Electronic Arts is in an unusual position.  They are the distributors for English game company Bullfrog, the guys who brought you such hits as Populous, Syndicate, and Magic Carpet.  And the people at Bullfrog have been (and continue to be) busy.  Very busy.  No less than seven Bullfrog titles are in the works, and all of them have projected release dates between the summer of ‘95 and the opening months of 1996.  That’s a lotta games from a company with a killer reputation.  Although some of these titles are still pretty far off (at this time EA isn’t even sure which one they’re going to release first!), we thought we’d give you the rundown on what you’ll be seeing from Bullfrog in the coming months.

	The game you’ve probably heard the most about is Creation, which is already being touted as Magic Carpet under water.  Creation is set several decades in the future, after the earth has become an uninhabitable wasteland.  Radiation and pollution have caused the extinction of most land-based organisms.  To save the sea-dwelling creatures of our dying planet, the surviving humans transplant them to a distant ocean world they call Creation.  But no sooner are the terran sea creatures brought to Creation that a problem emerges: scientists (and the sea creatures) discover an undocumented form of fungus growing on the ocean floors, an addictive narcotic that induces psychotic responses with continued use.  To save the creatures you have brought to this new planet, you must enlist the help of a school of unaffected dolphins to stop the spread of the deadly fungus.  Like Magic Carpet, Creation will feature a smooth scrolling first-person interface, and up to eight-player support for network games.  Creation is scheduled for late ‘95 or early ‘96 release.

	Gamers who found out that fun and games can be serious business with Theme Park will get the chance to test their business savvy once again in a very different venue - Theme Hospital.  Players start off with a small clinic and must expand to build a large, sophisticated hospital.  And they’ll have to make a profit, too!  Like in Theme Park, you must carefully plan the layout of your facility to avoid unpleasant accidental situations, like babies from the maternity ward wandering into ER.  Theme Hospital is scheduled to ship at the end of the year.

	If you thought the only superheroes in the computer game world come from New Jersey, you’ll get a big surprise out of The Indestructibles.  This game lets you create your own superheroes and then test them in action.  It features a sophisticated design kit that lets you pick from nearly infinite combinations to create your heroes’ looks, which are shown as fully-jointed vector bodies.  Then you outfit your characters with a wide array of awesome superpowers.  The mission phase of the game will run off an improved version of the Magic Carpet engine, and will include the ability to fly into skyscrapers and damage them - bad PR for a superhero.  Expect to leap tall buildings in a single bound sometime in the fall.

	Hidden Worlds isn’t the last you’ll see of the ever-popular Magic Carpet.  A full sequel is currently in the works called (surprisingly enough) Magic Carpet II:  The Netherworlds.  The game that combined other-worldly flight simulation with first-person action will get a mild facelift with an improved engine that allows for faster and smoother (hard to imagine) flight.  A whole new set of spells will give you the power to reduce the all-new monsters to bright blobs of manna.  There will also be more to the completion of each level than just amassing enough of a manna reserve.  Magic Carpet II is expected to ship this fall.

	Syndicate turned heads with its ultra-bleak futurism and its ultra-violent gameplay.  Soon you’ll be able to start the slaughter anew with Syndicate Wars, a game which will debut on the Sony Playstation and then make its way to the PC.  This sequel will include the ability to rotate your view a full 360 degrees and will feature light sourcing. The grim tone will be enhanced by search lights, fires, and massive explosions.  You will also get to outfit your cyborg assassins with new gear, including thermal targeting weapons and camouflage gear that bleeds a potentially dangerous radiation signature.  The Playstation version should be available this summer, with its PC counterpart arriving in late ‘95 or early ‘96. Both versions will feature multiplayer support.

	If genetic warfare sounds like a lot of fun to you, check out Gene Wars.  In the distant future a group of space travelers discover a series of planets that have been destroyed by the side-effects of war, a war they discover is still being fought by four separate races.  The travelers force the warring races to sign a peace treaty and begin cleaning up the planets they have ruined, but all is not as it seems.  With no access to traditional weapons, the races turn to bioengineering to create deadly creatures to carry on the war.  Gene Wars will feature a unique skeletal mapping process that will allow players to morph creatures in real-time, creating horrifying and destructive new monsters.  Up to eight networked players may take part in the war effort, starting this summer.

	You can expect Bullfrog to turn the fantasy role-playing world on its ear with the release of Dungeon Keeper.  This seemingly straight-laced dungeon crawl game has a big twist - instead of playing the party of brave adventurers, you are the dungeon keeper attempting to foil the would-be heroes!  You can set traps for the adventurers, lure them to their doom with false clues, and deploy over 40 different monsters.  Although not a set-in-stone fact, it is rumored that the multiplayer option will allow one player to be the dungeon keeper while the others take the roles of the adventurers.  The portcullis raises this fall.  Toto, I don’t think we’re in the Forgotten Realms anymore!

	Whew!  That’s one serious heap-o-games.  It looks like Bullfrog has something for just about everybody with their upcoming product line.  We’ll be badgering EA mercilessly to give us anything they possibly can on these promising new titles, so expect to see more in-depth coverage of each game as their release dates draw nearer.