Epic plot and an intruiging mix of RPG and FPS make Mass Effect worth a look, though we can't help but see some similarity with Knights of the Old Republic.

Xenofex 2 is an updated range of Photoshop-compatible plug-ins from Alien Skin, the developer of Eye Candy 4000, one of the most popular filter collections and a personal favourite of ours. This was mainly down to its interface, which is thankfully shared by the new Xenofex collection.

Acer brings 3D to the masses with a 3D screen on a mainstream laptop

Nvidia’s long-awaited 3D kit finally arrives and when it works, it’s every bit as good as we’d hoped it would be.

FreeHand has had a long, distinguished career since its launch 15 years ago, but time has caught up with it. While Macromedia concentrated development on its Web-oriented MX applications, FreeHand was put on the back burner and fell seriously behind its main rivals CorelDRAW (see issue 60, p54) and Adobe Illustrator (see issue 51, p88). So, is this latest release evidence of further decline, or has FreeHand finally risen to the challenge?

Adobe Photoshop is so dominant when it comes to print and Web-based bitmap-editing that, in many ways, it has come to define the whole field...

Live’s standing as a general-purpose music-production environment continues to grow.

Better sound for your laptop from Creative, plus the little white lies about its heritage exposed.

A simplified interface, strong photo-to-art Focus and the low price make painter essentials a great buy.

One way to get your Website's logos and page titles to literally stand out is by making them 3D. Xara3D is designed to make the whole process a cinch.

For many years, After Effects (AE) was the only real choice for PC video compositing - everything else was in a different price/hardware league. But in the last couple of years, with the steady improvement of Pinnacle's Commotion and the huge price drop in Discreet's Combustion, AE isn't alone anymore.

Philips flagship TV from 2007 is a good benchmark, with plenty of worthwhile technology substance to fine effect alongside the original styling

The wide range of features and a degree of HD-readiness are welcome, but the DLP rainbow effect can spoil things.

The In Win o3 case is a solid effort worth some merit, but is let down by a few key internal design flaws and a rattle effect loud enough to shake your senses.

Asus's model may not look like the bee's knees, but if you're after features, it's worth a look

Empire: Total War is a game that’ll appeal to history nerds and fans of previous Total War titles.

Surround-sound support and mastering-quality plug-ins mean Sound Forge is better than ever.

Surround-sound support and mastering-quality plug-ins mean Sound Forge is better than ever.

It’s business as usual, but this consummate all-rounder continues to grow in power and value.

A suite with some nice features but slow startup times made us disappointed with ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 2009