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One of the good things about being a reviewer for Electron User is that you get to see and play a lot of the latest games. The bad thing is that you have to take time off playing them in order to write the review! It is particularly galling when the game is as good as Vortex, the new 3D space game from Software Invasion.

The program gives you command of five starfighters armed with the almost obligatory laser torpedoes. Your mission is to enter the black void and hunt down the opposing aliens you find there. At the same time, you're trying to survive and the trouble is that aliens aren't all you find in the void.

As you enter the vortex you are pulled forward faster and faster. The enemy craft come at you making you dodge and weave to avoid them. When they're in range you can have a go at destroying them but return the compliment, every hit lowering the strength of your shields. Not that my shields ever ran out. By then I'd usually crashed into one of my attackers! And when you've run that gauntlet you meet the real guardians of the vortex, the asteroids that hurtle towards you.

Your weapons are no use in these asteroid storms - your only chance is to dodge. The longer you survive, the further into the void you go and the faster the asteroids come at you. And if you manage to survive them there are more aliens waiting to take you on at the other side.

The speed has to be seen, or rather experienced, to be believed. You really do feel as though you are being drawn into the vortex, fighting for survival. The graphics are excellent - though the sound could be better - and the instructions and keyboard use adequate.

A fast, captivating and amusing program, thoroughly recommended for lovers of action games.

Graham Parr