Rebirth (series)

Rebirth (부활, 'Buhwal') is a series of  created by Sayeo Studios. The game is set in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic Gyunghwa in the early to mid 22nd century destroyed by nuclear holocaust generations before.

The series' first title, Rebirth was released in 1998 by Sayeo Studios and quickly proved to be an instant hit with both domestic and international audience, popular enough for its sequel, Rebirth 2 to be released in 2000. Spin-off title Rebirth: War was released in 2004, developed by Bomi Labs, a subsidiary of publishing company Muhan Games. It wasn't until 2015 when Sayeo Studios developed and released Rebirth 3. Rebirth: Evolution, an overhaul of the original two Rebirth titles, was developed by 58 Degrees and released in 2018. In early 2020, Sayeo Studios announced Rebirth 4: The Frontier, with an expected release date of November 10th, 2021.

Gameplay


Gameplay in the Rebirth series underwent several changes, especially in combat. Rebirth and Rebirth 2 operated on an isometric turn-based game play in which players used action points with each action consuming varying levels of points until the player expended all action points. The players must wait until their action points are recharged or consume foods and/or drugs to refill their action point chart. The total amount of action points the players can have are based on consumables (temporary) and perks (permanent). Combat in Rebirth: War operated as a real-time-strategy game with the players controlling armies with resources mined per map. Games starting from Rebirth 3 moved towards a more first-person shooter style of game play. The players have the option to switch between first person and an "over-the-shoulder" third-person perspective at any time. Action points in the latter titles were instead used for players to perform cinematic critical hits on enemies and would refill over time (although the speed of the refill can be influenced by perks and consumables).

Outside of game play aesthetics (such as the top-down of the first two titles and the first-person/third person of the latter games), most non-combat features remained unchanged. Players can heal any damage taken by consuming drugs and food, or patching themselves up with medical kits. NPC interactions were kept the same as players in every main titles can speak and influence NPC responses based on the skill level of speech and barter. Weapon and armor conditions wore down every time in every main titles so players are always on a lookout for workbenches to repair and or customize weapon and armor.

Perks, armor, and drugs can affect a player's skill in luck, survival, perception, melee, weapons handling, charisma, repairs, sneak, unarmed, weight carry, hacking, medicine, and lock-picking. Armor and drugs give a certain hit or boost to a few of a player's skills while perks are permanent. Drugs can also cause addiction which can take a hit on a player's skill until the player received addiction treatment from an npc doctor.

The series offers total customization for player characters. Players can choose the name, race, sex, and appearance of the game protagonists although the first two Rebirth titles do offer pre-made characters with varying stats for canonical purposes.

Games

 * Rebirth (부활; Buhwal): Released in October 1998, Rebirth takes place in Nonyeong, Mansan in the year 2108. Most of the surviving humans lived underground through the former nation's many subway stations. Few dare to venture to the surface without specialized equipment or risked radiation poisoning or death by hostile mutated faunas. There were rumors of a fertile land in the surface world with brave individuals leaving the subway stations to find the rumored lands, only to never return. The game protagonist, the Explorer, is one of these individuals searching for the rumored lands and to make contact with whatever human settlements discovered. Afterwards, the Explorer must prevent the second destruction of humanity by an army of drones lead by a broken military artificial intelligence called Ganglim.
 * Rebirth 2 (부활 2; Buhwal 2): Rebirth 2 was released in October 2000 and had several improvements over the first game, including upgrades to graphical engine and greater companion interactions. Rebirth 2 takes place fifty years after the Ganglim's destruction at the hands of the Explorer; more humans begin to leave underground to settle at the surface world and civilization begins to return to the Southeastern United Republics. The game centers around an escapee from an unknown facility. The escapee, dubbed the Prisoner, has no memory of itself and travels all over Southeastern Gyunghwa to find any clues of its past, all the while avoiding assailants. More of the Prisoner's past would be revealed, connecting the Prisoner to the Republicans, a pre-war organization having ties to the federal government of the past. The Republicans wanted to reclaim the former United Republics through conquests with its machine army. The Prisoner was revealed to be an synthetic android created by Republican scientists, its escape planned by the Republicans in order to record any human civilizations contacted into the Republicans' database for its eventual reconquest. The Prisoner has the option of aiding the Gyunghwan Republic in its harsh reclamation or oppose the Republic to let civilization return organically.
 * Rebirth: War (부활: 전쟁; Buhwal: Jeonjang): Released in December 15th, 2004, Rebirth: War was a spin-off title from the Rebirth series, developed by Bomi Labs instead of Sayeo Studios. Rebirth: War also differs from the main games by being a real time strategy game. The game takes place in central Gyunghwa with the discovery of a functional pre-war military facility in Namnan, East Punggaang, drawing attention from the major players. Remnants of the Gyunghwan Republicans, weakened after the events of Rebirth 2, wanted to use the facility to rebuild their fighting capabilities in their eventual return to power. The Guardians planned on salvaging any usable equipment from the facility and to uncover and possibly destroy any doomsday devices hidden in the facilities. Task Force 52, moving westward after much of Mansan incorporated under the Mansan Commonwealth, planned to use the facility as their base of operations and to help out any settlements in East Punggaang with the technologies uncovered from the facility. Players play as a local mercenary titled the Tactician who has the option of joining either of the three factions and must move to bring the preferred faction into control of the facility while facing other factions, hostile raider gangs, and mutants. Rebirth: War was the only game in the series to be given multiplayer support.
 * Rebirth 3 (부활 3; Buhwal 3): Rebirth 3 was released in November 10th, 2015 by Sayeo Studios after over 15 years of hiatus. Rebirth 3 was a complete overhaul from the prior installments, utilizing real time first and third person tactical combat instead of the turned based top down combat of Rebirth 1 and 2 based on the new Jinhwa Engine. Mod support was added to the game along with four story based downloadable contents that added new locations to the game. Rebirth 3 was the first of the Rebirth series to be launched on game consoles alongside mod support through the Muhan Mod Store. Rebirth 3 takes place twenty years after the events of Rebirth 2 and three years after the events of Rebirth: War. The Mansan Commonwealth, emerging as the premier power of region, begins a period of expansion, first expanding south towards Gyerim and then moving west. West of the Commonwealth, the wasteland of North and South Ahngok were conquered by an autocratic regime called the Sun Dynasty. Between the two empires lies an advanced city-state called the Free City of New Jinseong lead by the mysterious Mayor Kim, powered by working pre-war power plants. The protagonist, known as the Caravaneer, must track down an individual named Mako, a raider who attacked the Caraveneer and made off with a valuable item of the Caravaneer. Along the way, the Caravaneer would take in many jobs that could influence the war effort of the Mansan Commonwealth and/or the Sun Dynasty. Once the Caravaneer tracked down Mako, the Caravaneer would be swept into the coming war between the three major factions over the fate of New Jinseong.
 * Rebirth: Evolution (부활: 진화; Buhwal: Jinhwa): Rebirth: Evolution was released in October 11th, 2018 by company 58 Degrees as a 20 year anniversary title since the release of Rebirth. Rebirth: Evolution was to be a remaster of Rebirth 1 and 2 using the Jinhwa engine, aiming to be a ground up overhaul for the original titles to have the same features as Rebirth 3 such as 3d modeling, tactical first and third person combat, a redesigned interface, and mod support.
 * Rebirth 4: The Frontier (부활 4: 국경지방; Buhwal 4: Gukgyeongjibang): Rebirth 4: The Frontier was announced in March 26th at the 2020 Muhan Games Conference. Sayeo Studios community manager Chang Han-saeng mentioned that The Frontier would be running with the improved version of the Jinhwa Engine and mod support would be launched alongside the game on PC and next gen consoles. The Frontier takes place in the ruins of Ansi. The former capital city of the United Republics lies war-torn with much of human civilizations lie underground, too afraid to venture outside. Very few, if any, any settlements in the surface world are at the mercy of dangerous wildlife and the lingering nuclear winter. The city of Ansi was also host to numerous pre-war military and scientific facilities that drew the attention of various factions such as Task Force 52, the Guardians of the Old World, and a clandestine scientific organization called the Foundation. One such facility lies a vast amount of people in cryosleep, however most except one died in their sleep. The Sole Survivor, as nicknamed, was a rarity due to their retained memories and knowledge of the Pre-war world and could affect how civilization returns to Ansi.

Cancelled Games

 * Rebirth Online (부활 온라인; Buhwal Online): Rebirth Online was proposed as a Rebirth-themed massively multiplayer online game developed by Sayeo Studios and 58 Degrees. The game entered development stage in 2007 but the game was ultimately cancelled in 2009 due to heavy gameplay limitations. It was seen to be one of the main reason for the 15 year break between Rebirth 2 and Rebirth 3 by Sayeo Studios. Sayeo Studios community manager Chang Han-saeng in a 2019 interview stated that the team has no interest in restarting work onto Rebirth Online.

Setting
The series is set in a futuristic United Republics in which sci-fi technologies such as directed-energy weapons, advanced robots, power armors, nanotechnology, nuclear-powered cars, and other futuristic technologies are seen commonplace. More than a century before the start of the series, an energy crisis emerged caused by the depletion of petroleum reserves, leading to a period called the Resource War in February 2052. The Resource War was a series of conflicts and events which included a war between the Western Escaric Union and the Socialist States of Escar, the disbanding of the Ordic League, the Valourium invasion of Zusea coupled with a military invasion of Sahil by Yamatai, the Cartageñian-Altiplano Bush War, and the Achto-Gyunghwan War. These eventually culminated in a two hour global nuclear exchange called the "Great War" on the morning of October 15, 2072, Gyunghwa standard time. This subsequently created the setting of Rebirth in the post-apocalyptic United Republics.

Post-war Conditions
After the Great War, Gyunghwa has devolved into a post-apocalyptic environment called "the Wasteland". The Great War and subsequent societal collapse has severely depopulated the country, leaving large expanses of property decaying from neglect. Most water sources are irradiated and most lifeforms have evolved to survive the wasteland. However, some areas were fortunate enough to survive the nuclear apocalypse relatively unscathed and hosted non-mutated floras and faunas.

In Rebirth, most human survivors in Gyunghwa lived underground in the subway. The Nonyeong Subway in Mansan itself was home to hundreds of settlements made up of subway stations and tunnels. Living conditions vary settlement to settlement with wealthier stations and tunnels often having access to the luxuries of pre-war society such as clean running water, public transportation, artificial lighting, and an abundance of proteins while poorer settlements made do with the resources available. Often times, poorer stations band together or appeal to larger stations for trade deals, receiving aid in exchange for sending individuals to work in the wealthier settlements as cheap laborers, indentured servants, to even slaves. Many settlements are usually at the mercy of bandit gangs or hostile faunas with most subway dwellers carry firearms or any means of self defense with them at all time. Most settlements have dedicated border securities made up of professional soldiers, volunteer militias, or conscripts. Humans in the underground have some developmental differences compared with surface dwellers. Natural lights rarely appeared in the subway tunnels and humans entering the surface world were regularly unaccustomed to the sunlight. The Explorer in the first game of the series wore sunglasses for the first half of the game due to life in the subways and would take a hit to perception if the sunglasses were taken off during the day.

In contrast to the bustling and modern settlements underground in, human settlements in the surface world were primitive and most were no bigger than a town. Many human surface dwellers embraced nomadic lifestyle however permanent settlements were not uncommon. Most permanent surface settlements were based around clean water sources and/or fertile hunting grounds. A number of the nomadic groups resorted to raiding and/or offering mercenary services to tribes and settlements. Bartering was the common method of exchange, with military grade rounds being the currency of the surface world.

By the events of Rebirth 2 and afterwards, humans begin to leave the underground and used their advanced technologies to establish large scale cities and even nation-states with the Mansan Commonwealth being the largest of the settlements in the southeast. Communities begin to move away from bartering to adopting paper currencies backed by gold. Civilization was making a rebound in the southeast with technologies being a mixture of 19th to early 21st century.

Robotic technology had flourished in Rebirth with the utilization of drones and sentient robots in military and civilian purposes during the pre-war. Androids are humanoid robots that can be mechanical or biological. Androids were a post-war invention created by the Republicans to bolster their military forces and to use for espionage purpose. Although most Androids were canonically destroyed after the events of Rebirth 2, there are still pockets of android survivors either forming their own communities or hiding in human settlements. Mechanical androids do not at all resemble humans but are more durable than biological androids and humans and are used for heavy lifting. Androids that resemble a human are virtually indistinguishable from natural-born humans down to the cellular level with lab grown bones and tissues; the only way to tell if a human is an android is through a neurological implant that can "reprogram" and manipulate an Android via voice commands. However, the implant can only be found through dissecting an android's body. The Prisoner in Rebirth 2 was revealed to be a biological android due to the reprogramming muttered by one of its assailants in the climax of the game.

Handybots are pre-war multipurpose non-humanoid robots that originally served as robotic servants for wealthy families or as additional auxiliary for army bases. Handybots had four models, each with distinct voice, color schemes, intended role, and attitudes: Butlers, Maids, Sergeants, and Nurses. Handybots have built in personal defense in case of emergencies such as flamethrower and circular saws. Handybots have limited sentience but can be reprogrammed for full sentience to be a contributing member of society.

Reception and Legacy
The Rebirth series has been met with mostly positive reception. Every Rebirth titles with the exception of Rebirth: War garnered several awards and the game series was widely recognized as a Gyunghwan classic.

The success from the series had lead to major fan gathering in social media across gaming and science fiction conventions where it wouldn't be uncommon to see a cosplayers in power armor or in generic post-apocalyptic garbs and armor with iconic in-game brands and symbols such as the Mansan Commonwealth flag or Task Force 52 insignia.

An international fanbase organization called Task Force 52 was formed in April 2007 by Busangese locals Kim Chang-ho and Pako Hong-ju dedicated to the construction and wearing of screen-accurate replicas of combat armors of the various factions in the series from the titular Task Force 52 to the Gyunghwan Republicans, the Steel Guardians, the Mansan Commonwealth, and the Sun Dynasty. Task Force 52 is active in all populated continent with 5,000 members worldwide and engaged in charity and volunteer work.