I keep thinking of how the series would be resurrected today. I can only see two scenarios though:

A) EA needs its own Halo and decides Crusader is it. The franchise is reborn as a modern day FPS with much "borrowed" directly from Halo and some homages to the original games are payed in the middle of the mess. Could end up in a similar way as Dante's Inferno or Medal of Honor.

B) EA calls in for a download only small budgeted game and a new Crusader is built, using a brand new 3D engine and possibly borrowing a few things from Frozenbyte's Shadowgrounds series (like control scheme), maybe even getting done by Frozenbyte themselves. Idealistically, a remake of the first two coupled with a new "No Mercy" campaign, continuing the story.

And you guys? What would you like to see and what do you think we would see?

EDIT: I just realised how freaking wrong is the title. X__X AROSE, Stupid me, AROSE!!!

C) A TPP travesty with a mandatory wonky camera, a compass minimap showing You every objective, an arrow showing You the way all the time, linear level design (this door is locked, this one is barred, and this one is just a texture), mandatory stealth sequences, QTEs, and bullet time, for the retro feel, cause it's so retro, and of course, tutorialish hints throughout the whole game. It would also have broken controls, and modern yaps would say the new game is just like the old Crusader, because the controls are wonky in both. Oh, and it would put all emphasis on the story, not gameplay. It would have more HD cutscenes than gameplay, and the game would be constantly interrupted with "urgent messages", that would move the camera to the farthest part of the complex to show You another meaningless cutscene.
[rant over]

Sorry, i had to vent myself, half of my brain is still leaking out of my ear after the DNF experience. It's almost 5AM, and i should go to bed. Nights!:)

[disclaimer]
I actually love Crusader's controls.

You forgot

D) Only for portable devices.

Someone in another thread mentioned the Lara Croft: Guardian of Light engine... that would be, IMO, very nice and pretty much in line with the Crusader style and gameplay.
I don't think we'll see anything like that, but who knows?

Hatred, rancor and angst. The three things that move the world. :P

To be fair, it occurred to me too, a third person shooter. And I actually think that a moon based GTA-like game would kinda work.

But I'm currently playing and enjoying Red Faction Guerrilla, so I may be dreaming the wrong way. XD

Naah, i'm just pessimistic, or, not optimistic about the idea of a modern Crusader.;) With driving seqiences?:P
I think it would be great to see something that looks like the original, hell, with some options [original/enhanced] it might even look quite close. The question is, do we really want to risk it?:)

What's interesting in the light of this discussion is the way the EA games are listed here.
Ultima is listed as a registered trademark (circled R) , the other games are listed as unregistered trademarks (TM).
Not many other games here are listed as such.
To me it suggests that EA keeps open any option to make a new game based upon any of their old games.

I'd say a third person perspective would be just the thing. Think Gears of War, but perhaps with the camera pulled slightly further back. Modern day gamers wouldn't go for an isometric view in a full price retail release, so that's the closest we'd get to mimicking the old games.

From there, it's just a question of getting level design, weapons and story (such as it is) remotely interesting.

An FPS would work too of course, but I've increasingly come of the view that third person perspective ironically makes it easier to identify with your character.

The retro type game as a donwloadable title would defnitely work. They're all the rage nowadays after all.

Or as a handheld title. Imagine a remake or straight up sequel on the 3DS for example, with the classic view on the top screen and map/inventory/missio objectives on the bottom screen (you have to have a map, modern day gamers wouldn't play it otherwise). With the analog pad, four face buttons and shoulder buttons for sidestepping/rolling, controls would be smooth as butter (as much as I love this game, the controls are just stupidly stiff).

I could see myself buying any of those games.

This is the best idea I've seen so far. That engine would be perfect for Crusader. :)

There actually was a recent Crusader in development. I leaked the footage!

http://cyberionsystems.com/echosector/index.php?topic=1386.0

just watched the video, very cool looking - I'd buy it

It would be called "Crusader: No Bulllshit."

It's 16 years after the first game. The Crusader has gotten too fat for his rigid armor, so he has been shuffled off into a desk job. Every day he commutes an hour back and forth to his work, tries not to fall asleep through it, and at the end of the day can't remember what, if anything, he actually did. His commando mindset has instilled in him a lifelong habit of mindless conformity, prompting him to eagerly look for opportunities to say, "Great idea, Boss!," which is the only thing keeping his boss from firing his saggy ass and replacing him with his repulsive idiot nephew. The only things keeping him from showing his boss where it's really at are his ties to his wife, who he is sure is cheating on him, and his kids, who look at him like he's an out of touch jerk who never had a moment's clue in his life. He is reduced to spending his nights getting drunk enough to forget that nobody he knows has any idea he was someone with potential, worth a second look; he was a crusader, dammit! Not just a schmuck.

Search for hidden hotspots where you can find liquor bottles he hides from the family and the disturbing porn that is the only thing that can still arouse his deadened, life-sickened senses. If he finds a way to kill himself without cancelling out his insurance benefits to his family, you win the game.

No FPS please. We already have enough butchered classics. (Fallout, X-com, Syndicate,...)