Gianna Masetti, creator of "The Noob" comic, was invited by Aventurine SA to preview the ongoing Darkfall Online Beta and she delivers, with new'n'pretty NDA-free screenshots!

Masetti broke down the preview into two parts, first introducing the MMORPG and its concept, and in the second part she delves deeper into Darkfall's user interface, pointing out the mouselook, view distance and more:

In 3rd person view the camera is pretty close to your character and it's fixed, so you can't mousewheel back until your character is tiny and you can see for twenty yards behind you. Your chance to spot other people is to actually turn and look. Period.

This is not all, though. If you happen to be a tall guy, like my ork, and you're fighting someone shorter, like a goblin, you have to aim DOWN at the little fucker while he runs figure eights around you, which means that you have even less awareness of your surroundings. This particular thing is something that I dislike, just because it might give an advantage to dwarves and alfars - who can hack away at big guys' ankles while enjoying the view at the same time. On the other hand, it would probably look strange if you could hit someone who barely reaches your chest by swinging at the air over his head, so I guess it makes sense the way it is now, it's just that I find it annoying.

Masetti also came back with several screenshots showcasing the engine's capabilities. Here's a sampler:

Read the full preview at TheNoobComic.com