Those of you lucky enough to be attending Gamescom later this week will be able to get a firsthand experience with Valve’s DOTA 2. However, for the rest of us, we’ll just have to gawk at some leaked screenshots of the game for now.

As mentioned on the fansite that posted these, they’re apparently a couple months old, so these should be taken in with a bit of optimism. This is especially true in the case of the less than stellar looking UI interface, which is supposedly getting changed. However, the environments and character models are definitely looking spiffy. For those getting incredibly ancy to see it in action, Valve will be having the game on display on Wednesday, and will also be holding a tournament that will go on through the week. Yep, a tournament for an unfinished game. I predict shenanigans and mass hilarity.

Check out the screenshots after the break, and, again, look at these with optimism.

UPDATE: Apparently there is also a new trailer out, that asks players what they desire as a hero. Check it out below, courtesy of Joystiq, and spend some time pondering over that question.