Though his vision usually outstrips his games' technical prowess, super developer Peter Molyneux is still responsible for some the most unique gaming experiences ever put to code. He's let us soar through the air on an enchanted rug, mow down civilians in a near-future dystopia, and has even let us play god once or twice.

Unfortunately, after having the distinct 'pleasure' of being absorbed by larger studios on two separate occasions, many of his most memorable creations have since been left to the pages of history. Even so, while Molyneux is currently courting players with his canine-friendly Fable 2, he recently told Shacknews that he's open to revisiting his earlier games, particularly Syndicate.

"I really would love to redo a version of Syndicate," he commented, adding that while he has not been given the go ahead to knock the dust off his past achievements, "one day, I'm sure that opportunity is going to come up and I'd love to do it." Of course, he's said this all before, but we continue to hold out hope. In a world filled with one mundane first-person shooter after the next, we could really use another Magic Carpet.

Are these really the ten hardest PC games ever? We cast a somewhat doubtful eye on Custom PC's list (replete with handy guides, walkthroughs, and cheat codes), but there are a ton of hard games that didn't make it on here. Is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas really one of the hardest games in existence?

We remember playing Wing Commander III until our eyes bled, restarting level after level after level, and smacking our stupid sound card around until it made some sort of noise. Maybe there should be a "Hardest To Get Up And Running Smoothly" games list. But as far as hardest ... that's a tough list to make, and a lot of source material to draw from. Heck, some of those Infocom text games were pretty freakin' hard. Who else pulled their hair out during Zork II when the Wizard of Frobozz would suddenly appear and screw you over?

Anyhow, check out the list and see if you agree. They get some uber-bonus points for putting Syndicate: American Revolt on there, but c'mon ... Far Cry?

• 10: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
• 9: System Shock 2
• 8: Homeworld 2
• 7: Final Doom
• 6: Syndicate: American Revolt
• 5: Grand Prix Legends
• 4: Far Cry
• 3: IL-2 Sturmovik and add-ons
• 2: Armed Assault
• 1: Aliens vs. Predator

Speaking to Gamespot UK, the ever-enthusiastic and monochromatically inclined Peter Molyneux expressed interest in revisiting some of his old franchises. Licensing complications aside, he asserts that "some sort of next-gen online version of Syndicate would certainly be popular with gamers," and that new versions of Dungeon Keeper and Populous would be equally exciting to him. Having been purchased by Microsoft certainly makes the prospect of these sequels appearing at Lionhead (and not EA) less likely, but not impossible.

In fact, we're already swooning over the idea of a sprawling Syndicate sequel -- perhaps a next-gen variant might even give us that real ending we were so rudely cheated out of years ago. Then again, sprawling development costs might say otherwise. "But it should be remembered that there is a law of diminishing return here, so if you spend $5 million and double that to $10 million, you don't get double the quality. This trend really can't continue, and the industry must face the fact we need to stabilize our costs. This will mean that reuse of technology and assets needs to be much better managed."

For further Molyneux insight, check out Joystiq's "But you said that about Fable 1!" interview conducted at last month's Develop Conference.

[Via GamersReports]