February is here, and in the month of love Microsoft wants players to start getting romantic with their consoles as the first batch of new games for the service have been announced: Final Fantasy XV and Wolfenstein: Youngblood.

It’s said that a large part of the games industry is uninspired because developers don’t take risks. They stick to the same formula year after year because it’s one that they’re confident will both sell well and please players. A lot of the time we shout at those developers, saying that their new game is “more of the same” or …

After a pair of games starring BJ Blazcowicz earning a reputation amongst history’s jack-booted thugs as “Terror Billy”, it’s time for a passing of the torch. Wolfenstein: Youngblood looks set to take the more sombre and introspective tone of the previous games and blow them sky-high with a pair of siblings who happen to have inherited their dad’s talent for death and mayhem. An approach that has resulted in MachineGames taking a more open-ended approach to leverage the co-op gameplay that drives this sequel forward.

As the year ahead starts preparing for the usual glut of madness that is the Q4 period, July is here to ease you into a cadence of high-profile releases and indie gems. From Wolfenstein: Youngblood to Sea of Solitude, here’s a look at what’s to come.

There's no disputing it; E3 was weird this year. Not because Sony didn't want to party, or Microsoft didn't take the chance to steal the spotlight. Not because there weren’t great games on show, or a small number of them. It just felt all too predictable, without a concrete look at the horizon of games that is expected to dawn with new console hardware. But E3 was still home to some notably strong titles that are set to make the next 12 months incredibly interesting, especially when you consider most of the games on show this year should be out by then. From futuristic role-playing games to haunted houses and plumbers, here are the best games we saw at the show this year.

Wolfenstein and the Nazi-killing escapades of B.J Blazkowicz have never been better thanks to MachineGames. Both The New Order and The New Colossus have been tight shooter romps with a delicate mix of old and new; Blending stealth gameplay with punchy first-person shooting, wrapped up by strong writing and captivating characters. But Youngblood isn’t about the past. Instead, it’s forging …

BJ’s daughters Jess and Soph happen to have inherited a talent for killing Nazis, they’re on a mission to free Europe from the tyranny of the Axis forces and they’re looking to have a damn good time while doing it. It’s a massive departure from the more sombre attitude shown in previous Wolfenstein games, as this third chapter in the revived series focuses on co-op gameplay, wild action and some sweet synth music tracks straight out of the 1980s.

Machinegames’ Wolfenstein alternate history reboots have given us some of this generations finest straight up shooters. Both The New Order and The New Colossus were exemplary FPs games, using new technology couple with old-school design to make killing nazis as cathartic as it could possible be. In July’s Wolfenstein: Youngblood, BJ Blazkowicz passes the torch to his twin daughters, delivering a 1980’s co-op shooter experience that’s a change of pace for the series.