Deep Silver announces Sacred 3 release date with new trailer

The third installment of the Sacred series will be ready to hack and slash the Xbox 360 and PS3 this August.

Among the announcements for Sacred 3 today was a further description of ‘weapon spirits’. Sort of like runes from other games (and real world folklore), weapon spirits can upgrade and sometimes downgrade weaponry in the world of Ancaria. Unlike runes though, you might recognize some of these spirits from past games in the Sacred series.

Weapon Spirits are a brand new addition to the Sacred universe in Sacred 3. Players will be able to enhance their weapons with these upgradable and interchangeable weapon augmentations, each with their own unique buffs and debuffs. Certain Weapon Spirits even take the form of previous characters from the Sacred franchise, to help aid players of Sacred 3 in their fight against the hordes of evil.

Pre-orders are open right now for Sacred 3 across the boards and fans who do buy in before launch will be getting a special bonus in the form of playable character Malakhim. Different from the standard characters that’ll be appearing as playables, Malakhim uses something called blood magic to fight the evil Emperor Zane.

And if you pre-order through GameStop, you’re in for even more bonuses as you’ll be getting the Underworld mission pack at no extra charge. This story-based pack adds more story content to the game, so it’ll give you a little more time to be stalking the shores of Deep Silver’s fantasy realm. Also in the offing if you pre-up at GameStop are the Malakhim character (which again, you’ll get no matter where you order from) and the Z4ngr13f weapon spirit, which is an exclusive that you’ll not find anywhere else.

Sacred 3 lands on the Xbox 360 and PS3 this August the 5th.