Gameplay starts off tough [and doesn't change]; around about 50 monsters in from the start, a beautiful sense of carnage envelopes the player =). Monsters throw themselves at you in groups from all directions, and in hordes from every angle. Monster infighting and a relatively easy to find health secret are your only allies at the beginning. The gameplay progression is consistent in that hordes of monsters continue to attack as the player makes his vertically up thru a series of gameplay set-pieces to the top of the castle/keep. On hard skill, there are 404 monsters, which again indicates the difficulty of the map. There will be a number of player deaths. The highlights in gameplay terms, are the beginning, and the middle areas especially in the first half of the map up to around the blue and gold key areas.

There are exhilarating showdowns in locked-in areas, including some fun quad damage slaughters. There is a whole "Shambler in a iron cage" area, which is very well done. I felt the last part of the map, from when you climb over the top hills to the final exit, was slightly anti-climactic and a little bit "tacked on"; it didn't quite feel integrated with the rest map. Also the ending was a little too easy. There is a relatively easy secret red armor, then another red armor. Then finally a pentagram (invincibility) AND a quad damage. 1 or 2 instead of these 4 power-ups would have made the ending much more tense and exciting, in my opinion.

In the final analysis though, this is still a very good map, a huge carnage fest of 404 enemies which is satisfying and challenging and has high replay value thanks to the exciting gameplay.