Tomb Raiders Traveler's Guide: Area 51 -- Hints

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	Area 51	Items: 40	Kills: 39
		You've managed to find your way into a top-secret military installation. If you thought security was tight and the technology was cool at the high security compound, get ready to be dazzled by Area 51. Here are your hints to get you through.
	Alarming	There is an added complication in dealing with enemies in Area 51. Throughout Area 51, you will encounter various guards, but their primary purpose will be to secure the area, which generally involves activating an alarm, before coming to attack you. When a guard activates an alarm, various undesirable things might happen. Additional guards may arrive, doors that lead to useful objects may close, or security guns or lasers may be activated. It is important to move quickly and take out these enemies before they reach the alarms.
	Hands Off	As you probably started to learn in the previous level, not all switches and buttons need or should be thrown or pressed. After picking up the MP5, the switch in the gun closet definitely should not be thrown.
	High Beams	Throughout Area 51, you will encounter laser beam traps that sweep up and down tunnels. Avoiding them is easy once you discover the weakness. Before charging into tunnels with red laser beams on spinning gantries, examine the trap carefully to determine how to avoid it, and then proceed to execute your plans quickly.
	Detours	After releasing the first prisoner, you will find a room guarded by a security gun activated by a laser. Although it is possible to avoid the laser, in this level, there are often ways to avoid these dangers altogether. Look around to find an alternate route to take you past the laser.
	Degrating	After your first encounter with a sniper, you will might wander around looking for where to go next. After you've sufficiently explored the area, drop to the metal gratings that surround the central shaft structure. One of the gratings in one of the corners will drop out, and below is a crawlspace that will be closed off by a small grating. There is a switch just above that will open it.
	Avoiding Trouble	In the tunnels after dropping through the metal grating, you will find more lasers and security guns. Once again, look for a better route. Not only will it be safer, but they contain a few perks as well.
	Monitoring	In the next area, you will encounter a deadly trap, but it helps to know what you're getting into. Running directly for the open doors is not a good idea. Use the security monitors in the corners of the tunnel to see what awaits. Those open doors will close but examine the rooms to find another way to get around to the other side of those doors.
	Fork	Beyond the closed doors are lasers that you will be unable to avoid. Don't worry about it. Take out the guard and make your way forward. Eventually you'll come to a fork in the tunnel. You'll need something from the right before you go to the left.
	Missiles Galore	After your trip to the rocket silo, you can go back the other way to find a missile assembly area. The CDROM you just picked up goes into the big computer on the right side of the room near the security guns. After you've raised the two missiles on the conveyor belt, you will have access to the ladder on the wall.
	Train Ride	The key you just picked up opens a door to an underground subway that you can use to get to and from the rocket silo. The tracks are electrified, and so is the tunnel beyond the loading area. You'll need to find a way to get down that tunnel. Perhaps you can call for a subway car to take you down there.
	High Road	So we mislead you, the train comes but doesn't take you anywhere. However, it does provide you access to a little maintenance tunnel above the tracks. The first set of metal grates are okay, but the second set will fall out under you if you try to cross them. You'll need to find the way to get beyond those trapdoors.
	Relay Race	Beyond the subway, you'll make your way around some tunnels to the UFO bay. The doors are close, so you'll need to make your way to the room that opens the hanger doors. In the next room, there are tunnels that head off to the left and right, but also double doors that lead to a deep pit with double doors beyond that. Your job, is to open both doors and raise a steel trapdoor to close off the pit to gain you access to the next room. The solution will require you do some running back and forth across that room. Examine the catwalks for the solution.
	Random Access	When you finally get to the next room, you'll be faced with five switches. Three of them open the doors to the UFO hanger. I didn't find any disadvantage to throwing all five of them to find out which three needed to be activated. After determining which three were supposed to be thrown, I simply went back and shut off the other two.
	Misplaced	It seems that some incompetent MP left a pass card on top of the UFO. You need to do some climbing and fancy (or maybe not so fancy) jumping to get onto it.
	Backtracking	Now you have the Launch Codes, you need to make your way back to the rocket silo. There aren't any shortcuts here. You have to go back the way you came. Nothing tricky, just annoying.
	Did Someone Say Launch?	The pass card opens the launch button. Unfortunately, there's no count-down. There aren't even any doors. After you push that button, the rockets exhaust flames will fry you to a crisp. You need to get as far away from the flames as possible. The answer is right under your nose... well it will be as soon as you turn around.
	Fresh Air	With the rocket out of the way, you will be able to climb your way to the top of the rocket silo. When you get there, you can make your way to another yard outside. Only a laser trap and a couple of guards stand in your way. You should be able to get out there. Once out there, you need to find another clearance code disk, and then make your way back to the UFO. Conveniently, this time they've given you a short cut.
	Alien Autopsy	This second CDROM goes into the computer in the medical bay inside the UFO hanger. Once you've done that you're on your way to the completion of this level.
	Doctor Who?	Among the various things that happens when you put that second CDROM in the second computer, a trap door underneath the UFO opens. Get inside, and you'll have a brief and physics defying eploration of the UFO.
	Footnotes: At this point in the game you can choose whether to go to the South Pacific or London next, the Traveler's Guide, for somewhat arbitrary reasons (we wanted to save London for last because it seemed to be the "coolest levels"), has chosen to list the South Pacific levels next in numerical order. However, there is no reason why you couldn't go to the London levels next so for this reason, we have included the links to those levels of the game as well. We realize that it is possible that you may have already completed both the South Pacific and London levels at this point, therefore we include the Antarctica links here as well. Use these links only if you have completed Nevada, South Pacific, and the London levels.