Minimum playthroughs - 3 (or 2 if you want to start on Hard)
Cheats : Yes
Do cheats disable achievements? : No
If you want to complete this game super easy with cheats, then DO NOT update the game when you stick the disc in. There is a beneficial glitch that will allow you to complete Time Trials real easy and unlock the cheats. Unfortunately you have to complete the game first to unlock the Time Trials. Hence the three playthroughs easy method:
1st Playthrough.
Tomb Raider is an easy game but it is imperative to use a walkthrough if you intend to complete the first playthrough as quickly as possible. It is the puzzles that could really take most of the time as the enemies are not all that difficult to defeat. There is an absolute superb guide HERE by Stella and it will also show you the collectibles along the way. The game has more collectibles (rewards) than required which means that if you find one just too difficult to reach or accidently missed one, then you are quite safe to move ahead and get the next one instead.
2nd Playthrough
Time trails. Use the glitch to do these easy. Please check and read carefully the Glitches and Cheat tabs below on how to do this. You can play these time trials in any order so my advice is do Bolivia first as you will unlock "One Shot Kill" and also make additional time trials easier and faster.
3rd Playthrough
Play it on Hard (Tomb Raider difficulty) with the cheats. You get One Shot Kill, Bulletproof and Infinite SMG Ammo if you completed the time trials. Much of it you can speed through without worrying about rewards.
One final note : The completed game achievements are stackable, so if you want to, you can start straight away and play Hard and do it in two. However doing the bosses without cheats is a pain and could take longer than two speed runs. Up to you.
ACHIEVEMENT GUIDE
Completed Bolivia - 50 points
Complete the level "Bolivia - Tiwanaku"
Just complete the level on any difficulty. If you have trouble use Stella's Walkthrough. There are a couple of videos on YouTube showing also 'shortcuts" on various levels. Search for Tomb Raider shortcuts. Some of these require a bit of skill to jump at certain places but you can skip a lot of enemies and puzzles if you look hard enough. I only managed to use the one short cut for the Ghana Level which I have posted below at Completed Ghana achievement.
Completed Peru - 50 points
Complete the level "Peru - Return to Paraiso"
See Completed Bolivia achievement above.
Completed Tokyo - 50 points
Complete the Level "Tokyo - Meeting with Takamoto"
See Completed Bolivia achievement above.
Completed Ghana - 50 points
Complete the level "Ghana - Pursuing James Rutland"
Here's a video below showing a major shortcut at the beginning where you can miss a whole lot of puzzles and a enemy shoot out. Normally after the jump you would head across to the bridge on your left that you need to open. Instead swim across to the right to a ledge and jump up a few ledges. The tricky one is the fourth ledge where you have to stand right on the edge facing left before jumping to it. Took me about 12 goes at first, but well worth it as you miss a good chunk of the level.
The poster actually dies deliberately at the top to trigger a checkpoint. This is so the level can load correctly otherwise if you do not die, there will be no entrance to the temple. Credit goes to RadxxRyan for the video.
Completed Kazakhstan - 75 points
Complete the level "Kazakhstan - Project Carbonek"
See Completed Bolivia achievement above.
Completed England - 75 points
Complete the level " England - King Arthur's Tomb?"
See Completed Bolivia achievement above.
Completed Nepal - 75 points
Complete the level "Nepal - The Ghalali Key"
See Completed Bolivia achievement above.
Complete the adventure - 125 points
Complete the Tomb Raider: Legend adventure, at Explorer or Adventurer difficulty.
Just completing the game on any difficulty will net you this achievement. Please note that if you started the game on Hard, you will also get this achievement regardless of what it says above.
Complete the hard adventure - 175 points
Complete the Tomb Raider:Legend adventure with the difficulty level set to "Tomb Raider."
Much easier to do with the cheats however you will need to complete the game first to unlock the Time Trails, to unlock the cheats. Please check below tab on cheats. If you want to attempt it straight away without cheats, it can be annoying. I threw my controller a few times.
Collected 5 Bronze Rewards - 10 points
Collect 5 common Bronze Rewards. Rewards can be found at any point in the game.
There are more rewards available than required to unlock these achievements, which is a good thing. If you really get stuck on reaching one or you missed one, you have the luxury of skipping it and grabbing the next one. Here are the breakdowns :
You need to get 60 / 68 Bronze
You need to get 30 / 38 Silver
You need to get 5 / 8 Gold
If you use the above walkthrough, you will have no trouble finding them and the achievement pops once you reach your target. If you are not using the walkthrough then you may miss a few as they are hidden or require a puzzle to be solved before being revealed.
Collected 35 Bronze Rewards - 15 points
Collect 35 common Bronze Rewards. Rewards can be found at any point in the game.
See Collect 5 Bronze Rewards above.
Collected 60 Bronze Rewards - 20 points
Collect 60 common Bronze Rewards. Rewards can be found at any point in the game.
See Collect 5 Bronze Rewards above.
Collected 15 Silver Rewards - 25 points
Collect 15 precious Silver Rewards. Rewards can be found at any point in the game.
See Collect 5 Bronze Rewards above.
Collected 30 Silver Rewards - 35 points
Collect 30 precious Silver Rewards. Rewards can be found at any point in the game.
See Collect 5 Bronze Rewards above.
Collected 5 Gold Rewards - 50 points
Collect 5 rare Gold Rewards. Rewards can be found at any point in the game.
See Collect 5 Bronze Rewards above.
Completed Peru Time Trial - 10 points
Complete the Peru Level while in Time Trial mode
Use the glitch listed in below tab to unlock these Time Trials easy. Each time trial completed unlocks a cheat.
Completed Bolivia Time Trial - 10 points
Complete the Bolivia Level while in Time Trial mode
Use the glitch listed in below tab to unlock these Time Trials easy. Each time trial completed unlocks a cheat.
Completed England Time Trial - 10 points
Complete the England Level while in Time Trial mode\
Use the glitch listed in below tab to unlock these Time Trials easy. Each time trial completed unlocks a cheat.
Completed Nepal Time Trial -10 points
Complete the Nepal Level while in Time Trial mode
Use the glitch listed in below tab to unlock these Time Trials easy. Each time trial completed unlocks a cheat.
Completed Kazakhstan Time Trial - 10 points
Complete the Kazakhstan Level while in Time Trial mode
Use the glitch listed in below tab to unlock these Time Trials easy. Each time trial completed unlocks a cheat.
Completed Ghana Time Trial - 10 points
Complete the Ghana Level while in Time Trial mode
Use the glitch listed in below tab to unlock these Time Trials easy. Each time trial completed unlocks a cheat.
Completed Tokyo Time Trial - 10 points
Complete the Tokyo Level while in Time Trial mode
Use the glitch listed in below tab to unlock these Time Trials easy. Each time trial completed unlocks a cheat.
Completed all Time Trials - 50 points
Complete all levels while in time trial mode.
You will get this once you complete all time trials. Use the glitch listed in below tab to unlock these Time Trials easy. Each time trial completed unlocks a cheat.
If you are playing the disc for the first time, then decline the Update when prompted and play the game off-line.
If you have been playing the game already and received an Update, then you will need to remove the Update for the glitch to occur. CLICK HERE if you want to know how to REMOVE THE UPDATE.
Time Trail Glitch
There is a way to beat the Time Trials really easy and have loads of time to spare. You will unlock ten points for each Time Trial plus another fifty when you complete all Time Trials and will be rewarded some cheats as well.
1. At the Start Menu, select Load then Replay Level.
2. Select the level you would like to do the Time Trial on.
3. Select Difficulty, select Time Trial, then select Continue.
4. After the first cut scene, quit the level (Yes to Continue)
5. Return to Reply Level Menu, select Level then Continue. DO NOT select Difficulty again or the glitch will not work.
Play through the level as normal. After the last Checkpoint, kill yourself. When the Checkpoint reloads , the timer appears on the right hand side with the full time allocated. You will now have the full time to complete the last Checkpoint.
The trick is to try not to die until you reach the last Checkpoint, or the timer will appear. Even if you do, you still have a lot more time then you did at the beginning! My suggestion is to do the Bolivia Redux Time Trial first. It unlocks the One Shot Kill cheat which makes the Time Trials even easier!
CHEAT CODES
This game has cheats that DO NOT AFFECT ACHIEVEMENTS.
While playing the game enter these codes
Draw Enemy Health
Pull and Hold LT and Press X , B , A , LB , RT , Y
To unlock code, complete Bolivia level in Time Trial mode under 12:30.
Infinite Assault Rifle Ammo
Press and Hold LB and Press A , B , A , LT , X , Y
To unlock code, complete Japan level in Time Trial mode under 12:15.
Infinite Grenade Ammo
Press and Hold LB and Press LT , Y , RT , B , LT , X
To unlock code, complete Kazakhstan level in Time Trial mode under 27:10.
Infinite Shotgun Ammo
Press and Hold LB and Press RT , B , X , LT , X , A
To unlock code, complete Japan level in Time Trial mode under 12:15.
Infinite SMG Ammo
Press and Hold LB and Press B , Y , LT , RT , A , B
To unlock code, complete Peru level in Time Trial mode in under 21:30.
Bulletproof Lara
Pull and Hold LT and Press A , RT , Y , RT , X , LB
To unlock code, complete England level in Time Trial mode under 27:00.
One Shot Kill
Pull and Hold LT and Press Y , A , Y , X , LB , B
To unlock code, complete Bolivia Redux level in Time Trial mode in under 4:15.
Wield Excalibur
Press and Hold LT and Press Y , A , B , RT , Y , LT
To unlock code, complete Nepal level in Time Trial mode under 13:40.
Wield Soul Reaver
Press and Hold LB and Press A , RT , B , RT , LT , X
To unlock code, successfully complete game with a 100% completion.
10-15 Hours 