Lara and Von Croy have finally come face to face - but Von Croy manages to escape Lara's bullets and grab the Ankh from the keyhole in the rock, causing the huge door to crash down and trap her inside the Tomb of Semerkhet... ...now play on!

Once your eyes are accustomed to the gloom, shoot the two nearby jars to retrieve Uzi clips and a large medikit. Now go forward and slide down the ramp to receive a vision of danger: Beetles! Everywhere! And they bite! In fact, they bite and swarm all over the place and can't be killed - they're a very nasty enemy indeed. Jump up and grab the handholds on the lowered portion of the ceiling and traverse along the hallway to the far end. Let go and slide into a room with a climbing pole. Jump to the pole and slide to the next floor down (don't go all the way) and backflip off.

This room repays exploring. Mind the gap between the centre section and the rim but find the small medikit in one of the pair of breakable vases and pick up a wooden torch lying on the step below the burner. Light the torch (which is supposed to frighten the swarm of beetles in the room below) and drop through the crack into the middle of trouble...

There are four alcoves in this room. One has a lit burner in it and the other three have niches. Head for one of them and drop your torch nearby to mark it (it's hopeless for doing it's propoer job!). One of the niches contains a small medikit and the other two contain mechanisms that - when both have been operated - open a door on the level above.

Even if you're not beetle-phobic, you'll probably lose your bearings trying to do everything you need to. I took it one alcove at a time, heading back up the pole to the safety of the middle level for medical attention. Even with two alcoves marked by fire I still visited a couple twice - if Lara doesn't react when you press [action] you've done that niche already and should try for another one. It's also worth admiring the swarming ability of the beetles (but not for long!).

Back on the middle level, with the door open, exit through it and find the orange and gold door (with the vertical crack) and get Lara to open it. Go through and jump down to a slightly sloping ledge above a huge board game. More on that later... for now, go to the left and jump to the small ledge off the edge of the one you're standing on. Jump from there to the ledge on the left wall and climb the ladder there (light a flare if it's too dark to see). Dismount from the ladder to the right for Secret #1: wideshot shells and a small medikit. Safety drop back down to the ledge and repeat to get to floor level.

Cross the board game to the opposite wall and go through the wide doorway there. Climb the ladder to the hallway above. Climb up to a higher hallway and continue to a large room that you drop into. Kill the two dogs when they approach you. Cross the room to the three flaming niches in the far wall. The centre flame is on steadily, the other two die away before relighting. When the right hand flame has died down, run Lara towards the niche and operate a mechanism that turns off the middle flame. Jump clear.

Reach into the middle niche to operate another mechanism (which lowers a pink block to your right that you don't see). finally, grab a small medikit from the niche on the left when the flames have died down. Go to the right hand side of the flaming niches, through the gap you just opened and wade through a shallow pool to a room with 6 niches: three on the left and three on the right. The exit closes behind you...

Take a good look at the flames. The far left hand niche has none - all the other niches flame, some on and off. The centre of the room is safe, Go to the far left niche and retrieve some shells. Then wait for the flames to die down in the leftmost niche on the same wall and activate a mechanism inside that turns off the flame in the middle niche of the wall opposite. Use the mechanism in there to turn off the flames in the niche on it's right. The mechanism in there raises a golden cage in the previous room and makes the flames in the middle niche opposite start to go on and off.

Wait for the flames in that niche to die down and then operate the mechanism inside, opening the exit door (over the ledge opposite the entrance pool). Finally, when the flames in the remaining niche (leftmost on the opposite wall) die down, retrieve a small medikit and jump back to the centre of the room. Climb out (opposite the side with the entrance pool) and jump to grab the handholds in the ceiling. Monkey swing over the deep pit and go around the corner to the exit. Continue back to the large room.

Climb onto the block near the gold cage that you just raised and then onto the cage itself. Turn to face into the main room and take a running jump to the ledge on the right side of the central structure. Halfway along this ledge, in an alcove on the left, is another flame niche. When it's safe, use the mechanism inside the niche to switch off more flames in the room below. Now exit the niche and continue to the end of the ledge.

Turn around and, with the new camera angle, you should see that there is a ladder on the face of the blocks to Lara's right. Step to the left edge of the ledge and then side flip right to land on a sloping block. Grab the edge of this block as Lara falls off and then traverse around the corner to the right. Contiue right around an inside corner and then climb up to an alcove to collect Secret #2 - wideshot shells and a large medikit. Climb down the ladder and drop to the floor.

Find the long, wide ramp leading down to the room below and head down it. You turned off the flames in here just now, making it possible to grab the Rules of Senet from the pedestal at the bottom. A trapdoor opens back in the game room, so retrace your steps to the high entrance of this huge room and return down the corridor to the game room. Cross the game board and climb up the ladder through the trapdoor in the alcove opposite. This leads you out onto a balcony and, as you approach the device on the wall, a huge image of Semerkhet appears. Save your game.

Before continuing, take a moment to review the Rules of Senet that Lara is carrying in her backpack. It's an easy game but takes a little skill to win. Looking out over the game board from the balcony you can see two sets of Senet pieces: yours is the set on the right, Semerkhet plays the others. The device on the wall is a kind of die - you spin it before each move and move the number of places indicated by white tiles. If no white tiles show you've spun a six and get a second spin after moving you're piece. You also get a second spin when one of your pieces lands on an ankh on the gameboard.

To choose the piece to move, stand on the corresponding coloured area on the balcony. For the colour blind, your pieces are lined up: blue, green, red with blue nearest the balcony, whilst the coloured areas on the balcony floor are red, green, blue with the red area nearest the spinner. If one of the pieces lands on a square occupied by the opposing side the opposing piece is 'blasted' back to the start. The aim is to get all your pieces to the end of the board first.

It's a good game and by no means easy to win. In five attempts I lost four times, but it's worth playing more than one game as there are different routes through to the end of the level depending whether you win or lose. Both are worth following... if you win the Senet game, click here...

You've lost! Never mind, just aim to get even! There are now four tiles on the floor below the game board hanging open. They all lead to the same place, but you should drop through the opening on the near left after returning to ground level. There's a flat spot immediately below the trapdoor but you then need to slide down several ramps. At the end if the third ramp section (section two and three go in the same direction), jump for an opening dead ahead and climb in. This is Secret #3. Grab the pole inside the room and slide down to the bottom. There's Uzi clips on the floor and a small medikit and wideshot shells in the breakable jars.

Climb back up the pole and head to the entrance. Step off the entrance onto the ramp below and at the end of this ramp press [Action], but don't jump. If you're heading for the pole, Lara will grab hold of it, if you've missed it she'll land on a ledge below. If you're on the pole, slide down it a little way and backflip to a flat ledge behind Lara. Pick up the Uzi clips and small medkit from the two flat alcoves on opposite sides of the pole and then jump to the pole and slide down to the bottom.

If you move towards the dark stairwell across the gap to your left, a bat will fly in. After dealing with it, take a running jump to the stairwell ledge and go up to the top of the stairs. Kill the two guard dogs that wake up as you enter and then pull the Senet piece along the patterned section until it's between the two giant hammers. Return to the entrance and work the lever there to smash the Senet piece, revealing a cartouche piece inside it.

Take the cartouche piece and return downstairs. Take a running jump to grab the nearest of the two ropes and adjust you angle slightly to aim for the flat ledge with the orange and gold door on the opposite side of the room. Jump off the swinging rope to land on the ledge and then push open the door.to find Secret #4 - explosive arrows and a small medikit. Return outside and, with your back to the main room, sideflip to either slope, grab the edge and safety drop to the floor.

Climb the ladder on the north side of the main room to the broken ledge around halfway up on the left. Climb around the corner before dropping off the ladder onto the ledge. Turn around and cross the ledge to the high crawlspace. Climb up to a room with a raised walkway. Pull the Senet piece out of the far alcove and along the walkway as far as you can. Now drop off the side of the walkway and traverse along the side until you can pull up behind the game piece. Push it between the two giant hammers and jump backwards.

After the hammers have crushed the Senet piece, pick up the cartouche piece and head back towards the entrance. Drop off the end of the walkway to a block and then to the floor below. Kill the two black dogs that attack and go into the small room opposite to break some jars and retrieve shotgun shells and a small medikit. Climb back onto the walkway and take a standaing jump from the end to the entrance ledge, using [Action] to lower Lara's arc a little. Return to the broken ledge in the main room with the two dangling ropes.

Climb up the ladder to the second pole. Climb up the pole and backflip onto one of the flat ledges (not the sloping ones!). Shoot the bat and pick up the shotgun shells and poison arrows from the ledge and the one opposite. This pole is the one you would have come down if you'd used the trapdoors to the right in the Senet game room. Return to the bottom of the pole and climb down to the ground.

Combine the two cartouche pieces to make the BA Cartouche. Use this in the receptacle near the large door near the last pole (it won't work in the opposite door). The doors swing out, bashing Lara if she's not careful, and two dogs rush out and need to be dealt with. When the coast is clear, go into the room and have a good look around. There is a high walkway with some lit burners along it and more huge hammers. At the far end is another Senet piece.

At the opposite (right) end of the walkway is a gap and a switch fixed to the wall beyond. Take a running jump from the end of the walkway and grab that switch - it switches off the burners on the walkway... Roll and dash to the far end of the room, weaving around the minor obstacles on the way. Grab either of the poles at the end and climb up. Backflip off and jump to the walkway near the Senet piece. Pull it along the walkway.

It is possible to make it beyond the last burner in one, but it's probably safer to take two goes. If you end up on the floor when the burners are lit you can return to the main room throgh a crawlspace to the right of the switch you jumped for off the end of the walkway. Then return to the walkway through the large doors. When you finally get the piece between the hammers, don't forget to jump out of the way as they smash it!

Retrieve the RA cartouche, being careful of the burners. Exit the room and cross the main room to the other large doors. Use the RA cartouche here and head up the wide stairs. At the top, a Fire Elemental (a flying flame!) will emerge and chase you back down the staircase. Head back into the room where you retrieved the RA cartouche, drop to the floor and run left to the shallow pools. Diving in will cause the Elemental to follow you and extinguish itself. (You can also release an Ice Elemental from a side room of the large room where the Fire Elemental came from, but it isn't worth it...)

Return to the large room that the Fire Elemental came from. You're high up on a ledge with three swinging ropes ahead and a walkway to the right. Check out the room off the walkway to the right and pick up two small medikits (this room is the home of the Ice Elemental - you move the lever to release it). Return to the entrance ledge.

From the right hand side of the ledge, run and jump to grab the first rope. Check Lara's alignment with the next rope and then drop to the end of the rope and set her swinging. Jump for the second rope and (if successful) repeat to the third rope. This is quite tricky and gets very frustrating if you swing the final rope and don't make the easy jump to the ledge at the far wall - so make it!!

This is Secret #5 - trek around the ledge picking up grenades, revolver ammo and Uzi clips. Now return to where you landed on the ledge from the final rope and take a running jump to grab it again. Slide to the bottom and then turn Lara to the right to face a dark opening with a climbing pole in the distance. Swing towards it and jump in. Head towards the pole, scaring up two bats that you'll have to deal with on the way.

Take a running jump to grab the base of the pole. Pull up and climb the pole until Lara is just below the second wide brown band from the top of the pole. Spin round the pole to note the position of a nearby ledge and then position Lara so she can make that ledge by backflipping off the pole. Kill another bat (or two - it's dark!). Turn left and take a standing jump to grab the black switch nearby. This raises a small platform behind you.

Climb back up the pole and backflip to the ledge as previously. The platform you just raised allows access to a small niche in the wall, which contains an unlit torch. Turn around on the platform and throw the torch down to the ground. Jump to the pole and slide down to the bottom. Take a running jump from here to the wide ledge leading to the room with the three swinging ropes (press [Action] to lower Lara's arc a little) and drop off the ledge into tat room. Walk back into the room with the pole at ground level and pick up the torch you threw down.

Take the torch into the room with the swinging ropes and light it at the central pedestal. Now return to the passage leading to the pole room and light the two torches on either side of the pole room doorway. A trapdoor opens in the floor behind you. Drop the torch and head for that trapdoor, safety dropping into the hole (or climb - there's a ladder down the sides).

This passage leads to Secret #6. There's a circular blade trap partway down the passage that you can jump or roll through. In the room at the end you'll find wideshot shells, flash grenades, flares and a large medikit on pedestals. As you grab the goodies nasty biting bugs start to appear, so get the goodies quickly and high tail it out of the room - with the beetles in hot pursuit. This time you can drop through a trapdoor under the blade trap and climb out at another trapdoor beyond it (with the beetles still in pursuit). Head round the corner to the right and run for safety at the end of the corridor. climb out using the ladder.

Return to the main room and climb up to the ledge that overlooks the first of the swinging ropes...yep, you've got to do the rope trick again! This time, on the third rope, turn Lara left and swing for and jump into the passage leading to the climbing pole. Climb the pole and backflip onto the upper ledge, as before. Head around the ledge in either direction and take a running jump across the gap to the other side.

Go through the doorway and follow the passageway to an opening in the ceiling, which you can climb into. Light a flare and have a good look around. Notice a black switch above the opening in the floor. Jump for it and grab hold. It raises a gold cage between the two ramps behind you. Go up either ramp and climb onto the cage. Climb through the hole above your head to find Secret #7 - Uzi clips, a large medikit and explosive arrows.

Drop back to the top of the cage and follow the hallway to a door which opens as you approach. Hop down into the room below (the alternate route exit is high on your right) and enter the big room with the red floor to end the level. Phew! Now scroll to the bottom of the page to continue.

You've made it! When you win the game, gold cages rise from each ankh square on the Senet board. Drop down to floor level and go up the slope and stairs in the balcony alcove to get back to the entrance ledge. Take a standing jump to the top of either of the first two cages and then take a running jump to the second cage. Take a running jump/grab to the third cage and haul up. Repeat for the final cage and then jump to the ledge beyond.

Go down either of the massive staircases to the big double doors with the ankh symbol. They open as you approach and 2 black dogs charge out. Take care of them and then continue down the stairs past the lit burners. There is a room with two breakable jars at the bottom of this staircase - the one on the right contains Uzi clips.

Go down the next set of stairs, stopping on the way to retrieve shotgun shells from the breakable jar that you pass. At the bottom of the staircases there are two more black dogs to dispose of and a doorway to the left. Go through thi and safety drop through the hole in the floor. Drop again into a room where vicious beetles swarm towards you. Run to the end of the room, jump up the ramp and grab the pole to climb to safety.

Back flip off the pole to land in a room with two more breakable jars. The one on the right contains a large medikit. Continue to the next large room and have a good look around. The two black dogs are just statues at the moment, so continue on and walk through the main room with the mirrored devices. Round to the left, beyond the mirrors is a lower area which leads to a climbing pole.

As you approach the pole, two bats appear and ake a nuisance of themselves. Deal with that and then climb the pole until Lara is just below the second wide brown band from the top. Rotate around the pole, noting the room with two sarcophogii. Backflip off the pole into that room and pick up two sets of arrows (poison and reglar) from behind each sarcophogus.

Jump across the pit to the doorway with the sloped ledge. As you approach the wall at the end of this room it opens, revealing a room with light beams and Senet pieces. Push and pull the game pieces onto the corresponding coloured squares to block the light beams. Each time you correctly block a square a cut scene shows you the effect in the room below. Note that there are two shades of green - they don't show up well sometimes! Move the red piece first to leave a clear route for the others.

When the final piece is moved into place the two dog status in the mirror room wake and a hole is revealed in the floor at the centre of the room. The wall you entered by closed when you entered this room but is now open again. Jump to grab the edge of the ledge, pull up and return to the climbing pole. Slide down and return to the mirror room, killing the dogs on the way.