DX10-MMO-FEST Age of Conan is due out at the end of May, and the developers have been ramping up anticipation by releasing a batch of screen-shots showing the game running under DX10 in Vista - and by gum, they don't look half bad.

The game requires 2GB of RAM, Geforce 7900 GTX and a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo in order to run at a decent pace in DX10, but the results do seem worth it. In particular, the cut-scenes being touted have that 'film-like' animation quality that games have been promising ever since the days of the leafblower-esque 5800.

The in-game shots look like they have some rather swanky sun and water efects, and we're certainly big fans of massive ogre monsters. Perhaps the best new pics, however, are of the concept art which shows a rather well-endowed Barbarian girl giving it the full monty whilst modelling the latest in stabbing hardware. It's no wonder the game is slated for an 18+ rating upon release.

Conan looks set to take the crown of best-looking MMO from Lord of the Rings Online, but can it possibly ramp up the same level of participation seen from the market leader, World of Warcraft? Something tells us not, but we have been wrong in the past. Occasionally. µ