THE SECRET OF THE SPHINX

Beyond the Basics Egypt (2024) – Level by Mikki

Walkthrough by Treeble

Lara slides down from her helicopter next to an impressive sphinx temple complex. After the flyby, notice there are two levers on opposite sides but you can't get to them just yet, so run straight ahead past the scale puzzle all the way to the sphinx. Facing the sphinx, go down to the right and inspect the alcoves underneath it to find a jump switch. Then shoot the vases next to the closed door between its paws to find a batch of TORCHES. You only need one to light up the brasiers flanking the door, so take it back to the area with the scale to light it up then come back here. You no longer need a torch.

In the initial bridge area, raising blocks have lowered on the edges surrounding the bridges, allowing you to now jump and throw both of those levers you'd seen earlier. A camera clue shows an underwater lever on the south wall, meaning it's now safe to swim towards it (had you tried earlier, a strong current would have spelled your doom). Pull it, but don't swim towards north as the spikes are still there. Climb the wall straight from the water surface, at the top shift left and pull up to come back up onto the side ledges.

In the area with the scale, enter both open gates to collect the SMALL WATERSKIN and the LARGE WATERSKIN. If you look at the scale, you'll notice four patterns behind the statue and also underneath its support, so that probably means we need 4 liters. Backtrack a bit to find a block underneath the water where the water is shallow enough and get that amount.

(Fill the large waterskin and combine it with the small waterskin, then proceed to empty the small waterskin. Move the remaining 2 liters from the large waterskin to the small one. Fill up the large waterskin again and combine it with the small one, resulting in 4 liters in the large waterskin.)

Pour the water into the scale vase and the gate beneath the sphinx opens, run in for a level change, which strips you away from the waterskins.

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Shoot the vases to find a first aid kit, and throw the lever to open the door to the main temple area. A lengthy flyby shows you the place and you will be tackling a number of challenge areas, some of which can be done in a slightly different order than I've described for the remainder of this walkthrough, so keep that in mind.

Running around in a clockwise direction, first enter the NW doorway. Save your game. You'll slide down to a timed trapdoor, immediately pick up the REVOLVER and the LASERSIGHT, combine and equip them, then throw the switch for a timed shooting range. You need to shoot the targets in a specific order, but only when they're over the raised tiles on the floor. You must make sure each target you shoot leaves a small flame on said raised tile, otherwise reload your game. It might be a good idea to make quicksaves in different slots as you go on.

Please refer to this video for a visual aid. You need to keep your cool and never shoot too soon (but never too late, either).

As soon as the last tile is burning, immediately holster your weapon, hop back and do a running jump to the other trapdoor you've just raised, quickly moving towards solid ground. Enter the passage behind the back left tile for SECRET #1: revolver ammo and a small date branch; then go back and through the other passage in the room. Along the tunnel you'll spot a plinth with the first HORUS CANOPIC JAR, then climb the ladder at the end to return to the beginning of the level.

In the main area, circle around the pyramid and enter east, then push the block once to reveal a ramp leading down. You need to activate the three burning reach-in holes in order to open the door, but notice that if you crouch you'll still be set ablaze, so time things right and backflip to safety after each successful action. After inspecting the outer side ones, the central flame emitter goes off and you can finally open the door and take the EYE OF HORUS from within.

Back at the pyramid, climb up the nearby pyramid steps for yellow light sticks and revolver rounds, then place the eye of Horus in the nearby receptacle to open the door.

You enter a room with two pushable cat statues, but you can't move them as there are two gaps on the floor. Drop through either of them to the room below and shoot the vases to find a small scorpion plus a GRENADE GUN. There are five switches on this room, only throw the three that are tagged with cat like glyphs (for reference, the floor tiles are also tagged with the same glyph, unlike the other two switches) to raise two blocks closing the gaps. Your way in is blocked, so go in through the opening in the back to find yourself back at the pyramid.

Loop around to the right and you can now drag the cat statues around. Just move each of them in a straight line over the raised block to the marked tile and the door in the back opens up, revealing your next prize: a SAPPHIRE KEY. If you finish circling around the pyramid, you can get a first aid kit and grenades on the pyramid base, and in that same corner you can spot a small alcove with a Horus pedestal and another locked door. This pedestal will be very useful in a minute.

Run NE to find the an open doorway with a ramp leading up. Use the key to open the door and reach the ledges around the pyramid. A warp tile in front of you brings you to the pyramid altar but we only have one of the four canopic jars, so no need to go there just yet. Take another GRENADE GUN nearby and use the swing poles to jump your way around the room to the right, going in a counterclockwise direction until you get to an ornate tile.

(Note: You can actually finish the level now, as you swing your way around the perimeter of the room you can aim down your revolver sight and shoot at the nine targets in the statues at the top of the area, sometimes through the gap in the center and other times from behind. But let's take the intended, scenic route instead, shall we?)

Said tile is actually a bouncing pad, so from the adjacent tile, walk to the edge and side flip onto the bouncing pad, that way you get propelled to a flat ledge surrounding the pillar where you can retrieve the PICKAXE on top of a brazier and a first aid kit. A wraith begins to stalk you, so quickly get down to ground floor and run to that SW alcove with the Horus pedestal to get rid of it.

Run in a straight line to find a broken lever and use your pickaxe to open the gate nearby. A skeleton rises as you step in, blow it to pieces for some peace of mind. There are six switches inside, but the vases don't mean anything: in fact, shatter them to reveal the ANCIENT TEXT, which, in turns, informs us of the correct combinations.

XXOOOX opens a door SW, next to the Horus effigy. Go through to reach a room with a burning boulder and a monstrous mummy wielding curved swords. Fell the beast, get revolver rounds in the corner, and go through the side doorway to a tall room. Immediately to your right is a block, pull it once and hop behind it to find a switch. It lowers the nearby raising block, so hop over the pushblock once again and pull open the trapdoor on the floor to reveal SECRET #2: a large medipack, small date branch, and yellow light sticks.

Get back up and throw that switch again to raise the block to its former glory, then use the push block as a stepping stone to get on top of it. Do a running jump to grab the relief on the wall ahead, shimmy all the way to the right, vault to the relief above and backflip (tap backwards while hanging) to grab a tall pillar behind you. Shimmy to the crawlspace you see in the far corner.

As you drop on the other side, kill a hammer minotaur and take the revolver rounds from the left corner. Enter the inner row and observe the room from above. Save your game. What follows next is a small puzzle in which you need to slide the boulder across all corners of the raised floor below, and it moves in the direction at the bottom of each switch. Start with the switch facing S and hop around counterclockwise activating each other switch in order.

When the boulder completes a full lap, the door in the back opens, so safety drop to the floor and enter to claim the second HORUS CANOPIC JAR. The way you came in opens up, so you can return back to the pyramid area and enter the room with the row of switches to activate the next combo.

XOOOXX opens the door in the middle of the N wall. Run past the first two ramming blocks and check behind the third one for a small alcove in the wall: when it's safe, run in there and claim SECRET #3 (grenades and a small date branch), then go through the opening beyond the rams.

In this big room, you need to light up four torches to get the prize. Two are basically given for free: just drop into the narrow pools around you to find an underwater lever in each. Throw the switch in the far SE corner to raise a block, but ignore it for a moment, and enter the side passage to another pool with a third underwater lever. That underwater tunnel will be used on your way back here in a moment.

Back in the room with the torches and two pools, go to the opposite end now and find two push blocks. You can only move these in one axis, so first push the rightmost one all the way in, loop around the revealed passage to push the other block twice towards the marked tile. Now pull that first block back so that you can loop around and push it onto the marked tile as well, raising a block nearby.

Use it to pull up to the catwalks above where another hammer minotaur strikes. Run all the way to the back to find a lever there, then drop to the lower floor and now go to that block in the middle of the room you had raised earlier. Standing on it, you can jump and grab a monkey swing straight above, then swing towards the end and shift to a ladder above (just keep pushing forward), then climb all the way to the top.

As soon as you stand, boulders start to roll down, but don't panic. Wait a few seconds before side flipping left, and when you're in the clear side flip back to dodge all boulders. Throw the lever on the right side and now the door opens, so go through and slide to a room with two beams over a piranha infested pool. Balance yourself as you slowly walk across and throw the switch in the back. The switch raises a few blocks underwater, creating a barrier to shield you from the piranhas, so drop into the NE corner and swim to find the fourth and final underwater lever.

Swim through the newly opened gate and find yourself back in the previous room. Get the third HORUS CANOPIC JAR plus revolver rounds, then return to the side room with the pool and climb the ladder to the top where the trapdoor is now open. Head downwards, minding the two circular slicers, and find yourself back at the pyramid area. Go to the row of switches and now activate the final combination.

XXOOXX opens a door NE. Pull open the trapdoor and slide down to another beam, but this one is protected by flames and you'll burn to a crisp if you try to cross it. Instead, drop to the lower floor and check the far wall for a series of four glyphs. You must stop on these glyphs, avoiding the others, to deactivate the flames above, so pay close attention to step only on the matching ones (avoid all the others which are mirrored or rotated). You can step on the depressed floor bits.

When the flames are off, jump over the bogus tiles to the ladder and climb back up. Now walk across that balance beam. From the doorway, jump to the right to grab the relief there, shimmy around the corner and backflip to the swing pole, jumping off to the middle floor. Run towards the colored statues in the back and look left for more reliefs, work your way up to the top until you're hanging below the long slope.

Shimmy all the way to the right to find a flat spot. Do a glide drop (ie: hop backwards and tap, but don't hold, action, so that Lara glides into the opening below) and run in for SECRET #4, a first aid kit. From the edge, a simple running jump without grab will get you on the top floor. Run around the back and push that boulder into an opening on the ground floor, raising the cage which was protecting a lever.

Safety drop all the way down and throw said lever, causing nearby hammers to crack open an otherwise stuck push block, revealing the fourth and final HORUS CANOPIC JAR. A trapdoor opens at the topmost floor, so work your way back up again (instead of shimming to the secret, you can backflip off the relief underneath the long slope to land on the top floor).

When climbing the exit ladder, as soon as Lara's feet are at the same height as the trapdoor hinges, backflip to a small alcove with SECRET #5: revolver rounds, grenades, and a small branch. Resume climbing that ladder all the way to the top and cross the open door.

When it closes, go all the way up the ramp behind it and now step on that magic tile to warp to the top of the pyramid. Get three first aid kits and another REVOLVER (an omen of things to come, perhaps), then proceed to place the four jars on the small pedestals around the room.

With all four jars in place, climb onto the newly raised block and save your game, because once you cross into the threshold above saving gets disabled. Seth seems to be immortal, but your goal here is not a direct kill: you need to shatter all targets on the hands of the surrounding statues.

Several things work: area of effect from the grenades when they hit Seth; manual aiming with the revolver if you're quick; running around shooting frantically with the pistols whenever Lara's not locking onto the boss; probably manual targeting would do fine, too.

When all targets are shattered, the floating pyramid collapses and Seth also faces his demise, bringing this level to an end.