Bloodforge

Bloodforge is a hack and slash game in which the player must use various weaponry to attack and defeat the enemy. To aid progress, the player is able to disorient their opponent (indicated by a specific icon appearing over the opponent's head), allowing Crom to perform a gruesome finishing move. Defeating opponents by using a finishing move will award the player more "Blood", which is used as in-game currency. Higher damage causes more Blood to be spilled, rewarding the player with the ability to upgrade their weapons and abilities.

The four main weapons are the sword, war hammer, claws and a crossbow, each one allowing up to three upgrades. A green "Health" bar is displayed on the top left of the screen, above a red "Rage" bar. These bars are refilled by finding and using various Runes, usually found within breakable cairns

The game follows the story of Crom, a powerful and brutal Celtic warrior who leaves his life of violence behind in order to live in peace with his beautiful wife, Alena.

Crom is at the end of a successful hunting trip. Resting, Crom dreams of a horrific encounter with Arawn, the king of the netherworld realm of Annwn. Crom awakens and rushes home to see his nightmare realised - his village aflame, ravaged by demons. Alena is nowhere to be seen.

Bloodforge was developed by Climax Studios who collaborated with Microsoft to work on the game to only be released on Xbox 360 for the Xbox Live Arcade. After the game was completed, Microsoft decided to publish the game themselves and complete it under Microsoft Studios. Bloodforge was released on April 25, 2012, on XBLA. An update on July 27 improved the camera, re-balanced difficulty and corrected issues with awards and achievements not unlocking.

Critical reception towards the game was generally unfavourable. Bloodforge received a low rating of only 42/100 at review aggregation website Metacritic.