Zuxxez Entertainment AG give us the lowdown on the magic cards used in their upcoming RPG on the Xbox 360 and PC.

Magic is as much a part of RPG's as a gamepad is of a game console and the “Two Worlds” developers have really gone to town on this aspect of the game – they have integrated the effects of magic spells into the card system that we told you about recently. These magic cards can be found and bought everywhere in Antaloor - or given as a reward for quests completed successfully. The organization of the cards takes place in the Magic Book which is divided into the five schools of magic - air, water, fire, earth and necromancy. The first four of these are officially taught by guilds - but necromancy is black magic, which does not directly reveal itself to the player. He must first gain the trust of certain game characters in order to learn this kind of magic.

As well as more than 70 magic cards, there are various “booster cards”. These enable a particular spell to be used more effectively... like using less mana, for example, or raising the effectiveness of a spell. Active magic spells, displayed in a special window, can be intensified by up to three boosters per card.

Using magic itself is surprisingly easy. The selected cards are automatically transferred to the Hotkey bar, or they can be placed there by drag-and-drop. The player subsequently activates the various kinds of magic with the assigned number keys. A selected hotkey bar operation can also be carried out by a right-click. This could be an often used spell of course.

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Each school consists of five magic circles. Increasing knowledge opens up the doors to increasingly effective spells. At the beginning of the single player mode, the player is clueless as far as magic is concerned. He must first look for a master and get initiated into the basics in a school of magic. Having done that, the player can now increase his skills (in e.g. water magic) through skill points and perform the magic of the first magic circle. With each skill point gained, the skill value of the player in that particular school of magic increases. When his skill value reaches 5, the pupil will advance to the second circle and so on.

The five schools of magic:

Fire magic: you can perform fire spells which can burn entire groups of opponents right off the map.

Water magic: this mainly involves frost spells, which will either cripple your opponent or cause death by freezing.

Air magic: this enables you to attack your enemy with shock waves and bolts of lightning. There are also extremely effective Power-ups (for strength, for instance).

Earth magic: this is truly versatile - it ranges from an earth eruption with devastating effects to healing spells.

Incidentally,Two Worlds online multiplayer action allows up to 8 people to adventure together online via Xbox Live .