of damage will kill these guys. They can only be killed by short-circuiting them, by damaging them while they're knee-deep in water or suffocating them with poisonous gas. | |