In case I sound like a drooling fanboy, take a look at the screenshots from the beta version of Lineage II. Put simply, Lineage II is gorgeous, in more ways than one. When I first fired up the game to create my new digital avatar, I was struck by just how good the Unreal technology makes everything look. The skies are beautiful, leaves wave on trees and the particle effects of spells and character animations are amazing. While it won't rival the latest FPS, MMO players who are used to dealing with circa-1999 graphics will be blown away at how great everything looks.

Still, that's nothing when compared with the character design. When the game starts, players will walk through the extremely simple character development process. Players select their race, sex, name and one of two classes, fighter or mage. That's it. The character models they have to select from, though, are extraordinary. All of the males of any race save the dwarves have that androgynous beauty so common to anime characters -- complete with wacky hairstyles. The females, on the other hand -- as I said at the beginning -- are hot. Elvish females wear short, poofy skirts that have a tendency to fly up when they're casting spells. Orcish women are statuesque creatures that will appeal to anyone who digs female wrestlers, and the Dark Elves? Let's just call the outfits that Dark Elf women wear a cross between J.R.R. Tolkien and the Velvet Dungeon.