Hints to raiders (especially to PSX people)

Here's my experience on the PSX version of Tomb Raider III. First of all it's possible to end the game in the fair way (without cheat codes). Of course you have to follow a correct strategy. There are two cornerstones in the game which are:

• the 2nd level of Nevada - High Security Compound - since Lara starts it relieved of all her previous possessions (all the weapons, pistols included, all the medipacks, but not the Save Gems: I started here with 10 of them)
• the final level of Antarctica - Meteorite Cavern -, since here Lara needs enough fire-power to kill Dr. Willard in his spider mutant form.

• Play immediately Nevada after India. My opinion is that it would be reasonable to play either India - London - Nevada - South Pacific (I did so) or India - South Pacific - Nevada - London, but the other choices seem quite hard to deal with.
• Save at least 96 shootings of the Desert Eagle plus one hundred of MP5 clips to kill Dr. Willard.

• Rocket Launcher: it's amusing but finally you don'n need it. It's difficult to use and its ammo is very very limited. Don't die to get rockets.
• Grenade Launcher: the same as the Rocket Launcher. I got 34 grenades which I never used. The launcher is too slow for fast killing.
• Harpoons: they're essential for Lara, thus look for them carefully. You can skip some crocodiles, but you cannot escape some others or some divers: you have to kill them. I used all the harpoons I founded.
• MP5: it was basic to me. It's important to collect all the MP5 clips leaved on the ground by the dead soldiers in Crash Site. You cannot use the MP5 while running, but you can fire with it while sidejumping. I used it to kill Puna (the boss of Temple of Puna).
• Shotgun: you get it at the first secret of India (on the green ledge hidden under the leaves at the very beginning on the big brown sliding ramp). It's powerful, especially at close range, but slow. I used it just for the final Shiva of Temple Ruins, but pistols and jumps, or just "think and run" would be enough.
• Desert Eagle: without the Desert Eagle you can waste your TR3. It's auto-aiming, that's its most important quality. Use it for fast killing when you have no alternative (e.g. for some bad boys on board of RX-Explorer in Antarctica). Have at least one hundred Desert Eagle clips before entering Meteorite Cavern.
• UZI: you can use it to save the Desert Eagle. I used it to kill the bad boy and the dog at the very end of All Hallows.
• Regular Pistols: much more useful than one can think. Auto-aiming, choose them every time you can fire from a safe or a relatively safe place. With pistols, you can kill the monkeys, the tigers, the cobras, the Shivas and the Flaming Guy in India; the small hen-like saurs (not the big ones, they are too fast) and the T-Rex (some 840 bullets will do the job) in Crash Site; the creeping mutants of RX-Tech Mines, and almost all the wasps and all the big mutants of The Lost City of Tinnos.
• No weapons at all, just apply Lao Tzu Principle: "The best winner doesn't give battle" (Tao Te Ching, chap. 73). This means that often Lara can escape without fighting. For example you don't need to fight against: the Big Boss Shiva (just use the first 2 Ganesha keys, then get the third and run) in Temple Ruins, the first laser MP with two dogs (jump in the pit with the firs secret) and the two last MP's of the UFO (run and get the artefact) in Area 51, the temple tribesman (get quickly the crawlspace) and the last crocodile (dive zig-zag) in Coastal Village, most of the saurs on Crash Site, the big mutants in RX-Tech Mines (for the last two cases see my walkhroughs on Theresa web site to learn how).

I will be happy to reply to any msg about TR3. Write to my regular address. Hi everybody,

SergioInv.

Summary

• Start: December 25, 1998.
• End of the regular game: June 12, 1999.
• End of the extra level (All Hallows): June 24, 1999.
• Total net playing time: less than 30 hours in 6 months.
• Esimated gross playing time: from 4 to 10 times more.
• Mean interval between consecutive saving: about 30 minutes.
• Intermediate level sequence: London, Nevada, South Pacific (a first attempt was: London, South Pacific, Nevada).
• Hardware: Sony PlayStation [SCPH-5502] #C6522813, standard controller.
• Software: Tomb Raider III [PAL, italian version] (SIAE 3627303).
• Intermediate saving: on 3 different memory cards (draft #1, draft #2, final version).
• My favorite level: Aldwych.
• The most difficult point I've found: the three timed doors (in Aldwych).
• Cheats: I haven't used any kind of cheat like the "All weapons" code (otherwise Lara would have one of the "long weapons" (Shotgun, MP5, Rocket Launcher, Harpoons Launcher) at her shoulder or the Grenade Launcher at her belt in the last image of All Hallows - The Tomb -, since there are no know cheats in Tomb Raider to cancel them. Of course Photoshop can cancel them, so you have to trust me).
• Weapons: The regular pistols as often as possible. Main alternative weapons: the Desert Eagle, the MP5, and, underwater, the harpoons. Dr. Willard was stunned with a total of 121 Desert Eagle shoots and finally he was killed by the MP5.
• Aknowledgements: I've often looked for help in Theresa web site, especially in Jeff Reid's walkthroughs. Thanks to all of them.

Final Inventary			Statistics
Shotgun	32		Final	All Hallows
Desert Eagle	21	Timing	29:14:09	00:29:05
UZI	400	Secrets	60 out from 59	None
MP5	574	Kills	406	2
Rocket Launcher	7	Ammo	16025	58
Grenades	34	Targets	11172	56
Harpoons	0	Medipacks	46.5	1.5
Flares	110	Km total	80.25	1.01
Large Medi	11	Final images (click to enlarge)
Small Medi	11
Save Gems	1

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