The Temple of Abu Simbel

Lore & Background

The temple's design echoes the real Abu Simbel complex: four colossal seated figures of Ramesses II frame the entrance, while the interior halls are lined with painted reliefs depicting processions and offerings. In the game's world, the structure has been partially reclaimed by desert sand, and sections of the upper terrace are exposed to open sky, creating dramatic shafts of golden light that cut across the stone floors.

The Cooper gang's objective here is to infiltrate the innermost chamber and lift a prize that has drawn the attention of rival criminal factions. Guards patrol the colonnaded halls in shifting rotations, and the open terrace above offers both a vantage point for scouting and a dangerous parkour gauntlet across broken pillars and crumbling balustrades.

The level's pacing shifts between tense, quiet interior sneaking and fast, exposed outdoor traversal, mirroring the contrast between the temple's shadowed corridors and the blazing desert that surrounds it.

In Their Own Story

The sun hangs low and the sand glows amber. Sly crouches on the weathered shoulder of the fourth colossus, his tail flicking against the carved stone. Below, a pair of guards swap shifts in the colonnade, their boots scraping the same flagstones a thousand priests once trod. Ben's voice crackles in his ear: 'You've got ninety seconds before the next rotation.' Sly grins, drops, and is gone—three handholds, a backflip over a broken lintel, and he's vanishing into the shadow of the inner hall. The gold trophy on the far pedestal seems to wink at him. Ninety seconds. Easy.

Reader's Guide

The level opens on the temple's open terrace, where four massive seated colossi frame the entrance. The sand is warm-gold, the stone a deep honey-amber, and the late-afternoon sun rakes long shadows across the carved reliefs. The first stretch is pure parkour: handholds on the colossi's knees, a leap across a gap to a broken pillar, then a slide down a sand-slicked ramp into the colonnaded hall.

Inside, the mood shifts to quiet stealth. Guard patrols follow fixed routes along the painted walls, and the player must time sprints and crouches between their passes. A long interior shaft leads upward—climb the carved steps, swing on a rope across a chasm, and land on a narrow balcony overlooking the main chamber. Here the heist target sits on a raised dais, flanked by two stationary guards.

Collectibles are tucked into the architecture: a Gold Trophy balanced on the head of a smaller relief figure, a Silver hidden inside a cracked offering box on a side shelf, and a Bronze reachable by a daring backflip off the highest terrace edge. Balls are scattered along the parkour routes and in alcoves visible only from above. The overall palette is warm ochre, deep shadow, and the occasional flash of painted blue and red on the wall reliefs.

Did You Know?

• The real Abu Simbel temples were relocated in the 1960s to save them from the rising waters of Lake Nasser after the Aswan High Dam was built.
• The temple's four colossal statues of Ramesses II each stand roughly 20 metres tall, making the in-game scale of the level a faithful nod to the real site.
• Sly Cooper levels traditionally reward players with three tiers of Trophies (Bronze, Silver, Gold) that require increasingly creative routes to collect.
• The franchise's parkour system—handholds, wall runs, and momentum-based leaps—was designed to let players traverse large, vertical environments without traditional platforming checkpoints.