The Challenge of Atlas

Once you have the blade, continue down the corridor and enter the large room. A gate will close behind you and some enemies will appear. Head for the broken stairs in the far left corner and head up them. Make your way to the left and follow the walk way around and over the bridge. Kill the large armored enemies there and take out the archers on the far side with the lightning arrows. When they are dead, head across the beams to the far side and grab the gorgon eye from the chest to the right. After you grab it, head to the left of the upper area and push the lever there to lower a large weight. Jump and grab the rope and slide down to the bottom. When you reach the bottom, hop off and grab the next rope leading to the right. Shimmy across and knock off the enemies in the way until you reach the far side. Head up the stairs to the right and grab the shield of Hades there. When you grab it, a spiked wall will start to move and the path to the right will be blocked. You’ll need to defeat the massive onslaught of enemies that start to come before you can pass through the doorway.



Once they are all dead and you haven’t been spiked, go through and you will return to the rope. Head back up it and jump to where you first entered the room. Directly across from you will be another hallway with a box of rocks at the end. Kill the Gorgons that appear and then grab the box and drag it into the room on the left. At the far end of the room will be an alcove that will spin around when you press down on the button in the center. You can either stone an enemy on it or drag the box of rocks over to the alcove and then kick it towards the button and jump on the platform just as it begins to turn. Either way, when you get on it and press the button, it will flip and put you on the other side. Kill the enemies here and grab all the goodies from the chests and head up the ladder in the corner. When you reach the top, walk across the beam and grab the Shield of Zeus. Drop down to the room below and place the two shields in the spaces on the wall. When you do, the wall will open and allow you to enter. Head down the stairs and save at the light at the end of the corridor.



Make your way up the ladder and around the hallway until you come out to a large room with many saw blades zipping around. Head for the doorway on the far side of the room and smash through the wall there. Kill the enemies that pop up to say hi and then head right along the conveyor belt, past the mashing spikes and make a left. Head up the ladder and out across the bridge to kill some harpies. When you get to the far side, jump up the half ladder and climb the wall there. Head to the right and straight up when you reach the end. When you reach the top, head left and fight your way through a crap load of enemies. Eventually you will come to an opening with a chest and a lever. Pull it and a chain will drop. Head down the corridor and enter the large room with the wooden floors. As you enter, the doors will lock and enemies will flood in. Now you need to kill them all and grab the Handle of Atlas before the floor collapses. The shielded enemies need to be taken out with the Chaos Blades and using the triangle attack to smash their shields.



The rage of gods is your friend during this battle since you will be able to take out anyone in no time. Once all the enemies are toast, grab the handle and head back out of the room. Grab the chain and slide down and save. Head back across the conveyor belt and enter the room with the saw blades again. This time you will need to pull both blades and head through the gate before each of the bars closes. Grab the handle furthest from the gate first and then run diagonally to the lever in the corner. Pull it and then run through the gate. Walk across the ledges along the wall and lift the door there. Enter the room with the statue of Atlas and kill the enemies loafing about. Up to the lever in front of the statue and use the handle to turn the lever. Turn it until the globe is on Atlas’ back and then run around the back of him to find the Muses key in a chest there. Head back down the stairs and go to the right, around the iron gate there and head up the stairs. Follow the stairs up to the second floor and pop open the chest to the left. Grab the goods and head across the bridge to come to another lever. Pull it and the globe will smash through the large door. Grab the gorgon eye from the chest to the left and then hope back down and go through the smashed door.



Walk out across the bridge and pull the top of the coffin off. Jump on top of it and pull the head of the corpse. When you have the head, the coffin will slide and an opening will be revealed underneath. Hop down and follow the corridor around until the scene starts to play. After the scene is over, continue to the door at the end and lift it up. You will be back in the room where the light beam shoot the skull on the door at the end of the hall. Head down the hall and kill the enemies along the way until you reach the end. Place the skull on the skull on the door and the door will open to a new hallway. Enter it and there will be a large rolling block coming towards you. You can easily out run it, so stay ahead of it and run along the corridor until you come to a set of stairs. Climb them and wait at the top for the rolling stone to come to you again. Jump on top of it when it does and walk on it the opposite way until you come to the ladder on the right. Jump off it to the ladder and climb up to get some treasure and a save point.

The Challenge of Poseidon

As soon as you enter the first area, you will be under attack by a Cerberus. Kill it and its nasty offspring and continue through the archway along the dirt path. Continue and kill everyone you meet as you will need to have the path cleared to be able to enter the next doorway. When you reach it and everyone is dead, head through to the circular room. Pull the lever in the center and the room will start to spin. When it does, it will stop at different alcoves with chests that you can grab if you are quick enough. After a few chests, it will stop at a door way. Run through and you will come out side. Kill the enemies here and when they are dead, head to the chain swinging to the left. Grab the ledge to the right of it and continue to jump up from ledge to ledge. When you reach the pathway, head to the right to find a chest and the second Muse Key. Head back to the left and follow the path until it takes you to a large doorway. Kill the minotaurs that appear and continue down the corridor to the save light.



Continue down the hall and you will be shown a bunch of cages on the ceiling. Pass the lever with no handle and continue over the ledge and up the slope to the room at the end. Grab the handle from the floor on the right and head back to the lever by the cages. Turn the lever to lower a cage and there will be a soldier still alive in it. Push it over the edge and continue to push it up the hill. Use the stones on the slope to stop the cage from sliding down when you need to fight an enemy. Continue to push the cage up the slope and into the next room. When you enter, push it to the square tile in front of the door between the flames and then pull the handle. When the soldier fries, head through the open door. Continue across the bridge and grab Poseidon’s trident and you will be able to swim underwater from now on. Hop off the platform to the right and swim down the hole. Follow it around and you will come out to a cave full of baby Cerberus’. Kill them and open the door at the far end and pull the lever there.



When you do, blocks in the main room behind the statue will pull out. Hop back in the water and swim back to the main room and climb the blocks. Follow the tunnel along to another water hole and swim to the Nyad. Dive down under it and follow the tunnel to the right. Swim along and when you reach the carving at the end, smash through it to find another Nyad. Head left and you will swim up a ramp and find some enemies when you hit dry land. Kill them and then head for the door at the rear of the room and smash through it. Smash through all the jars there and pop open the chest at the end. Head back out of the room and back into the water and continue to swim past the nyad along the corridor. You will swim through an opening that looks like a mouth and enter a room full of spikes and blades. Use the dash move one after another to get through this room alive. If you try to swim through, it will take too long and you’ll die. When you get to the other side, enter the room there and you will need to face off against a rush of enemies.



When they are all dead, the shield around the lever in the center will fall and you will be able to pull it. When you do, the wall that had the carving of Poseidon will slide away. Head back through the corridor to that wall and swim down the passage there. Continue to swim to the large statue and then dive down. You will see a wall pass under you and you dive down. If you get caught by the wall, you will die. Dive down after the wall passes and dash forward. Dive down to the opening in the floor and wait for the wall to pass over you. Pop up when it does and dash twice to the next opening. When the wall passes over again, pop out and head for the last opening and swim all the way down. Follow the passage to the large room and swim up to the surface. Save there and pull the lever to have some platforms rise. Hop up them to get some chests and then head back to the lever. Pull it again and this time hop into the water to the left of the platforms. Swim down and to the rear of the room will be an opening.



Enter it and wait for the platforms to lower and it will take you to a tunnel. Swim along it and you will come out in the room you were in earlier with the light beam that hit the skull door. Head down the hallway and take out the enemies there and continue through the door at the end. Head through the next door and run around the hallway until you come to the stairs on the left. Head up them and jump into the water. Swim down the hole and you will eventually come to a large room with a large door on the left side and a lever up a set of stairs to the right. Smash the wall at the bottom of the stairs and head through to get a save light. Continue around the corridor and head up the ladder. Make your way around the corner and you will come out into a large room and start the challenge of Hades.

The Challenge of Hades

Hop up the ledge on the left and try to open the door there. You will be told that you need to make a blood sacrifice to pass. Accept and you will need to defeat the centaurs that enter the room. You will need to defeat 4 on each of the two circles that appear on the floor. When you have killed four in each, the doorway at the top of the ledges will open. Head through and follow the corridor around to the next doorway. Lift it open and go through to find a hallway with floor tiles that move back and forth. Hop over and continue over the next two. As you pass the spikes that shoot out of the wall, a gate will slam shut behind you and you will be in a maze. Head left, right, left and then right again and you will enter a large room with a gorgon and some centaurs. Take out the gorgon quickly and then the centaurs and head back out of the room to the hallway. Make a left and another left and you will come to a lever on a platform.



Turn it and it will rise to the next level. Make a right and then head to the far end and make a left. There will be a block and chain smashing back and forth. Wait till it passes and then enter the tunnel and jump on top of the block. Run across the top of it and look at the wall there. It will tell you to defeat all of the enemies in the maze before you can continue. Kill the few up here and look to the right. There will be a second door way there that can only be accessed when the block is all the way in on it’s third pass. When the door is open, hop down and enter to kill the two enemies in there and as long as you have killed everyone else, the door up at the top of the block will open. Head down the corridor and you will come back out to the main room, only higher. Step on the button in front of you and the statue in the center will rise. Jump over to it and slide down the ladder on the side. Hop in the pool surrounding it and swim down to the bottom. Pull the lever there and swim back up.



Now you can climb up the ladder and use the lever there to turn the head around and shine the light into the darkened hallway. Head up the stairs and you will now need to run down the corridor dodging the rolling balls that are coming at you. When you reach the far end, run down the opening and crack the chests open there and read the book. It will say there are eight doors but one exit. Head back up the ramp and along the side of the corridor here will be doors. The third door on the left side was the exit for me. Enter it and follow the hallway to the next large room and clear out the enemies. Head through the door and up the stairs to find some archers to take out. When they are dead, head back to the main room and go through the cave to the left. Hop up on the rope and shimmy across to the far side. When you get there, drop to the circular platform and fight the crowd of enemies there. Climb up the ladder when they are dead and hop up to the next ledge. Follow the hallway making a left, right, left, right, and then save at the light.



Enter the next room and it will be full of spinning beams and blades. Walk forward and walk out onto the beam to the right and jump over to the wooden walkway. Continue to the end and walk right to the end of the beam there. Jump across to the next beam ahead of you and then walk to the right. Jump over the spinning blades as they approach you with a double jump and continue to the far end of the beam. Now you will see a set of four beams spinning with one arm with no blades. Let it come to you and then jump on it. walk across it to the ladder and then climb up to the next ladder. Head across the beam there and jump to grab the rope on the left side. Slide down it and start along the platform there to the ladder. Climb down and follow the walkway to the hallway and turn the large wheel at the end. The door where you first entered will start to open. Head to the left and follow the stairs all the way down and around out the thin doorway.



When you are back in the main room with the pounding door, head up to it and the bad ass giant Minotaur will break through. To defeat the Minotaur, you will need to hack and slash at him until he goes reeling back to the wooden door and cowers there. When he does, run up to him and press O to get on him. Follow the stick swirls to damage him and then when he is dazed and you jump off, run to the far side of the room, up the stairs and to the left to use the lever there. Fire a log at him and he will come and attack again. Repeat that a few times and then you will need to start hitting him to knock off his armor. When his armor starts shedding, go to town on him until it all falls off. Once it does, nail him a few more times and he will be dazed once and for all. Quickly run back to the lever and fire the last log that will nail him to the door. After he is dead, run through the hole in the door and make a right up the stairs to the save point at the top. Continue forward to the next room and walk up to the coffin.



Pull the top off and then pull the son’s head off and head back down the stairs. When you enter the room where you fought the Minotaur, you will see a red light spinning at a doorway. Grab it and Hades will have a little chat with you. After you get his power, use it to defeat the rush of enemies and then head through the door where his big head was. Hop in the water and you will be right back where you started in the Ring of Pandora. Swim down in to the water and find the skull door there and place the head in side it. When the water lowers, you will now need to line up all the door ways so that the light that shines from the one room, hits the crystal that is now apparent. The first two doorways should already be lined up, so it is a matter of just lining up the rest. Use the levers to turn them and when you can see from one end to the other, run to the end room and push the crystal together to create the light beam. When the light hits the crystal, a scene will play and you will need to run to the far end. Use the lever there and it will lift you up to the top. After the scene is over, walk off the hands and square off against a new enemy and his friends. Kill them and head across the bridge to watch another scene and to save.

The Cliffs of Madness

As you head up the stairs, kill the enemies there and make a right. Hop over the gaps as you go from platform to platform and kill the archers on the opposite sides. Grab the rope at the end and shimmy to the far side. Make your way left and drop off at the far end. Head left and you will come to a lever and an elevator. Ride it up to the top and save there. Climb up the ladder and continue to make your way up them until you reach the very top. Head to the far left to find a chest with a gorgon eye. Head back to the right and enter the cave and follow the passage. Kill the Satyrs there and make a right to the platform with the lever in the middle. Turn it and the two platforms will turn. Make it go past the other just a bit and then run and jump over to it. When it returns to it’s position, head down the cavern and kill the archers there. Hop up through the opening there and come outside. Head to the right and there will be two statues that are missing necklaces. Ignore them for now and climb down the ladder there and cross the bridge. Grab the rope at the far end and slide down and enter the next cave. Follow it to a large room where you will see the first necklace. After the scene, a gate will go up over it and you will need to move the blocks in the room in place to create a wall in front of it.



From right to left the blocks will be the longest piece, the S shaped piece, the T piece, the medium sized piece and then finally the L shaped piece. Use the rotating platform to turn the blocks as needed to fit into place. Only the S, T and L piece needed to be turned. Once all the pieces are fit together, the gate will come down and the necklace is yours to take. Head back out of the cave and save at the save light. Head right and start climbing up the wall and hop your way over to the right. Keep going right and eventually you will come to a place where you can jump down to where there will be an open chest showing you have already been there. Don’t go down just yet. Keep climbing up and to the right and you will come to a small alcove where there will be a lever. Pull it and you will see a rope and a block descend down. Now you can go back above the chest and drop down. Run back across the bridge and place the necklace in the statue and watch a part of the bridge extend. Now you will need to head all the way back to the entrance of the first cave you entered. Make your way back across the two rotating platforms and down to the right to come out side.



Make a left to the wall of junk and there will be where the rope was lowered. Grab it and climb up and enter the cave there. As you enter the cavern, walk to the lever and pull it to open the gate ahead of you. Pull out the crate when it opens and you will have to quickly kick the box around the corner and use it to get to the ledge that is high on the right. It will take a few times since if you do not do it fast enough, spikes will come up out the floor and kill you instantly. Once you make it up to the top ledge, hop across to the vines and climb up to grab the second necklace. Now make your way back out and back up to the place where you set the first necklace. When both are in place, the bridges will start to extend and retract. Make your way across and up and take the elevator up. Make your way to the right across the pathway and you will eventually come to a group of enemies. Hop over the barricade blocking the path and you will reach a rope. Jump to grab it and swing to the next. Jump across to the ledge on the far side and you will be ready to enter the architect’s tomb.

The Architect’s Tomb

Head across the platforms and saws to get to the other side of the area. Head for the door on the right side and follow the stairs up to the large area. Here there will be two ladders. One on the right and one straight ahead. Go to the left to get some goodies but head up the center ladder to continue. When you get up the ladder, turn the lever so that the block is hovering over the cracked ground below. When the shadow is on it, head to the end of the crane and pull the lever. Once the block has dropped, pull the lever again and pull the block back up. Now turn the crane again and this time make it move farther to the right, so that the shadow of the block is hovering over the button on the ground. When it is, drop it on it. Now jump off the crane to the ground below and head to the left side of the center door. Grab the statue there and push and pull it over to the hole you made in the ground. Hop down and push the statue onto the button inside the hole. Now two of the three center doors will be open.



Head back across the platforms and saw blades and stand on the button that was at the beginning. Once you step off it, you have a few seconds to get across the platforms and get inside the gate before it closes. It may take a few tries but it really isn’t all that tough. Once inside, walk up to the woman’s body at the table and pull off her head. Use it to get through the skull door and head down the spiral staircase. Once you get to the bottom, you will enter a room with conveyors on the floor going both ways as well as spinning blocks on the walls. Now you will be trapped in here until all the enemies are dead, and there are a crap load of enemies. Kill the massive swarm of harpies as they come for a very long time. Once they are dead, kill the remaining archers and the field will go down allowing you to enter the chamber with Pandora’s box. Pull the handle on the round object and it will open. Watch the scene and then after the elevator stops going down, pull the box out of the elevator and watch the final scene for the mission.

The Path of Hades

The first part of this crazy level requires you to hop across platforms, from one to the next until you reach the large platform with n archer on it. It’s straight forward where to go, so getting lost isn’t an option. Once you reach the large platform, you will then come to the second ticks of this level. The spinning logs that have knife blades sticking out of them. Jumping and walking slowly is your best friend here. If you get nailed by a knife, there’s a good chance you’re dead. Again this is very straight forward to follow, just getting past the blades can be a bit tricky. The logs will speed up and slow down, so you can wait until they slow down to run across more safely.



Once you finally make it past the spinning logs and knife blades, you will come to a set of platforms that will have enemies appear on them and a red field not allowing you to pass. As you clear out each platform of enemies, more will appear on the next. Continue to kill them all until the field goes down and you are allow to pass to the next trick. This one is actually easier than it seems to be. You need to climb up a spinning cylinder with spikes on the sides and knife blades along it. The easiest way it to climb up the cylinder at the very edge of which direction the cylinder is spinning so that you are climbing over the spikes that are along the side. When you touch them you won’t fall, but if you climb up the center and then bump into them, you will.



As you climb up the very edge, all you need to do is watch out for the blades. Climb up and down as needed and then when you reach the point where the cylinder changes direction, shimmy over to the other side and repeat the same process. Once you finally reach the top, there will be another cylinder to climb again. Use the same technique and you’ll get up it no problem. Once you reach the very top, you will need to kill groups of enemies to make platforms in the background appear. Once the group has been destroyed, a platform will rise. Keep killing the groups until the platform rises that you can jump to. Hop across them to the far side and grab the rope. Climb on up and get out of hell.

Temple of the Oracle

Now that you are back where you were earlier, talk to the gravedigger and head into the temple. Make your way all the way through back to where you did the statue pushing puzzle earlier. Make your way to the small building in the rear of the area and enter the doorway. When you enter you will start your square off against Ares. To defeat Ares the first time, it requires good timing and some spells. I found the Army of Hades spell to work very well on him while you hack and slash away. Block most of his attacks and when you see him stand still for a second, lay into him with a good combo. It will take some hefty damage off him which you will need to do a few more times.



Once you have him down to zero health, you will need to mash the O button and then quickly press the button that you are told to press. I screwed it up a lot of times because the button you are told to press comes up immediately after your button mashing of the O button. If you miss it, then you need to bring Ares back down to zero health and try it again. Once you finally get it, a scene will play and the second form of the battle with Ares will happen. Now you will be in a house with your family and little forms of you will attack. You need to protect your family as they get attacked, so go nuts on all the replicas of you and keep hacking and slashing away. If your family gets low on health, use the O button to hug them and give them some life. Continue to protect your family until all the copies have been destroyed. Once they have been, the final showdown with Ares will take place. Now that you don’t have your fancy swords anymore or magic, it’s one on one goodness. The two of you will split a health bar, so the damage you deal, you will receive as life.



Once your life bar is full, Ares’s will be empty and he will die. This final battle with him seems more intimidating than it really is. Stay away from him until he attacks and then stands still after his attack. Much like the first form, attack him when he is standing still and whup his ass with some heavy combos to take a lot of life from him and give it to you. When he starts his attacks again, stay away from him until he stands still after his attack and get him again. It doesn’t take much to finally bring him down once and for all. Once he finally falls, watch the scene and eventually you will be back in control for a little bit. Take the blades of Athena and run up the stairs to the throne room. Hop in the throne where you belong and the adventure will finally be over. For now.



Congratulations!