Red Alert! - Level Start and Secret #1

You begin the level in the exposed stairwell. Before taking a step, equip the HK in sniper mode. Pivot to the right.

Activate the scope (Look button), and headshot the guy in the power suit on the landing above. As long as you don't move from the starting position, he won't notice Lara.

When he falls, he takes out a section of staircase.

NOTE: As in the previous VCI levels, armored soldiers are not added to the kill count on the in-game Statistics screen.

You can't progress by heading down, since the stairs collapse as you approach.

Instead, climb the mangled stairs to the landing where the armored guy was standing.

Turn right, take a running jump to grab the next higher landing, and pull up.

Move up to the next landing, amid blasts from the hovering helicopter (loud but not dangerous), and pause there.

Start up the next set of stairs...

...and quickly press Action to grab on as the stairs collapse out beneath you.

- OR -

If you fall onto the stairs below, jump straight up to grab the end of the broken stairs and climb them like a ladder.

NOTE: This can be a little tricky, but if you stand slightly back from the dangling ladder and hold Jump + Action, Lara will jump straight up and down, gradually creeping forward until she grabs on. Or, retrace your route up and around, then take a running jump to grab the broken stairs.

Once Lara is hanging from the broken-stair ladder, climb to the left...

...into the brown alcove with the twisted metal bars and open flame (decorative not dangerous) and let go.

Here you'll find a golden rose (1) (219/239) (SECRET #1, 34/36).

When you have it, stand in the right side of the opening (near the flames), angle Lara toward the broken-stair ladder, and take a standing jump to grab it. Climb to the top. (Or, safety drop from the opening, jump up to grab the end of the dangling stairs and climb up.)

As you pull up onto the landing above the ladder, another blast from the helicopter destroys more of the stairs.

Turn right, walk up the short section of broken stairs, and jump onto the next landing.

Turn right and take a running jump to grab the next higher landing. Pull up but don't rush forward.

The helicopter will destroy the next set of stairs when you pass over it. So, walk not quite halfway up, then jump over the rest of the stairs as they collapse. (Or take a running jump from the lower landing to the higher one.)

The blast from the helicopter and the residual flame won't harm Lara. Press Action to kick open the cracked wall.

Crawl through to a small room with a grate in the ceiling.

[Next | Red Alert! Walkthrough]