The stage starts outside of what appears to be a military compound surrounded by a metal fence, with an old atmospheric castle in the distance overlooking it all. As Castlevania: Bloodlines takes place during the height of World War I, legions of Imperial German soldiers defend the arms factory as Skeleton undead, equipped with the very Stahlhelms they wore to their quick and unmarked graves.
The skeletons are quick and relentless, perhaps a trait they conserve from their former lives, and will use a variety of weapons and strategies to hinder the hero's progress, like chucking bones, attacking with swords and maces, or even regenerating their skeletal bodies a second time before permanently dying.
The path takes the hero inside the munitions factory itself, where they'll have to make way through a series of conveyor belts and gigantic pistons. The layout changes to a more traditional theme later on, filled with giant gears and chains like those from the ancient clock towers previous adventurers had to traverse. Not losing the tradition, Skeletons, Medusa's Heads and Flame Skulls will be constantly spawning in order to hinder the heroes' progress.
In the next room, the heroes will have to do battle with Frankenstein, which acts as the level's miniboss. He attacks by swirling and lashing a big chain in a whip-like manner, followed by punching the ground and unleashing a powerful electric spark that travels across the floor.
The next section features some gigantic but slow spinning-blades able to kill the player with a single hit, and also introduces one of the most bizarre enemies seen in the series, the Flying Beetle Rollers.
Back outside the factory, it's already evening, complete with a blood-red sky. The hero must jump and make way over a few moving platforms while fending off Mace Skeletons and Vampire Bats until they finally reach the end of this level.
A plethora of gears and cogs suddenly start swirling across the room, converging on a single spot and forming what appears to be a gigantic humanoid being: the Gear Steamer. This bizarre automaton employs a vast repertoire of attacks, endowed by the versatility given by all the detachable parts that comprise its body. It performs a variety of jumps, makes flying and ground passes, and even hurls small cogs from its body. The sphere encased in its center is its weak spot, and perhaps the creature itself, using magnetic or telekinetic energies to control the gears. Each time it is hit, the monster will reduce its size a little until it becomes a tiny version of its former self. It will grow back to normal size one final time when near dead, in a last attempt to win the battle.
The castle seen in the background at the beginning and ending of the level is Katz Castle in Germany.[1]
The European and Japanese instruction booklets give the stage the subtitle, "The Metal Works". In the European booklet, it is described as "a factory run by monsters that produces weapons of mass destruction".
