AS IT WAS POINTED out by Theo, we are about to enter a new, delicious season of Christmas gaming, with Hellgate: London one of the top titles about to hit in November.

Well, that game might not be quite so headline as Crysis or Gears of War, but just like those bad boys, it has some DirectX 10 action going on. There are some funky new screenshots out this morning that show the comparison between DX9 and DX10 versions of the game.

There really isn't that much to show. DX10 adds better effects for smoke and lighting, although these are rather subtle. More noticeable is the 'very high' and 'extreme' shader settings, which add depth of field effects. The effect is slightly strange, and we can see gamers actually turning it off as overly distracting, but perhaps our cynical eyes are just too battered to hack it.

In any event, this appears to be yet another game where DX10 brings next-to-nothing to the table. Bread and cheese for Vista, once again.