Phantasy Star Online, published by Sega for Dreamcast

The story behind PSO is that your homeworld is dying and in this emergency, Project Pioneer is conceived, sending out probes all over the galaxy in order to find a new planet to live on.

However, just before landing on your new planet a huge explosion occurs. All communication is lost and this is where you come in.

As one of many hunters on board Pioneer 2, you're hired to go down to the planet and find out what happened.

Sounds like a beginning to a great story, right? From there, you basically take your character through numerous quests into the source of all the evil. Although not the most gripping of storylines, PSO is extremely addictive and is balanced out with a wealth of gameplay. With online gaming, Sonic Team knew standing out from a crowd of online gamers is important and gave PSO the ability to customize messages and symbols. In PSO, players around the world can play together. Since not everyone speaks English, the symbol chat interface allows you to get basic communication across through happy faces, angry expressions, and other default symbols.

The more players you have, the more addictive the game gets. Teaming up with three other players (four to a game maximum), more enemies come out and with more enemies come more items and experience points.

But whether you play it online or offline, the spectacular visuals remain the same, and I have to say that this is one of the finest-looking games ever. Whether it's the wonderful intro sequence, the exhaustive detail of each character, or the enormous boss monsters including a huge red dragon, Phantasy Star Online doesn't disappoint at all in the visual department.

Once online, players can stay together or go off in whatever direction they choose. However, with the increased number of monsters, the experienced and wise stay together and work together. This is a great gameplay feature, as players, whether they like it or not, are basically forced to work together in order to get through each room. Of course, getting everyone to work together takes time. But you won't be able to experience this until you get online. For that matter, you won't be able to fully enjoy PSO until you've gone online with a bunch of good players and quested together for a few hours. So, if you plan to buy Phantasy Star Online but you're not planning to go online, you're not playing the game. Whether it's just chatting online getting to know other Dreamcast players, helping out newbies on their first grand day out, or beating the final boss on very hard difficulty, Dreamcast players must play Phantasy Star Online online... and that means everyone.

Make no mistake about it, this is one of the biggest games released on a console for years. PSO delivers in all areas and is an absolute gem to play online. Playing with people from all corners of the globe is an amazing experience. The fact that it takes place in the best graphical environment ever created just adds to the whole experience. If you are looking for more online action after Quake 3 Arena or simply about to plunge into the scene for the first time, then believe me this game is for you. I cannot rate this game highly enough as it has everything you could want for in a game - by the bucket load. The only thing I can say is warn your friends and relatives, you won't be leaving your home for some time!

Graphics 5/5

Sound 4/5

Gameplay 5/5

Gamespan 5/5

Overall 5/5