Golden Axe-like game Sacred Citadel coming in first half of 2013

After the mess this week over Dead Island: Riptide's controversial bust, Deep Silver is probably glad to share a spot of good news.

The publisher revealed today that Sacred Citadel — a side-scrolling hack-and-slash brawler that uses a 3D engine — is coming to PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC in the first half of 2013. You can choose from four heroes, each of which has unique combos, special moves, skills, and equipment.

The story also serves as a prequel to Sacred 3, the action-role-playing game also coming out this year — only Keen Games is working on that while Southend Interactive develops this. Southend is the studio that made Ilomilo.

"The earlier Sacred titles had already created a rich playground as the foundation on which to build our stories, characters, and world," wrote  Rupert Ochsner, the brand manager for Deep Silver, on the PlayStation Blog. "Lord Zane’s Ashen Empire threatens to enslave the once peaceful world of Ancaria. He created an army of Grimmocs and started a war against the Seraphim, protectors of the lands of Ancaria, in order to gain a valuable artifact that will enable him to open the gates of the underworld."

Maurice Tan, the international community manager for Deep Silver, wrote in the comments that Sacred Citadel features both online and local multiplayer. Three people can play cooperatively at once.

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