Nightmare in Vegas - Secret #3 (Gold Skull) and "Lucid Dream" Achievement/Trophy
NOTE: There are a few additional comments, alternatives, and a bug note in the main walkthrough.
In the last section, you met the GUARDIAN and retrieved all but the final pickup: the Gold Skull secret. Now we'll get it and defeat the boss. After retrieving the items in the dark room at the top of the ELEVATOR SHAFT, climb down the ladder, drop to the blue tiled floor...
...and immediately flip/run to the left to avoid the GUARDIAN.
Follow the blue-tiled hallway down a long ramp.
The monster will be hot on Lara's heels, so take running jumps where it's safe to do so. At the bottom of this first ramp, jump over another field of broken glass and continue around the corner to the left.
Run/jump down the next ramp, veering to the left near the bottom...
...as you jump over more broken glass. The monster's cage is just ahead. SECRET #3, the gold skull (70) is lying on the floor of the enclosure.
Grab it as quickly as you can. (If the monster hasn't quite caught up with Lara yet, you may want to save again here. Use a new slot if you want to be extra cautious.)
NOTE: If you found all 15 secrets in the 5 levels, "Codex of Melnikov" achievement/trophy unlocks now. If you found all 331 Golden Mask pickups you'll also unlock, "Harvest Plan Implemented."
As soon as Lara has the skull, roll, draw weapons, and back up firing.
But don't let the monster pin Lara against the bars. When he gets close, jump past him...
...roll, and continue shooting.
There's no foolproof strategy here. Just use your most powerful weapons, keep moving, and heal if necessary.
Most importantly, for the "Lucid Dream" achievement/trophy, you must defeat the guardian inside his cage. So do not allow him to move outside of the enclosure once you begin shooting. (That is, stay in the green astroturf area. If he moves out onto the blue tiles, the achievement won't register.)
Continue firing and evading...
...and when the monster falls, "Lucid Dream" unlocks, and the level ends. "That's Just a Nightmare," for finishing the bonus level, unlocks on the statistics screen.
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