*The Rebuild Series: By Sarah Northway*

Four-X Zombie survival? Can you even DO that?

Well, if your name happens to be Sarah Northway, yes, yes you CAN! In point of fact, you can base a career on it!

With three titles published in the series so far, and rumors that 4 is on its way, "Rebuild" is quite the series!

The first installment, simply titled "Rebuild" is a fairly nuanced and subtle game already, with a Happiness meter you have to keep up, Food supplies you have to provide, five types of survivors you can recruit, a tech tree, and three separate "Win Conditions".

Rebuild 2 builds on that, with a plot, random events, survivors that can get more skilled during the game, and a selection of equipment. There also is improved photo-realistic art for the survivors. Another major improvement was the introduction of the ability for survivors to learn multiple skills because to quote the legendary Robert A. Heinlein: "Specialization is for insects."

However, Rebuild 2 is not without its flaws. For one thing, scouting a building is no longer a risk, which it obviously would be in a zombie scenario: and the giant graveyard no longer allows you to stop the appearance of zombie-hordes.

Rebuild 3 was a huge step forward in some ways and a huge step back in others. Though survivors can learn multiple skills, they can only develop one at a time. More resources were introduced, but there are fewer items, especially in terms of pets. Speaking of which, they introduced children into the game, but they are treated as a pet type ITEM. Worse, the number of items a person could be equipped with was not increased nearly enough, only a weapon and a non-weapon item: where, in a real zombie situation, most survivors would have probably as many items as a low-level D&D character! Furthermore, I WAS a farm kid, kids can pack heat and haul stuff just like adults, less of it, but they still are an asset as much as a liability if properly trained. (Also, don't give kids guns, it DOES something to you having those around before about 21...) Finally, the photorealistic art is out in Rebuild 3, replaced by this horrible cartoony crap that the fans, by-and-large HATE.

But, enough about what Rebuild 3 did wrong: now for what it does RIGHT!

The big innovation in Rebuild 3 is rival factions. We got a taste of this in rebuild 2 with the Last Judgment Gang and The Granvil Riffs but it was not fully implemented in the game until this new game where rival 'factions' actually build forts of their own in the city, expand them in competition with yours, try to recruit survivors for their own fort, and can send units to attack you!

Another major step forward is that the game now has a full storyline, involving multiple cities, numerous 'factions' and meaningful choices that you have to interact with those factions to bring about.

Now, confession time, I have played through both Rebuild and Rebuild 2 multiple Times, but I have not finished "Rebuild 3: Gangs of Deadsville" (to use its full title), though I have bought it and am playing it. However, my list of grievances with it is quite long enough already, even without the sucker-punch at the end of the first city in the game. (Which I will say nothing further about...)