Diablo III

You begin your quest just after what appears to be a flaming star falls from the heavens and crashes into the cathedral in Tristram, the doomed town where the events of Diablo took place. This cosmic occurrence has the unfortunate side effect of reanimating the dead, and the people of New Tristram find themselves besieged by corpses long ago put to rest. Diablo III's story is unremarkable, but it weaves in plenty of references to and appearances by characters from earlier games and enriches the established lore of the series. Fans of Diablo and Diablo II will immediately feel drawn into this world.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown

XCOM isn't "Sid Meier's XCOM," but he knows his game systems, and his involvement with the upcoming strategy reboot has been key. But Meier is not a one-man show, and indeed, he acknowledged during the tour that not all of his ideas were winners. Lead designer Jake Solomon and his erudite team seem pretty confident, however, that the ideas that have made it into Enemy Unknown are the right ones.

The Testament of Sherlock Holmes

The basic style and setting of Testament are similar to what has gone before in Frogwares adventures. You take on the role of Sherlock Holmes as he investigates a new case, with odd diversions into the shoes and paws of other characters, such as associate Dr. Watson and even a hound dog (not the high point of the game). The story is considerably darker than the stories of previous games in the franchise, however. Where predecessors mostly chickened out on the gory stuff--even the Jack the Ripper game released in 2009 hid the serial killer's shredded victims--this one lays it all out there. This is evident from the first crime scene that you investigate, which involves the horrific torture-murder of a priest in a church.