‘Left 4 Dead’

‘Left 4 Dead’

(Valve) for Xbox 360, PC

Genre: Shooter; Rating: M

Grade: B

First things first: If you don’t have any friends, find some. I say this because while you’ll have a decent time playing “Left 4 Dead” alone, you won’t truly appreciate this game unless you are online or local with a group of people blasting zombies to stay alive.

It’s you and three other players (either AI-controlled or through another human) trying to survive in a town wildly overrun by those of the flesh-eating variety. “Wildly overrun” probably does not do justice to the waves of zombies that spring out of buildings, hallways, rooftops and all manner of hideaways to feast on you and your cohorts.

Without friends for you to play with, “Left 4 Dead” does lose some of its appeal. Teamwork is immensely necessary in order to survive, and sometimes the AI-controlled players are not on the same page as you, meaning effective strategies are thrown out the window because someone decided to take a different path of certain death. Whether playing co-op offline or on, the game takes a dramatic uptick in enjoyment when you can rely on friends to make the right decisions, because it’s absolutely certain you won’t survive going it alone.

‘Need for Speed Undercover’

(EA Games) Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Wii, PS2, PSP, DS

Genre: Racing; Rating: T

Grade: C

“Undercover” does little to break new ground. In fact, the main charm is in retreading the same old territory from a previous “Need for Speed” title, “Most Wanted.” Just like in that game, “Undercover” features brisk racing action and intersperses it with classic B-movie-style cut scenes that lack quality but are chock-full of camp.

The racing itself is solid, mainly because you get back to what made “Need for Speed” enjoyable. Finding races is super-easy compared with previous titles, the game modes are easy to grasp and the controls make whipping around the Bay Area at breakneck speeds almost too easy.

Not everyone will be blown away by “Undercover,” but series purists will appreciate it.

‘Chrono Trigger’

(Square Enix) for DS

Genre: Role-playing; Rating: E

Grade: B

Dating myself just a wee bit, I can gladly confess playing the original “Chrono Trigger” on the Super Nintendo back well over a decade ago. Having the game and its cast of characters return in a beefed-up version for the DS is amazing. The game plays even better than it did originally, incorporating much more content — and sacrificing nothing.

You play as Chrono, who (along with other friends you will meet along the way) must time travel all over the place to stop the dastardly Lavos from destroying all that is good. The foremost strength of the game is its story. Depending on your actions, one of 14 endings is possible. Several playthroughs only netted me five of the possible endings, but I’m still intrigued to see the others.

The touch screen does not make as much of an appearance in the gameplay as one might hope, but having the full-fledged “Chrono Trigger” game and bonus content all in one package makes for an easy recommendation for DS owners.

— Chris Campbell, Scripps Howard