FINALLY! After all these years, one of my favourite games has finally been unearthed from the Underworld and can be enjoyed by all once again! As a Bulgarian, I am always immensely proud that this game exists, as it's arguably the greatest my country has ever produced. If you wanna know if it's worth a try, the short answer is absolutely yes! Just set your expectations accordingly as this is an unremastered untouched game that is practically a quarter of a century old at this point. Still, the crown of Tzar shines brightly to this very day! I strongly believe it's one of the greatest RTS games of all time! The stupidest thing you can say about Tzar is that it's an Age of Empires rip-off! Yes, the two games are similar in their core gameplay of being classic strategy games with a medieval setting. However, I've played both extensively and can tell you, they are very different and there are many things that set Tzar apart from any similar game. While AOE has many many factions with mostly minor differences between them in the form of Civ bonuses, different tech trees and unique units, Tzar has only 3 factions but each is vastly different from the rest. All of them offer a lot of interesting and varied units, stuctural differences and tactics. Each has unique strengths and weaknesses and fully embodies their respective culture - European, Asian and Arabic - both tactically and culturally. I also love how the game doesn't pull punches at all. Yeah, the Arabs have jihad and literal slavery as upgrades, what of it? It's historically accurate! Where Tzar starts to really set itself apart, especially from pre-Mythology AOE, is with it's heavier focus on fantasy! Yes, the units and structures are mostly historically accurate, but each faction also has a Mage Tower that produces literal wizards! Said wizards can cast all kinds of spells such as shooting lighting, shooting fireballs, summoning meteor showers, freezing enemies, turning enemies to stone, forcing enemy forces to turn on each other or even resurrecting the dead! By far their coolest powers are that they can summon various culturally relevant mythological creatures such as flying fire breathing dragons, stone giants, genies, flying carpets, vampire bats and more. There's also magic portals scattered around the maps and when captured, they allow you to spawn various fantasy races such as orcs and dwarves or undead minions like skeletons and ghosts! Some factions have access to alchemy, which allows you to craft special magical items! There is so much more here that is unheard of in an otherwise classic medieval RTS. Beyond all that, there are so many more mechanics too! Each faction has a deep upgrade system for improving units. Priests have various support and utility powers that they can offer that also differ between factions. Most importantly of all I would say are all the RPG elements introduced within the RTS framework! First of all, this Bulgarian game was the first RTS ever to have a full leveling system, two full years before Warcraft III had it! There's upgrades for this leveling and it allows units to become so much more than just numbers on the field. As mentioned, various units have different abilities to use. The wizards even have a mana pool! If all of that weren't enough, there's also special magic items scattered around the map, such as weapons that boost a unit's attack or defense stats, potions that grant temporary bonuses or spellbooks that allow any unit to use various spells for a limited time. I swear, you could've made DotA several years early in this game and it might've had more tactical variety. Even as is, there is so much utility here that adds layers upon layers on the tactical complexity. Overall, while the game isn't perfect in terms of balance and content, it is incredibly deep in the tactical department and there's so many layers to behold. For a seasoned RTS player, if you've never checked this game out, do it! I strongly believe you'll be impressed with how much there is to it, especially given how old it is. It's also really pleasant to be in with its beautifully rendered sprites, great animations, fun sound effects and even some features that were quite rare for the time like a full day/night cycle and weather simulation! If nothing else, you can just clash swords and sling spells with bots while you listen to the absolutely GODLY soundtrack. If in recent years you've also gotten into dungeon synth, then you'll love it as this is exactly the kind of archaic fantasy PC game that dungeon synth is trying to emulate. While those are the new age legacy, this is the genuine article, the original (HINT: If you also have the glitch where only the first song loops, try this fix, it solved it for me: https://steamcommunity.com/app/825730/discussions/0/3195801484951422085/ ) In conclusion, I am just overjoyed to have Tzar back in my hands. In the year of our lord 2024, I finally have C&C Red Alert 2, Age of Empires II and Tzar together in my collection once again. The Holy Trinity that introduced me to the RTS genre and made it my favourite to this day. The legacy of my childhood finally restored and complete. Tzar is an old game and it plays as such, so be prepared to maybe have to tinker with some game files to get it all running. You'll need GameRanger or similar if you intend to ever play multiplayer. But at the end of the day, this is still an amazing RTS that holds up really well. Controls are pretty smooth, pathfinding is comparatively good, the sprite graphics still look awesome and are easy to read and the gameplay is deep, intricate and strategic, offering endless tactical opportunities. The random maps offer infinite replayability. The soundtrack is also an absolute masterpiece. This is the little Bulgarian game that could. The one that can stand up to the titans of EA, Microsoft and Blizzard and actually hold its ground firmly! Come and give it a go! The crown is yours if you have the power to hold on to it! P.S. Върнете ни българския език! И направо дайте един заслужен ремастър като сте почнали!
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