The Grouch PC £24.99 Akaei *

Sudden Strike Forever PC £19.99 CDV ***

Traditionally the summer months provide meagre pickings from the gaming industry. The majority of software is sold around Christmas with publishers making the assumption that people would rather fry steaks on a barbeque rather than roast bad guys. Thankfully this has changed recently with big titles such as Gran Turismo 3 selling millions although others, like The Grouch, show that the trend for poor summer releases still exists.

Ostensibly a cute version of the sword-slashing Severance, The Grouch lets you hack your way around a bland landscape while jumping on platforms and attempting to rescue the girl. But rather than axe-wielding maniacs, your adversaries include bears and walking trees, obviously skewing the game to a younger audience. Or so you'd think. In fact, Grouch is hair-pullingly difficult, with annoying collision problems - including "deadly" water and invisible platform sections - and lacklustre combat moves. The latter becomes crucially relevant when battling some of the tougher foes. Bland graphics don't help either, although the lack of detail and on-screen action at least allows the use of less powerful PCs. Perhaps the best that can be said for The Grouch is that it isn't an FPS (first person shooter) or an RTS (real time strategy) game, which on the PC, is a welcome change.

Sudden Strike Forever, on the other hand, is an RTS, but one that achieves what all add-on packs should - to make you dig out the original game again. Forever, which requires the original Sudden Strike to run, breathes new life into the world war two strategy title by introducing new units, more multiplayer options and tweaks to the interface. Patriotic types will be pleased with the inclusion of specific British units and, despite a steep learning curve, Sudden Strike remains the essential world war two sim. (GH)