The Silent Riddler

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The Silent Riddler
General information
Location	Giza pyramid complex, Giza, Egypt
Date	May 22, 2113
Objective	Get to the Sphinx. Plant C-4 charges on the Sphinx. Enter the Great Pyramid's secret chamber. Fend off Mental's forces outside the pyramid and await extraction.
Game information
Par time	40 minutes
Secrets	8 9 (Serious Sam Fusion version)
Previous level	Under the Iron Cloud
Next level	Unearthing the Sun

 

"Awfully quiet down here. Nothing's tried to kill me in minutes... creepy."

―Sam inside a dark hallway underneath the Great Pyramid

"The Silent Riddler" is the sixth level of Serious Sam 3: BFE and Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE.

Plot

The scientists at EDF headquarters have revealed that, from Professor Stein's research, there is a secret chamber inside the Great Pyramid, accessed using the Sphinx. While the scientists scramble to find the answer to the riddle of the Sphinx, Sam journeys to it to blow it up and find out what's inside.

Hieroglyphic tablets

There are four tablets in this level.

1. LAocated after the urban section and near the entrance to the ruins. To the right is a Stonehenge-esque pillar. The tablet is leaning against one of the legs. When translated, it reads: "I Khufu, son of Sneferu, bind my son to wield the Arrow. Because his is the reign of Egypt, and of his son, and son of his son".
2. The second tablet is found within the ruins past the second keycard gate. When translated, it reads: "Khafra, heir of Khufu, saw the death that was done in the name of Horus. And Khafra felt that Horus was sad".
3. The third one is hard to miss and is right in front of the Sphinx. When translated, it reads: "Khafra told the Lion to sit. And the Lion was seated. And no man could move it. It is from this day that the light of Ra has not blazed from the Arrow".
4. The fourth and final tablet is right next to the entrance to the Oracle's shrine. When translated, it reads: "The Arrow shall be returned to the shrine and shall rest in peace with my ancestors, from this day forth".

Graffiti

There are a few messages written in graffiti that can be found in this level. NETRICSA will automatically translate it for the player upon approaching and inspecting the writing.

1. By the player's spawning point on a house. When translated, it reads: "Victory is near!".
2. In the center wall where the player encounters Minor Bio-mechanoids and Kleer Skeletons. When translated, it reads: "Biomechs are chickens".

Secrets

1. On a building in the first village, climb up the wall on the left side of the main street on its first break. Jump across the buildings towards the one with the satellite dish and a collection of aerials, then climb up it to find a RAPTOR Sniper Rifle to get a "King of the Hill secret found!" message.
2. Just outside the first village, a dirt road runs perpendicular to the village. Looking to the right you can see a truck, and if you're at the truck you should see a black spike in the desert, which is a utility pole. If the Sandwhale hasn't surfaced recently, run out until you hear rumbling and then run back, let it come up and go back down, then race out to get the XM214-A Minigun at the pole. The Sandwhale seems to take a bit longer than usual to start burrowing towards you if you make a beeline directly towards the minigun from the truck.
3. On the left side of the second village, behind a building, is an explosive barrel partially buried in the sand. Shooting it will reveal a Medium Armor.
4. Further into the second village there is a walled off yard with a couple of different ways in (three holes in the wall and an open gate; in the sixth row of houses, relatively central). In this area is a light blue dumpster against a building. Between the dumpster and the building is an almost stuck Medium Health.
5. (Serious Sam Fusion only) at the far right of the village, just before the entrance to the ancient ruins, head right and you will see a building, take another right through a small gap in the building to find an Extra Large Armor. Keep in mind that picking the armor up will spawn a Major Bio-mechanoid so be sure to run out of there as soon as you pick the armor up.
6. At the entrance to the monument, the kiosk at the entrance to the monument has a caged door on it, but can be opened by pressing the Use key when prompted. Entering it shows the message "secret ticket booth found!" and spawns a Beheaded Rocketeer, who gives you a bag of money when you approach the counter, but gets angry when you take it. Killing him gets a quip from Sam and spawns more Beheaded Rocketeers.
7. At the entrance to the monument, there's a locked yard to the left of the entrance that's also opened with the keycard. Inside the base of the crane is a Small Health.
8. In the tunnels after the stairs, there's a long hall with dozens of blind alcoves. In one on the left near the end is another hallway with a spooky hall featuring the ghost of Jones and an A-24 Devastator at the end of it.
9. In the final area, if you go down the stairs to the door to the Sphinx, there's a Large Health tucked in the corner on the right.

Related achievements

Serious Sam 3: BFE

	Problem solver 10
	Solve the riddle of the Sphynx.

	Killer Jewelry
	Kill an enemy using the Mutilator.

Serious Sam Fusion

	Problem solver
	Solve the riddle of the Sphynx.

	Killer Jewelry
	Kill an enemy using the Mutilator.

Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE

	Problem Solver
	Solve the riddle of the Sphynx.

	Killer Jewelry
	Kill an enemy using the Mutilator.

Trivia

• There is a way to break out of the map in this level: if the player times the Sandwhale right and gets lucky in the last area, they can run around the left wall and make it all the way back to the Sphinx. If they stop just before going in the pit, the Sandwhale will disappear and they can walk along the wall. There isn't anything there, though. If the player heads back through the Sphinx, when the elevator reaches the top they will fall through the floor to their death after a moment.
• In real life, the pyramids are located right next to the city of Giza. In-game, though, there is nothing but sand for miles and Cairo is some distance away.
• If the player wishes to speedrun, they need to stand by the ticket booth, and then sprint along the right side of the desert rock wall, which lets them flank past the labyrinth (from the outside). Clipping becomes missing, and the player can drop into the labyrinth and even continue forwards.
• The moving staircase inside the Sphinx (after the room with the rising pillars) will inflict 1000 Crushing damage to any players who get squashed. However, unlike in Serious Sam HD, players normally cannot be gibbed from Crushing damage, although in co-op, the on-screen obituary message "[player name] was squashed." will still appear (applicable only to the original game).
• With good timing, a Sirian Werebull can be used to launch the player over the locked gate behind the Sphinx, skipping the whole trek through the pyramid and making them land near secret #9. The Sirian Mutilator will still get equipped for the final fight, even though the player doesn't actually pick it up.
• The tune Sam whistles before he blows up the Sphinx is 'Colonel Bogey March', a classic British marching tune.
  • He also whistles the tune in the previous level "Under the Iron Cloud" when he is about to blow up an overpass with C-4.
• Occasionally, a bug prevents the player from being able to get secret #4 in the original version of the game due to where the health is positioned. This has been fixed in Serious Sam Fusion.
  • A solution to this bug is to stand in front of the health item, press Alt+Tab to switch to any other program, and then press the same keys again to return to the game. Immediately after that (while the screen is blank) the player needs to press forward, which will then allow them to pick up the health and register the secret.