Gaming greats to make a comeback!

Economies are floundering, swine flu is all about the place and the weather has been typically disappointing this summer... but life isn't so bad, especially when some of gaming's best ever titles look likely to make a welcome return!

Frequent visitors to the blog will already know my feelings about Electronic Arts' Syndicate. It remains one of my all-time favourites...and now there's news that Starbreeze Studios is working with EA to revive the series.

I was an avid fan of the original on the Amiga and also when it later made an appearance in the guise of Syndicate Wars on the Playstation. Syndicate is one of the select few to make it through to the quarter finals of the Megabits' Head2Head contest, which will resume on this very blog in the next week!

The thought of the moody shooter being updated for Xbox or PS3 is fantastic, especially if the developers not only manage to refresh the graphics and sound effects that made it so atmospheric in the first place, but also to harness the potential of online play! Can't wait.

Anyways, there's more good news to be had. Populous and Road Rash are among those also set to make an appearance, if rumours are to be believed.

God games are now ubiquitous but designer Peter Molyneux really broke the mould with what became one of his defining creations; Populous was simply fantastic and fantastically simple.

This is a game I've wanted to be re-released for some time...

Aesthetically, the isometric view wasn't exceptional and aurally, the constant and eerie sound of a heartbeat in the background as you created a world for your followers was nothing to write home about - but the formula proved really effective.

The main objective - and pretty much your deity's only power - was to raise and lower land so your minions could settle and expand. The flatter the terrain, the more elaborate their dwelling and the stronger your people. As your population grows, so does your "mana" - a gauge of your power - that allows you to wreak havoc on your enemies by generating plagues. Wipe out all opposing forces and proceed to the next map to face a tougher foe. Simple premise but hugely addictive.

Conversely, Road Rash was hardly a thinking man's game. I remember buying this for the Sega Megadrive and thinking it was revolutionary...ride a bike and beat your opponents in more ways than one. All you had to do was race through each stage while kicking, punching and clubbing your rivals - an idea imitated fairly well in the recent GTA IV add-on The Lost And The Damned.

I've always been a huge EA fan and am salivating at the prospect of these and other timeless classics coming back!