Although Keen Games' upcoming cooperative hack-and-slash was originally slated for an August 26 release, publisher Deep Silver announced today that Sacred 3 will release ahead of schedule on August 5.

in IGN's Sacred 3 hands-on preview, it was apparent that Keen is foregoing the constant click-based combat of many action-RPGs in favor of a much more action-centric approach. This is a result of the heightened attention the studio is paying to the console crowd –– violence is much more animated, and attacks are specific to individual enemies.

Sacred 3 adds several other new elements to the series. For one, weapon spirits will allow players to enhance individual weapons with augmentations that create various buffs and debuffs, according to a Deep Silver press release. Several weapon spirits will even take the form of previous characters in the Sacred series.

Malakhim is another addition, fleshing out the existing roster of characters with his own class-specific attributes. However, Malakhim will only be available to players who purchase Sacred 3 through Gamestop when it releases for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.