LONDON PART 1: THAMES WHARF 

 

ACROSS THE CRANE & BACK: Entrance to tunnel to SECRET #1: The arch bug works on neither side.

 

ALLEYS AND BUILDINGS NEAR THE START OF THE LEVEL: After getting the FLUE ROOM KEY, jump from the dead rats to grab the ledge at the bottom of the triangles of small height to the right of the passage opening. Traverse to the right and drop to the block below. Turn left, walk to the edge, and do a standing jump to the metal projection near the harpoons (get them). Jump up to the platform with the button.

 

A couple of small shortcuts: Lara can jump from the top ledge over where the breakaway tile was, to catch the square. So it's not necessary to press the button which drops the platform at the end of the ledge. If you don't need the three goodies on the ground, nor the harpoons, just pass the dead rats to the far end of the ledge, and jump back over the fallen breakaway tile.

 

Just before SECRET #3: After killing the gunman and taking the right turn onto the higher ledge, use the corner bug on the right side at the far corner of the square at the top. The corner is at Lara’s right hand in the picture. This will leave Lara on the corner of a sloping roof.

 

An extensive rooftop romp ensues. Run forward along the roof and turn right, after a few paces, onto the flat-peaked roof. Halfway along on the right is a shingled triangle which can be used to start a back-and-forth jump series between the two sloped roofs; but the series can be started from the passage below, so no biggie. Instead, continue along the flat peak to the left corner of the end. Spy the three large steps at the left end of the other side, line up on the top step, hop back and take a running jump. Landing takes about 40% of health. Run down the last two steps (you can't fall off the end), then run to the right along the edge. Either continue around the edge or climb onto the raised area. You can get on the little building, but there's nothing to do there. Make one more right turn and run to where the edge dead-ends into a wall. Hop back a square, angle to the left, and jump to grab the edge above.

Pull up and explore the flat roof. Go to the corner opposite the domed building and face it. From the middle of the corner square hop back once, take a running jump (Action or no), and release all keys just after takeoff, lest you run off the invisible platform (!). By walking, you will find it's one square wide and five long. Jump across to the flat area near the dome corner; you can jump through the "V" to a similar area around the corner.

 

From the left end of the invisible platform, a jump toward the walkway below ends the level way early (the bell bongs the gunman off the building, with only two of five secrets found).

  

Instead, jump back from the invisible platform to the roof. Use the corner bug where you did the jump-grab-pull-up to the roof. You'll be on a high rectangular section that overlooks the scaffold and other and nearby areas; sightseeing was the only thing I could find to do, but perhaps it might be useful to approach the scaffold area the first time from above.

 

Drop back to the roof you came from. Go to the edge overlooking the walkway to the bell tower; take a standing jump with Action, losing about 10% health. Then:

            -Right: the square next to the cathedral ends the level.

            -Ahead: into the low area. Straight sends Lara into the bell tower, where she can be trapped in the "well", by three slopes and a high wall. But there's an escape (Hint: keep jumping). To the right is a drop-off.

            -Left: at the corner of the walkway there are good jumping spots to use as a stairway, both inside and outside the angle. If you continue toward the building with four lit windows on the lowest story, Lara will fall into a low area she'll be stuck in. The black area to the left of that is solid, on a level with the adjacent pavement. If you take the corner on the walkway, you'll approach a small tower on the left. Lara can get to the other side, but there's nothing to do there.

To escape this area, get back on the flat walkway and go toward the cathedral dome, BUT DON'T ENTER THE LAST SQUARE, or you'll end the level (it’s a big shortcut, but you skip several secrets). Turn right just before that last square, walk to the edge of the slope above the barbed wire, angle a bit left, and hop back. Do a running jump with Action. Lara will take a bit of damage, but she'll land at the bottom of the ladder up to the walkway around the cathedral dome. Climb the ladder or use the corner bug at the right edge of the ladder. If you haven't killed the two cathedral guards, attack them. You should be able to engage them one at a time from this side. 

 

Instead of entering the break in the railing to end the level, go to the right corner of the opening into the cathedral next to the break (none of the five similar spots work - sneaky!). Perform an arch bug outside the opening or a normal corner bug inside the opening (Lara bugs through the ceiling). In either case, Lara appears on top of the cathedral dome! She can get to all four sides; the side facing the crane seems reachable only by a one-way jump, but you will find that all of the squares cut on the diagonal have an invisible solid side. If you're ready to end the level, just run off the edge of the dome toward that square beyond the break in the railing way below (don't jump or try a swan dive - Lara will bang her nose on No-space and fall to her death).

 

Looking at the roof around the smaller dome to the lower left of the moon, I note an opening on the left half of the near edge. It looks like Lara might enter there. Or is it an exit? To get back down, walk to the invisible half of the square above the invisible platform and do a standing jump with Action. Lara will lose a few percent of health.

Aha! The corner bug works at the corner of the extension from the smaller dome that Lara passes on the way to the ridge that leads to the cathedral. I got to everywhere on the smaller dome except the top rectangular cupola. The "opening" from the previous paragraph is just a surface design on the walkway, probably to encourage the player to hunt for a way up there.

 

Lara seems to be trapped on the far right (from the cathedral) corner of the dome. But from atop the corner cupola, she can take a running jump, with left in the air, to the top of the high building that housed secret #1. From here, Lara can position herself at the left corner facing the smaller dome, turn very slightly left, hop back and do a running jump back to the dome, keeping Forward pressed. She will barely reach a slope shallow enough to run up, then continue clockwise around the dome. At the corner of the dome, any sort of jump will get her to the centerline, where she will slide to the flat walkway that leads to the large dome.

 

Or instead of jumping back to the smaller dome, she can go the opposite way and pull up to the roof of a higher building. On the far side of that building is a rooftop courtyard with several slant-top structures. There's a flat-top wall below on the left that she can jump back up from, but the courtyard itself is a trap.

 

Instead of dropping into the courtyard, turn right and go to the upslope at the edge of the flat. A backflip from here will send Lara sliding toward the area near the start where she got her first save/power-up crystal.

 

Much of the above is contained in the Expert’s Challenge of Theresa’s site. 

 

LONDON PART 2: ALDWYCH: At the high climbing grating below the burning grates, the arch bug works. But jumping forward lands below, by the save/power-up crystal, while running forward leads to the burning grates. I did it by climbing back down after turning off the flames, else it might simply set Lara on fire; so it's of doubtful utility. -I succeeded in running into the arch bug while the flame was pausing, then jumping to the higher ledge before the flames came back on. It's still a lot easier just to climb the grate.

 

Shortcut: After getting the FIRST SOLOMAN’S KEY, it isn’t necessary to take the long way back to the WOODEN CRATE ROOM, as Stella says. Just drop down to the previous platform, and take a jump with Action through the triangular opening to one side. 

 

LONDON PART 3: LUD'S GATE: EGYPTIAN AREA OFFICE & EXHIBIT: For a shortcut to a too-quick exit, use the corner bug on the left side of the entrance door. Lara appears standing in a crawl space! She can turn, but is trapped until she crouches. She can exit by dropping into the hallway and re-entering the room.

 

At the top of the stairs, beyond the sphinx: a shortcut to the "alcove on the right" uses the corner bug on the column to the right of the faux double doors. With the doors on your left, use the left corner of the column.

 

LONDON PART 4: City:

 

Sophia’s office has some more authentic-looking artworks.

 

After doing in Sophia, jump back across the gap. At the far side of the patterned plate, the corner bug works, but Lara falls back at once.

 

No arch bug possibilities were found.

The first time through the game, I jumped across and climbed the same side as Sophia. I had to keep up with her to avoid getting shot; I saved every few seconds.