The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Find yourself going toe-to-toe with a 40-foot, airborne, fire-belching dragon and you might be surprised at what your greatest asset is.

It's not your weapon - no matter how handy you are with a blade or a blunt object, it's going to take a lot of committed clobbering to knock chunks out of these leathery beasts, leaving you open to a barbecuing. It's not even your magic spells, though you'll be treated to a huge selection of ways to make things pop, fizz, freeze and explode. No, in a pleasing, Hudson-esque turn, your biggest advantage against these napalm-spitting lizards will be harsh language.

Not English, mind. You can't just bellow Anglo-Saxon profanities at a dragon and expect it to turn its scaly tail and flee. You'll need to employ the ancient language of the Dragons, which has a little bit more bite, if you'll excuse the pun. These phrases, of up to three words, can be found inscribed on the walls of dungeons by the ancient Nords who inhabited Skyrim.

When uttered by a Dragonborn, which your character just so happens to be, they invoke powerful and unique magical powers. Initially you'll only learn the first word, activated by a quick tap of the right bumper, but for many of these 'shouts' you'll learn second and third parts, allowing you to hold the bumper down and unleash either a lengthier or more powerful version of the spell.

The first of this new strain of magic that we're shown is the ability to slow time. As you approach the carvings, one word in particular begins to glow. Once it's been examined and equipped, a tap of RB slows the entire scene down for eight seconds, allowing you to casually plant arrows in the skulls of any surrounding enemies. Learn the rest of the phrase and you'll get even longer to play at being a medieval Max Payne. The second shout demonstrated is Unrelenting Force, which thumps anything unfortunate enough to be standing directly in front of you backwards at a rate of knots.

Of course, no matter how meaty your diaphragm, you can't just go around barking spells constantly. There's a cooldown period after every shout you perform, and individual flavours will have their own individual recharges too. Also, if you think you're the only one wandering around Skyrim with the ability to turn words into magic, then think again.

Worried that turning words into weapons is Bethesda's way of distancing itself from Oblivion's flappy, intangible combat system? Don't be. One of the major priorities for Skyrim was satisfying hand-to-hand duelling, as opposed to what game director Todd Howard describes as the 'chopstick' fighting of Oblivion.

No longer will you just be waving a supposedly lethal object around at the air in front of you - hits will connect with a crunch, and you'll be able to perform grisly finishing strikes such as plunging your sabre through your foe's chest. While we're yet to get our hands on it, dust-ups already seem far more involving.

It takes two

The feeling of connection between metal and flesh isn't the only change to the Elder Scrolls' hacking and slashing. New to Skyrim is a two-handed mechanic that reminds us of BioShock's combination of guns and plasmids. The difference is that Skyrim's system allows you to mix and match to a far greater extent.

A standard pairing, for example, would be a shield in your left hand and a sword in your right, allowing you to block and deflect incoming blows using the left trigger, and dish out punishment using the right one. If you want to bring some magic into the mix, though, a quick-menu for your left hand allows you to swap out the shield for a chargeable fire spell - one of 80 spells in the game - while retaining the blade in your other hand.