Bloodforge

 Xbox 360
Metascore
42

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 44 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 44
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 44
  3. Negative: 25 out of 44
  1. MondoXbox
    Apr 24, 2012
    70
    Bloodforge isn't a game for anyone, starting from its gory, desaturated visuals to its highly difficult gameplay. Too bad that some flaws, like a bad saves management and imprecise controls, help to steer it more towards a frustrating experience rather than a challenging and rewarding one.
  2. GamesBeat
    Apr 24, 2012
    69
    Do you like to hack, do you like to slash, do you like to chop heads, do you like sharp fantasy artwork? Then you might like to spend a few hours inside Crom's skull.
  3. Vandal
    May 7, 2012
    65
    Although it is not one of the best in its genre and doesn't bring anything new, it is a good game to pump adrenaline. A solid adventure with a noteworthy visual design that although is quite limited in game modes will be liked by genre fans.
  5. Worth Playing
    Apr 25, 2012
    65
    There are far better combat games on the system, and the only reason left to check this out is if you've gone through them all and are craving something new.
  6. ZTGD
    Apr 24, 2012
    65
    Still, if you can stick with it and become accustomed to the way you are forced to rely on instinct, there is a pretty fun and solid game here. The barrier to entry is just too high to recommend it to everyone.
  7. Destructoid
    Apr 23, 2012
    65
    Despite lasting only a couple of hours, Bloodforge still feels like it outstays its welcome thanks to its duotone environments and the feeling that everything on offer has been offered countless times in better packages. Still, if you love old school brawlers enough, you will have a solid, if fairly unremarkable, little button masher that will at least justify the asking price.
  8. 4P.de
    May 21, 2012
    60
    The Climax production is a virtual slaughterhouse filled with buckets of blood and even more gore effects. But behind the extreme violence there is hardly any substance.
  9. Joystiq
    Apr 27, 2012
    60
    Attempt to play this style-over-substance offering as thoughtfully as its creators intended, and you'll wind up disappointed. Accept it as a button-masher, rather than the deep brawler it wants to be, however, and working out Crom's anger issues might become your next go-to guilty pleasure.
  10. Multiplayer.it
    Apr 30, 2012
    55
    Boring hack 'n slash with clunky combat system, frustrating camera and choppy framerate. Art style is very good and someone will like the massive gore.
  11. SpazioGames
    Apr 27, 2012
    55
    Bloodforge is a game with great potential, unfortunately a very bad technical realization, states the failure of the product.
  12. GameTrailers
    Apr 24, 2012
    53
    The feature in Bloodforge that lets you create and send online challenges to friends stands out as a great idea, but given all the other ways that the game falters, it's not enough.
  13. Games Master UK
    Jun 25, 2012
    51
    Snore. [Aug 2012, p.77]
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  14. CD-Action
    Jun 6, 2012
    50
    A mediocre, low budget attempt to give X360 users their own God of War. [July 2012, p.70]
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  15. GamingXP
    Jun 4, 2012
    50
    Despite nice graphics Bloodforge suffers from control issues, bad camera work and a poorly told story.
  16. Gamer.nl
    May 19, 2012
    50
    Bloodforge can be described as the following: take God of War, and just hammer on it until it fits in an XBLA-game. What remains is an imitation with a Celtic taste. Unfortunately the game is way too hard, caused by dumb design choices.
  17. Gamereactor Denmark
    May 8, 2012
    50
    This God of War-inspired adventure falls apart as soon as the camera begins swerving about in confusion.
  18. Eurogamer Italy
    Apr 30, 2012
    50
    Conan the Barbarian meets the Phantom of Sparta in this good-looking action game… unfortunately its technical problems blow-up everything else.
  19. Machinima
    Apr 23, 2012
    50
    While it drips with cinematic style and unrelenting action, the game is held back by camera issues and a game-breaking exploit that can't be ignored.

Awards & Rankings

96
#96 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2012

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 55 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 55
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 55
  3. Negative: 10 out of 55
  1. Xborn74
    Apr 25, 2012
    6
    "Bloodforge" is an XBLA game, which costs 1200MS Points and that is a Hack and Slash, with a Celtic theme, in black / white contrast tones,"Bloodforge" is an XBLA game, which costs 1200MS Points and that is a Hack and Slash, with a Celtic theme, in black / white contrast tones, much like a graphic novel, with red for blood and other minor details.

    The game's story is about Crom, a veteran warrior, who abandons his life of war to have a family and a simpler life: one day, while hunting, he is resting and have a dream, where Gods (Arawn, the major God) appear angry; scared he awakes. While running back to his village, he see it lit on fire, being attacked by barbarians who are attacking his wife, Alena - after defeating them, he enters his house on fire and kills another warrior ... which was actually his wife. From here begins the story of the revenge game against the Gods of Crom, triggered after this event and to meet a mysterious witch, Morrigan in the form of a raven.

    The overall look of the game is cold and serious, due to the location where it is, in some land to the north, and the Celtic theme (the warriors wear Kilts, and addition of the names used, the protagonist uses a helmet made of a deer skull) - the game's graphics are visually nice, and have some good points in some details, mainly because of the contrast of colors, and of the metallic effect of various things, like weapons and armor - and expect to see many blood, from the bloodstains on the floor and the combat (which are a bit exaggerated).

    But in return, the textures of many things are basic and without further detail, with some square corners, basic textures and weak animations. The camera movement in the game is interesting, swaying from side to side, but the general positioning of it in the battles, is horrible, and confusing.

    The Audio of the game is very good: the game features dramatic orchestral music, with choir, which match the style and theme of the game. The sounds and voice-overs are well done, and give a mood, fitting the theme.

    The gameplay, as said, is a typical Hack and Slash, without varying difficulty when starting a new game: I did not think that it is fluid, actually, but it's robotic and generic, without much impact when you hit an enemy, or that nice feeling of the action in other games when you're in battle. Despite having several possible combinations of attacks (you have latter in the game four main weapons), in practice they're not used much. The game have several animations for executions of defeated enemies, with beheadings and dismemberments (a lot of them).

    Your life does not regenerate, for this, you use green drops, that you find in altars, with the LB to regenerate your life - in the fights you should use a lot the LT, to roll over and escape from enemy attacks. And this makes the game a lot harder than it is, especially in the Boss battles.

    As main weapon we have a sword, who by using the X (quick attacks) and Y (strong attacks) combine to make combos - you also have a bow that shoots with B; in addition to these basic weapons, you can use Rune powers to perform special moves together with powers of the Gods, and can use the power of a "blood bar" to enter the Berserk mode, where you have more resistance and cause more damage.

    The game campaign has several mini-arenas, with enemies that are defeated to move on forth, and with a Boss in the end of the stages (including Gods, with combat sequences in a God of War style, with QTE), but the game have a bad orientation of where to go. Many scenarios possess branches and there is no marker of where to go, and the fact that all scenarios are similar, doesn't heal at all.

    To summarize, Bloodforge is a game that has a nice theme and a interesting visual, but is marred by the lack of better graphic detail, poor controls and a generic gameplay, with a horrible camera - for 1200MS Ponits not advise even for those who like the style, because it is a pretty regular game ("Viking: Battle for Asgard" of 2008 was better game in my opinion). My score: 6.4 / 10.0.    … Full Review »
  2. oskie33
    Apr 27, 2012
    7
    Bloodforge is a XBLA game that was released on April 25,2012. After the success of other XBLA games like FEZ, Trials Evo, TWD Ep.1, AmericanBloodforge is a XBLA game that was released on April 25,2012. After the success of other XBLA games like FEZ, Trials Evo, TWD Ep.1, American Nightmare, and I am Alive (debated). It seemed that XBLA games were headed in the right direction with its game breaking standards. Bloodforge IMO holds true to the success to the popularity of XBLA games. For 1200ms points (15.00 dollars) you get a hack & slash game that feels like Ninja Gaiden Black (to me) with a Conan the Barbarian feel to it. The graphics are nice. It was drawn to resemble the cinematic effect that you saw in the movie 300. Remember I said resemble. Gameplay was fluid and the action was non-stop. I experienced no frame-rate issues while in some pretty intense battles with multiple enemies on the screen. I have no complaints in regards to the sounds of this game. Everything sounded great while in battle or while traversing to you next location.The game does a great job at making you feel like a complete BAD ASS! The difficulty it was scored the highest points for me. I found no option to increase the difficulty level before you start playing. With ALL my games I always jack the difficulty level all the way up. Having said that, I find that whatever the default difficult level is it will most def challenge the most ardent gamer! Now I cant give a review w/o telling some things that I didn't like. The controls and camera dont work together like they should. I found myself having to readjust the camera to suit my battle performance more than I would like while fighting 8+ enemies. The checkpoint/save system was very weak. In a game like this where you could spend 20mins fighting normal enemies and mid-level bosses at the same time, dying is a effing drag! It would have been cool to be able to save-as-you-go type of feature. Those are the things that I didn't like, and as you can see the issues I had with the game are neither game breaking or game ruining. Sure there are AAA titles that do the same thing Bloodforge does and does it better but, if you wanted those games you wouldn't be reading this review. Now would you?… Full Review »
  3. kelanflyter
    Apr 26, 2012
    4
    This game is meant to be a XBLA counterpart of great AAA retail games. But length and graphics are not the one things that have been scratchedThis game is meant to be a XBLA counterpart of great AAA retail games. But length and graphics are not the one things that have been scratched down. BlodForge has a very frustating Camera, bad controls and so common gameplay macanisms.… Full Review »
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