"Aliens: Colonial Marines." (HO)

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (Visceral Games/EA, for PS3, PS Vita)

Most raccoons steal stuff from your garbage cans. Sly Cooper steals stuff from museums and such. This fourth entry in the adventures of Sly and company feels like a throwback to a simpler time in gaming, and that's a good thing. Added bonus: a single purchase gives you both the PS3 and Vita versions, and you can seamlessly pick up where you left off when switching between one and the other.

Proteus (Ed Key and David Kanaga/Twisted Tree, for PC)

Is Proteus a game? There are no enemies, no scores, no deaths. No challenge, in the strictest sense of the word, aside from exploring and observing the world. But the same could be said for memorable experiences like Dear Esther and Journey, and those are games - or whatever you want to call them - that stay with you a long time. Whether it's an exercise in deep thought or just an interactive screen saver, it's worth a look.

Aliens: Colonial Marines (Gearbox Software/Sega, for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, PC)

After James Cameron's Aliens in 1986, fanboys and fangirls across the world clamoured for a sequel. Instead, we got the dreary Alien 3, which opened by killing off Hicks and Newt. Gasp! Sacrilege! But now we have a direct sequel to Aliens in the form of a video game. A straightforward, uninspired, graphically bleah first-person shooter video game. But we're playing it anyway. For Newt!