Return to the Hollow Mountain
By Marksdad

This walkthrough was provided by the author and is posted , along with screenshots, at:

http://www.hedgy.de/marksdad/walkthroughs.html

You start by the gates of a valley (one with which you should be familiar...aren't you?!). Run to the pool of water. At the bottom are some shotgun cartridges - a sure sign that there's a shotgun in the vicinity! Now run to the head of the valley and jump in the hole (no longer filled with water, as it was in the earlier game). Behind you, on a landing,in deep shadow is the shotgun. Run forward and pull up into the blocked corridor. An earth tremor occurs. What has happened?

Back outside in the valley, all looks the same. But have a good look round. The landscape has been altered. Climbing onto a newly risen boulder, you will have access (via a series of well placed jumps) to the entrance (or exit, depending on your point of view) to the Hollow Mountain. The final jump to the entrance is a little tricky. You need to be able to run / jump at an angle that just misses the edge of the left wall.

Once inside, save the game. Run forward, and two boulders come tumbling toward you. Either make a quick exit (which entails repeating the whole run / jump maneuvre all over again) or wait for the first boulder to roll past and immediately run to the right to avoid the second. Whichever method you used, you can now run to the end of the blocked passage. On your right, at the top of the wall, is a small gap. Jump up and climb in. Shuffle forward into a slightly wider section, pick up more shotgun cartridges then crawl forward, out into the inner chamber.

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Climb down (arming yourself with the shotgun) and use the nearby pit (or the small canal) as an aid to despatching the waiting skeleton. Have a good explore in here; there's quite a lot to see.

Your first task is to aquire the blue diamond on top of the far platform. You will need to perform a series of run / jumps from block to block AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, because boulders will follow your every move. On acquiring the diamond, three skeletons are unleashed. Use another adjacent pit or the canal to rid yourself of their presence.

The next diamond is sitting on the floor of a small building in the adjoining cavern...surrounded by flames. Before venturing in, shoot the wooden boards surrounding the pool of water; you'll want quick access to this very soon! Climb up on the pillar inside the room and take a good note of the pattern of the flames coming up out of the floor. You should be able to see a handful of 'safe' areas. Jump from the pillar to the first safe area, and from there make your way (standing jumps only) to the diamond. As soon as you retrieve it, two skeletons will come for you, impervious to the flames - one of the few advantages to being dead. You have nothing to lose here. Line yourself up with the pool of water and sprint; hopefully reaching it before your life burns away. Collect the goodies in the pool, then climb out and deal with your aggressors.

A set of doors on a nearby building are now open. Enter (picking up the shotgun bullets on the small lawn), climb the wall and perform a running jump to the nearest column (you'll need to be quite precise, or Lara will miss). Then run / jump to the right hand slanted column, jumping backwards and twisting to land on the top of the second slanted column, sliding down and jumping / grabbing the next column. Pull up then run / jump to the fifth column, sliding and jump / grabbing to the sixth. Now a simple standing jump will take you to the top of the long ledge. From here, run / jump / grab the final column. Now angle yourself with the small upper ledge of the mini-mountain (ignoring the lower one with the shotgun ammo). A standing jump should land you safely on it. Jump forward from here into the hole on the top of the mountain.

Inside, Lara will land in a pool of water. Swim forward into the tunnel. Around two corners you will reach the third diamond. Resurfacing, you'll be greeted by three more skeletons. Destroy them at your leisure.

The final set of nearby doors are now open. Run forward past the emerging skeletons into the dark passageway ahead. Turn to your left as more boulders come hurtling toward you and slide down the passage. Gravity and the consequent water current will do the rest.

To be continued...... (in 'Escape from the Hollow Mountain')

The secret (a revolver) is located at the foot of one of the pits, in a small crawlspace. Its lasersight is situated on the roof of the building nearest the first diamond.