Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis First Hours: Peru Opening Walkthrough & Early Priorities

The opening hours of any Tomb Raider game set the tone for the next 30-plus hours you'll spend with it. The 1996 original opened with the Caves and the Lost Valley, two of the most iconic levels in gaming history. This UE5 remake gives them the full modern treatment while keeping what made them special.

If you're jumping in on February 12, 2027, here's exactly what to do, where to go, and what not to miss.

The Prologue: Controls & Settings

Before you even start moving Lara, pause and check your settings. I know, I'm that guy. But UE5 games often ship with... let's say "ambitious" defaults. Motion blur off. FOV 90 minimum on PC. If you're on PS5 or Xbox, flip to Performance mode unless you're specifically here for the graphics showcase.

The control settings have more depth than they used to. There's a shoulder swap for aiming, sensitivity curves for both camera and aiming, and toggle vs hold options for climbing, sprinting, and crouching. Spend five minutes here. The default climbing is set to hold, I switch it to toggle, less hand strain over a long session.

The Caves

The game opens in the Peruvian mountains. Snow, wind, the distant howl of wolves. It's atmospheric in a way 1996 could only dream of.

Your first few minutes are a tutorial disguised as exploration. You learn to jump, grab ledges, and climb. The original taught these mechanics through level design rather than pop-up tutorials, and the remake mostly respects that tradition. Pay attention to the environment because the game won't tell you where to climb, the ledges are marked subtly with wear and tear or discoloration.

First combat encounter: wolves. Two of them at first, then more if you push into their territory. The dual pistols are your starting weapon and honestly they feel great. The audio design on the gunfire has proper weight now. Headshots matter on animals. Body shots take longer. Don't waste ammo firing wildly.

There's a medipack hidden behind a waterfall in one of the early cave chambers. This is basically Tomb Raider tradition at this point: always check behind waterfalls. The remake has more environmental secrets than the original did, and the visual cues are more subtle. A slightly different texture on a wall. A piece of geometry that looks just a bit out of place.

The Tomb of Qualopec

After the caves, you reach your first proper tomb interior. This is where the puzzle design introduces itself. The original Qualopec tomb was straightforward, a few switches, some platforming, the first Scion piece. The remake expands it.

The central chamber has three sub-rooms that need to be completed to unlock the Scion chamber. Each one teaches a different mechanic. One is purely platforming. One introduces pressure plates and timed doors. The third has the first real combat challenge, wolves in a confined space.

Here's a tip I wish I'd known: the side rooms have hidden collectibles. The left platforming room has a ledge you can reach by wall-running from the highest point. It's not obvious. There's a relic up there that gives lore about the Atlantean civilization. These relics are scattered throughout the entire game and honestly the lore they provide is worth reading.

The Scion piece itself is in the central chamber, and the moment you pick it up, the tomb starts collapsing. Classic Tomb Raider. You have maybe thirty seconds to escape. The path out is different from the path in, so don't try to backtrack, follow the collapsing floor and jump when you need to.

City of Vilcabamba

After the tomb escape, you reach the ancient Incan city of Vilcabamba. It's a hub area of sorts, though Tomb Raider doesn't really do hubs the way modern open worlds do. Think of it more as a large outdoor area connecting several indoor locations.

This is your first chance to really explore at your own pace. The city has about a dozen collectibles hidden across its ruins. Take your time here. The next story trigger is at the far end of the city, and once you cross into the Lost Valley, you can't come back. Or at least you couldn't in the original, the remake might have backtracking, but don't gamble on it.

Look for ledges leading up to the intact rooftops. Most of the good collectibles are up high. There's also a hidden cave behind some vines on the eastern wall that I completely missed on my first pass through in the original.

The Lost Valley

This is it. The moment the 1996 game became legendary. You push through a narrow canyon, the sound design shifts, the foliage thickens, and then you're standing on a ledge overlooking a massive jungle valley with a waterfall at one end and the ruins of an ancient structure in the center.

The Lost Valley in the remake is genuinely stunning. UE5's global illumination makes the jungle feel alive in a way the original's flat textures never could. Light filters through the canopy. Mist hangs in the lower areas. And somewhere in this valley, a T-Rex is waiting.

Explore the valley before triggering the T-Rex. There's the shotgun in a cave behind the waterfall, yes, waterfall secret again. There are also two relics, some ammo pickups, and a couple of health items scattered around.

When you're ready, head toward the ancient structure in the valley center. That's where the T-Rex spawns. See the boss guide for detailed strategy, but the short version: stay mobile, use the shotgun, aim for the legs to stagger, then go for headshots.

After the T-Rex is down, you can explore the structure it was guarding. Inside is the next major story beat and the path out of Peru. You're maybe three to four hours in at this point, longer if you're hunting every collectible.

Closing the First Session

That's the first major arc. Caves, Qualopec tomb, Vilcabamba, Lost Valley, T-Rex, done. You've got your first Scion piece, your movement mechanics should feel natural, and you're ready for Greece.

The remake's opening is about three times longer than the original's. Everything is expanded. If you're playing on normal difficulty and being reasonably thorough, expect six to eight hours just for the Peru section. Completionists looking for every relic and secret will push ten to twelve.

Not bad for what was originally a forty-minute opening level.