LEVEL 5: OFFSHORE RIG
Updated: 2/5/24(†)
Kills: 20 Items: 18 (20 and Uzis) plus pistols, automatic pistols, harpoon gun, shotgun, 3 pass cards, and 3 secrets
NOTE: Under items, the number in parentheses (20) includes the reward for finding all three secrets. You'll also receive the UZIS if you find all 3 secrets here.
LEVEL MAP by VGCartography (used with permission)
Offshore Rig Video Walkthrough by Eldincy
OBJECTIVES: Escape from captivity and find a way onto the seaplane parked in the big pool in order to reclaim your pistols. Once you're armed again, confront the bad guys and work your way through the rig to the Diving Area. On the way you'll need to obtain several color-coded key cards. The first two are used shortly after they're found, so should not cause much confusion. The third card, a green one, is located some distance away from its lock. If you need help finding it, check the main walkthrough. Using the green card enables you to reach the level exit.
FMV SEQUENCE: The seaplane with Lara aboard lands near an oil rig in the middle of the ocean. (This movie, titled "Landing" is also available on my YouTube channel.)
LOCKUP: You begin this level imprisoned in a room full of crates. Check your inventory. Though they've kindly left Lara her health packs, flares and ammo, the bad guys seem to have confiscated all her weapons. You'll have to get them back.
There's a wall of windows and next to them a locked door. Apparently Bartoli isn't quite as "enlightened" as he thinks, since the switch that opens the door to Lara's prison is hidden in the same room. To find it, go around the crates to the back left corner, pull the first movable crate out twice and climb over it. The switch is at the end of the passageway at the back of the room. The door is on a timer, though, so you'll need to move a few crates out of the way to clear a path to the exit beforehand. Then go into the passageway, pull the switch, press Look to cancel the cut scene showing the door opening, then roll and run out. If you don't make it in time, just return to the switch and try again. (If you need help rearranging the crates, check this page with details and screenshots.)
SHORTCUT: It's possible to skip the entire POOL AND UNDERWATER PASSAGE sequence in a couple different ways. One takes advantage of a glitch in the game; the other is perfectly "legal." However, unless you backtrack for it later, you will miss Secret #1. To save space here, these shortcuts are covered on a separate page.
POOL AND UNDERWATER PASSAGE: As soon as Lara exits the room, an alarm begins to sound. If you linger on this ledge too long, 2 rig workers, one with a club and one with a gun, come through the doorway on the left. To avoid them, dive into the water and swim to the other side of the pool. Just be careful not to venture too close to the huge underwater fan in the far right corner. If Lara passes the barrels on the bottom, whether she's swimming underwater or on the surface, she'll get sucked into the blades. So either swim underneath the plane or stay close to its tail as you swim along the surface. (screenshot)
On the wall, below the surface, just to the left of the fan is a lever. Approach it from the left, either on the surface or underwater and pull it to open the small, square grate to the right of the fan. To reach it, swim around the barrels on the bottom or on the surface. Then hug the wall as you approach the grate in order to make it past the fan without getting shredded. Yes, that's the Jade Dragon back there behind the fan, but don't try and get it yet. (screenshots)
Follow the underwater passage as it turns left, left again, continues straight for a bit, then jogs left and continues forward and up a slope. At the top of the slope, the passage leads into a small room where you can surface for air.
On the wall underwater, below the tunnel where you just came in, is a lever. Pull it to open a trapdoor back at the other end of the tunnel near the fan. Come up to refill Lara's air meter. Then swim back along the tunnel. Just before the end where you came in, you'll see the trapdoor you just opened. Swim down through this opening and to the right. Continue forward along a short passage. Then swim upward to find SECRET #1, the Jade Dragon, sitting behind the huge fan. Grab it, roll and swim back down into the tunnel. (screenshots)
If Lara's air is running out, you can follow the passage to the right and surface in the big pool to breathe. Just be sure to turn left as you emerge from the tunnel and stay close to the wall so Lara doesn't get drawn into the fan. Then return through the long underwater passageway to the small room with the lever.
Climb out of the water into the doorway and follow the passageway until you emerge outside on a walkway above the big pool. Head to the right, jumping the gap in the walkway and avoiding spending more than a moment in front of the windows. The gunman inside may see Lara and start shooting at her through the window. Drop down at the end of the walkway and push the button on the wall to open a hatch under the plane. (screenshots)
NOTE: If you want to, you can skip the business with the buttons and just jump from the walkway near the windows onto the plane. This is shown in the last 3 screenshots on the page describing the previous shortcut.
THE SEAPLANE: Swim underneath the airplane and climb inside. Press the button to turn off the engine, stopping the propeller. Return via the underwater tunnel near the huge fan to the small room with the lever, then through the hallway to the walkway by the windows. Drop down near the button you used earlier to open the hatch. This time, go to the end of the metal walkway with the broken railing. Take a running jump off this walkway to grab the airplane wing to the left of the propeller. Pull up and cross over the top of the plane toward the tail. Step on the trapdoor to fall through into the plane. Reclaim your PISTOLS and climb the ladder to get back on top of the plane. (This is also covered in the last set of screenshots.)
YELLOW CARD AND LOCK: Now you can swim back to the landing where you escaped from the room with all the crates. Come in from the right behind the wall, so the enemies don't see you before you see them. (screenshot) Climb out of the water and go through the door on your right, avoiding the ramp with the rolling barrels. Now that you have your guns back, you can take care of the bad guys and steal their large medi pack and YELLOW PASS CARD.
Continue through the room where the bad guys came from and up the stairs to the room with the windows. Use the pass card in the YELLOW LOCK to open one of the doors opposite the windows. (screenshot) Enter the next room and press the button to turn off the alarm.
LOUNGE AND BUNKS: Follow the passage on the right up a flight of stairs. Turn the wheel to open the door. Run into the room and roll to confront a rig worker with a club that appears in the doorway. Take his small medi pack and continue to the next room. When you enter, another bat-wielding baddie comes through the door at the top of the ramp. He drops a large medi pack when you kill him.
The door at the top of the ramp closes if you approach it, so instead open the door with the wheel, go through into the workers' lounge and shoot another enemy inside on the right. (screenshot) Take his large medi pack and pick up 2 bundles of harpoons and 2 pairs of automatic pistol clips from the low tables. (No matter how hard you try, you can't pick up the cigs or coffee...drat!)
Go through the doorway into the bunk area. The guys have kindly left some goodies on their beds—AUTOMATIC PISTOLS and clips for them, a HARPOON GUN and harpoons.
The trapdoor in the ceiling between the last two bunks opens when you push a button in the first top bunk on the left. The door is on a timer, so you'll have to rush. Climb up onto the bunk, push the button, tap the Look button to regain Lara's perspective. Then roll, run off the edge and along the aisle to the far end of the last bunk on the right. Jump straight up to grab the edge of the top bunk. Pull up, turn around, jump forward to grab the trapdoor opening and pull up before the door closes. If you don't make it in time, just return to the button and try again. (screenshots)
BURNER ROOM: Follow the passage around the corner and walk to the edge of a long chute. Slide down backwards and grab the edge. Climb down the ladder to a room with lit burners and 2 movable boxes set into the wall. Pull out the box on the right and push it over to the other side of the room. Now pull the other box out, pull it once toward the middle of the room, then go behind it and push it up next to the low platform with the burners. Take a running jump off the box to grab the ladder above the flames. Climb to the top. (screenshots)
RED PASS CARD AND SILVER DRAGON: Follow the hallway, killing the goon with a club and taking his RED PASS CARD. (screenshot) Climb the ladder on the left just before the stairs to reach the top of the oil rig tower, where you'll find SECRET #2, the Silver Dragon. (screenshot)
NOTE: It's possible to get outside the fence into the area surrounding the tower using a modified version of the fence bug. Details are on a separate page. Thanks to rr_carroll of Tomb Raider Tourist for sharing this discovery.
Climb back down the ladder into the rig and follow the dark hallway up the stairs. You'll end up back in the small, water-filled room where you were earlier. Drop into the water, climb into the doorway and follow the hall back to the walkway overlooking the pool and seaplane. Go to the end of the walkway, shoot out a window and re-enter the room where you used the YELLOW PASS CARD. Go through the metal door into the room with the button you pressed before to turn off the alarm.
RED LOCK: This time go up the stairs on the left and follow the passage to a room with big, silver pipes on the walls. A rig worker with a gun and a Doberman greet you. Shoot them and take the guy's Uzi clips. Approach the ramp cautiously. When the barrels at the top start rolling down toward you, quickly hop back and leap to the side out of their way. (screenshot) Then continue to the top of the ramp and use the RED PASS CARD in the RED LOCK to open the door.
ROOM WITH RAMP AND METAL LEDGES: If you rush into the next room, Lara will be ambushed by 3 more rig workers. But if you proceed with caution, you can take them out one at a time. First, draw pistols and step into the doorway without going any farther. Lara will target the enemy on the catwalk to the left so you can shoot him without taking any damage or triggering the other enemies. Then enter the room and immediately take a running jump across the shallow pit on the left to land on the catwalk. An alarm starts blaring, but there's nothing you can do about it, so just go on about your business. Two bad guys with clubs appear, one materializes inside the room, one comes in from the hallway. Although they can climb onto the other metal ledges in this room, they can't reach Lara here. Take your time and use pistols so you don't waste ammo. Afterward, loot the bodies for a small medi pack, flares and shotgun shells. (screenshots)
Climb back onto the catwalk on the left, where the first bad guy fell. Find the movable box in the corner and push it once. Go around to the ledge on the opposite side of the box. Climb up and pull the box once. Then return to the other side and push it once more so it's sitting on the protruding ledge. Climb onto the metal platform on the other side of the room and take a running jump to grab the edge of the movable box. Pull up, step back to the outer corner of the box and then take a standing jump to grab the edge of the opening above. Pull up into the passageway. (screenshots)
TWO POOLS AND GREEN LOCK: When you turn the corner a thug with a gun starts shooting at you, so kill him and take his shotgun shells. Continue down the ramp into the next room. There's a door with a GREEN LOCK on the right, but you don't yet have a key card for it. Pull the switch on the opposite wall to pump water from one of the two pools in the next room into the other pool.
Go back the way you came to the ROOM WITH THE RAMP AND METAL LEDGES. Safety drop into the room. Then climb onto the ledge and swim across the pool to the area with the big orange tanks. Jump over the pipes on the right to land on the metal ledge near the wall. Jump up the slope and pull the switch to open a concealed trapdoor in the room with the GREEN LOCK. (screenshot)
Swim back across the pool and return to the room with the GREEN LOCK via the movable box and raised passageway. Drop through the trapdoor and then slide down the long slope into the next area.
HUGE ROOM WITH CATWALKS AND POOL BELOW: You emerge on a catwalk above a huge pool. Head to the right end of the walkway and look around. There are 2 enemies on the catwalks off to the right, but they're too far away to target from here. You can also glimpse the Gold Dragon on the cement footing below. Leave it for now. (screenshot)
Move back to the left a bit, draw pistols and look down. Lara can see the 2 scuba divers in the water better than you can. One is off to the left; the other is on the right. You may need to move from one end of the catwalk to the other to get clear shots at them both, but you can kill them from up here. (screenshot)
NOTE: Save frequently during this next sequence since it's easy to miss a jump or accidentally step off a ledge. If you fall into the pool and don't want to reload, there's a ladder in the far left corner (relative to the long chute where you came in). Swim over there, climb out of the water onto the cement footing and jump to grab the ladder. (screenshot) Climb back up to the catwalks and continue.
Now make your way more or less clockwise around the room via the various catwalks. Start by moving to the left end of the catwalk where you started. Take a running jump to grab the edge of the next walkway; pull up. Go to the end of this walkway and take another running jump to grab the small platform ahead and a bit to the left; pull up. Step back and take a standing jump to the small platform between the column and the wall. Draw pistols, sidestep to the left and take out the guy with the gun on the catwalk against the wall. Step back a bit if necessary and take another standing jump onto the small ledge just ahead. (Here it may help to press Action to shorten the jump a little so Lara doesn't overshoot the ledge.) Now take a running jump to the catwalk along the wall. Go to the far end and retrieve the SHOTGUN the last enemy dropped. Move to the right side of this L-shaped catwalk and shoot the next bad guy, who's lurking behind the column ahead. Take a running jump over to the ledge where his body is, take his shotgun shells and look for another thug on the next catwalk. You should be able to get him from here. (screenshots)
GREEN PASS CARD: Turn so the walkway with that last enemy is on Lara's right. Take a running jump to the catwalk against the wall. Note the opening above. You'll be exiting here later. Move to the other end of this walkway and take a running jump onto the ledge ahead. Carefully line up the next running jump to the catwalk where the last bad guy fell. Tap Left while Lara is in the air to veer in that direction. This enemy has no goodies, but you'll find the GREEN PASS CARD in a cabinet. Shoot out the glass and take it. (Again, check the screenshots to get oriented.)
When Lara takes the card, alarms begin to sound once more. You can't shut them off, so just turn down the volume and go on.
GOLD DRAGON: SECRET #3, the Gold Dragon, is sitting on the cement footing below the catwalk where you found the GREEN KEY CARD. Dive into the pool and climb out onto the footing. Watch out for the 2 scuba divers if you didn't kill them earlier. You can shoot them from above or dive in and harpoon them. Then claim the statuette (plus the UZIS and 2 sets of clips if you've found all secrets). When you take the dragon, a goon with a club appears. A second bad guy spawns if you run around the footing to the other side. If you're low on health, you can draw them out then jump into the water, swim to the next footing, climb onto it and shoot them across the water. One of them drops a small medi pack. Or, if you don't care about getting all kills and items, just grab the dragon and move on. (screenshots)
NOTE: If you missed a secret along the way and don't unlock the UZIS here, fear not; there will be other opportunities.
When you're ready to go, swim to the footing in the opposite corner of the room from the one with the Gold Dragon. Climb out and jump to grab the ladder on the wall. (screenshot) Climb up, dismount on the right, and follow that catwalk to the end. Then jump across to the next catwalk and make your way back across the ledges to the exit. Remember, it's the opening above the catwalk on the end wall, just before the ledge where you got the GREEN PASS CARD. (screenshot)
Climb into this opening and follow the passageway up a series of ramps to a ladder. Climb to the top of the ladder and follow the passageway to an opening in the floor. Draw the shotgun, drop through the opening and shoot the rig worker that tries to club Lara. Take his small medi pack and go down the ramp into the room with the GREEN LOCK.
TWO POOLS AND GREEN LOCK: Use the same switch you used earlier to drain the first pool and refill the second. Then use the GREEN KEY CARD in the GREEN LOCK to open the door. Exit, jump into the pool, swim through the opening on the far side and down a long passage. When you reach the grate, pull the lever to open it and continue until you can surface. Head up the stairs to the next level.
†UPDATE HISTORY: 11/28/10 - First major update since this walkthrough was created in 1998. This revision includes many new screenshots as well as various other corrections and clarifications.
1/21/12 - Corrected the item count, thanks to a tip from Blighthorn Steelmace. (I had accidentally counted the harpoons that come with the harpoon gun as a separate pickup.)
5/5/12 - Added links to cinematics on YouTube.
9/18/13 - Added the reward (Uzis and clips) that come with finding all three secrets in this level. Thanks to Rich for the nudge. :)
12/1/13 - Added "objectives" section for each level.
4/12/14 - Added the shortcut variation at the start of the level involving getting the rig worker to shoot the window for you.
2/5/24 - Added VGCartography's level maps, with permission. Visit VGCartography on DeviantArt for high-res versions, and follow on Twitter/X and YouTube for more fantastic game maps.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Special thanks to the participants in the alt.games.tombraider newsgroup, without whom some parts of this walkthrough could not have been written. Thanks also to laralover, Michael P., Per S., Pete A., rr_carroll, Tristan, and Sami for their contributions on this level. Thanks also to the many players who sent in various shortcuts for obtaining the pistols.
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