LEVEL 29: MENKAURE'S PYRAMID
Updated: 5/5/19(†)
Kills: 11 (13) Items: 10 plus Guard's Key and Armoury Key Secrets: 1*
NOTE: There are two friendly soldiers whom you can kill if you're a bad person, but they are not counted here. One of the regular pick-ups will be the REVOLVER if you didn't find it in an earlier level.
CAVE: Move up the slope and pick up 2 sets of Uzi clips, one on the left and one on the right. Climb up the blocks to the trapdoor in the ceiling. Jump to grab the handle at the edge of the trapdoor to open it. This works best if you position Lara directly under the handle facing out toward the cave. Then jump straight up, holding Action to grab. Climb through the trapdoor to the desert above. (screenshots)
DESERT NEAR THE PYRAMID: A gigantic red scorpion approaches from the west. Three normal grenades or one super grenade will destroy it, but you can also use the shotgun, etc. Try not to let the scorpion get too close. In addition to doing physical damage, its sting will poison Lara, causing her health bar to turn green and gradually drain away until you use a medipack. (screenshots)
Head downhill to the intersection of paths. Off to the left (south), there's another giant scorpion attacking a soldier. The soldier is friendly enough if you don't harm him, but if you do kill him—or wait for the scorpion to do it—you'll get some revolver ammo. (This soldier is not counted as a kill in the stats line above.) Backtrack to the intersection, then go left (west). Pick up a large medipack ahead on the right. Then come back to the intersection again. Turn left (north) toward the deep pit. (screenshots)
Take a running jump across the pit on the left side. Follow the path around to the right. There's another giant scorpion here. Kill it and continue to the break in the wall on the north side. You'll need to cross another deep pit to get to the base of the pyramid. Take a running jump across the gap on the right side to grab the ledge. Pull up. Kill another giant scorpion off to the left, along with one of those huge, nasty beetles on the right. The shotgun works great on the bugs, but of course you can use pistols if necessary. (screenshots)
AT THE BASE OF THE PYRAMID: You'll notice some enticing flat areas on the face of the pyramid just begging you to climb them. Wait for just a little while and you'll be able to save yourself some backtracking. For now, head to the east, toward another deep excavation pit with a building on the other side. To get across, walk to the corner of the square ledge that juts out over the pit. Turn right and take a running jump to grab the slightly higher, darker block ahead. Pull up, start to slide down the back of the block, then jump forward across the gap to land on the sandy ledge beyond. Hop over the sloping edge of the pit to the open area on the left. Kill another giant beetle as you approach the door to the building. (screenshots)
BUILDING WITH GUARD UNDER ATTACK: The next section can be a little complicated and possibly buggy, so save the game before entering the building. The outcome of the next fight will determine whether or not you get a secret later in the game.
BUG NOTE: Sometimes, after the cutscene, Lara can't move her arms and so can't climb or draw weapons. There are some suggestions for avoiding and fixing this problem in a footnote.
Approach the door and press Action to open it. Inside you'll find a guard being attacked by a giant scorpion. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to kill the scorpion before it can kill the guard. In order to do this, run to the middle of the room, turn right and make sure Lara is targeting the scorpion, not the guard. If necessary tap Look to change targets. Then start firing. You'll want to use a fairly powerful weapon so the creature won't have time to kill its prey. Do not use explosives, though, since this will also kill the soldier. The bug mentioned above seems to be triggered by using the shotgun, so if you find you're having this problem, try the revolver or Uzis instead. It takes about 4 revolver rounds, 7 shotgun rounds, or 100 Uzi rounds to kill the scorpion. (screenshots)
If you succeed in saving the guard, a short cutscene plays, in which the guard thanks Lara for saving his life and gives her his keys. (The dialogue is transcribed in the Cinematics section.)
If you check your inventory now, you'll see that you not only have THE GUARD'S KEYS but also the ARMOURY KEY, which you'll use later to access the secret in the KHUFU'S QUEEN'S PYRAMIDS level. If the guard is killed in the fight with the scorpion, you can pick up the GUARD'S KEYS, but you do not get the ARMOURY KEY. (screenshots)
Before exiting the building, go around to each of the corner alcoves and collect regular shotgun ammo, wideshot ammo, plus 2 small medipacks. (screenshots)
BACK ACROSS THE PIT: The excavation pit to the right (east) prevents you from reaching the two smaller pyramids. (You will get there in the next level.) For now, return to the pit on the left (west), where you came from. Jump up to grab the edge of the sandy colored rock outcropping on the right side of the pit. Then traverse to the left, around the corner, and along the eastern edge of the pit. When you can't go any farther to the left, let go and slide down to a flat spot on the north side of the pit. (screenshots)
CLIMBING THE PYRAMID: Now you're headed for the door set into the side of the pyramid about halfway up. Naturally there's no direct route. You'll have to hop across the flat ledges on the sloping side of the ancient building. Start by moving past the first exposed block at the right (east) end of the pyramid and stepping up onto the second tier. From there you can reach another flat spot on the third tier (one level above). There's a giant beetle at the end of the long ledge on the fourth tier. You may be able to target it from here with pistols. If not, angle Lara slightly to the left, take a standing jump up onto the long ledge, and shoot the beetle as it flies toward you. Then move to the end of the ledge where the beetle originated. (screenshots)
NOTE: For running jumps along the pyramid, like the next one, set up each jump so Lara takes off just a bit before the raised edge of the next block; otherwise, she'll nick her foot on it and end up doing a standing jump instead. You're probably an old pro at setting up jumps by now, but if you need a refresher, check out the Classic Tomb Raider Tips & Strategy section.
Take a running jump over the next two sloping blocks to land on the one beyond and slide down to a flat spot on the second tier (two tiers below). Immediately turn right (left if you slid down facing up the slope) and kill another giant beetle. Move to the far end of this ledge, turn right, and step up onto the third tier. Climb/jump up to the fourth, and continue climbing until you reach the seventh. (screenshots)
Now you should be on the same level as the doorway, which is off to the right (east). Occasionally the next giant beetle will fly out from the doorway and attack Lara here. More often the beetle will stay hidden until you take a running jump across the next two sloping blocks to land in the doorway. Then it will fly up and you'll need to deal with it. Use the GUARD'S KEYS to open the door. This is the level exit, but don't leave yet. There's still a secret nearby. (screenshots)
NOTE: If you're missing the keys, you still have some exploring to do. Slide back down to the base of the pyramid and head for the deep pit to the southeast. (screenshot) Pick up the walkthrough AT THE BASE OF THE PYRAMID, above.
SECRET ABOVE THE DOORWAY: Before going after the secret, make sure you have unlocked the door, since you'll need to make a speedy exit. Move to the edge of the doorway overlooking the side of the pyramid. Step off the edge to land on the flat spot below on the left. Turn left and take a running jump over two sloping blocks onto the next flat block beyond. If you turn and look up the pyramid, you can spot a giant beetle a few tiers up. Take a standing jump onto the ledge above to trigger the beetle, roll so Lara's back is against the ledge, and shoot the beetle when it gets close. This way it can't knock her off the edge. Turn around and climb up twice more, to the ninth tier, level with the top of the doorway. (screenshots)
Take a standing jump over the slope to the ledge on the right side of the door, where you'll find a small medipack. Take a running jump to the ledge on the other side of the door. Pick up the REVOLVER (or ammo if you already have the weapon). This is the level's only SECRET (65/70). When you pick up the gun, a swarm of beetles comes out of the pyramid. To escape them, drop down and run through the doors into the pyramid. The beetles will follow but only as far as the load-in to the next level. (screenshots)
*NOTE ON SECRETS: There are 70 secrets in the entire game. These are marked "(x/70)" in this walkthrough. To check your progress in-game, press Pause (P on keyboard, Start on PlayStation or Dreamcast controller) then choose Statistics. At the end of this level, you should have 65/70. If you missed this secret and exited the level prematurely, it's not a problem. Just turn around and go back through the door to re-enter MENKAURE'S PYRAMID.
†UPDATE HISTORY: 6/10/00 - Previous edit, details not available.
5/5/19 - First major update since this walkthrough was created in 1999. This revision includes many new screenshots as well as various other corrections and clarifications.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Special thanks are given to the participants in the alt.games.tombraider newsgroup and the old tombraiders.com forum, without whom parts of this walkthrough could not have been written. Thanks also to Dale F., Kas D., and Shane for their help on this level.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS FOR BUG IN BUILDING WITH GUARD UNDER ATTACK:
WAS THIS WALKTHROUGH HELPFUL? If not, I apologize and invite you to contact me with any questions. If you need help right away, I recommend the r/TombRaider subreddit. Other fan-run forums are listed at tombraiders.net/stella/community.html. If this site was useful, please consider supporting it financially or in other ways. For details, visit tombraiders.net/stella/support.html. As always, I welcome your corrections/suggestions. Thank you!
Copyright © 1999- Stellalune (). Feel free to copy or print this walkthrough for personal use. By all means, share it with friends, but please include this credit line so people can send me their feedback. No part of this walkthrough may be reproduced on another site without permission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Follow this link for details about this site's advertising and privacy policy.
Stella's Tomb Raider Site: tombraiders.net.