Time capsule - Tzar: Burden of the Crown

Good afternoon, friends,

Sometimes when you are already tired of all the new releases, active shooters, Dota, and survival games, you might delve into your Steam library and find something old yet capable of making your heart beat a little faster. A few days ago, I had that very feeling and decided to play something nostalgic and potentially high quality. In my library, I found and installed a game from my childhood: Tzar: Burden of the Crown. Today, I want to share with you the story of this game and illustrate an example of a great real-time strategy game.

Tzar: Burden of the Crown is a classic real-time strategy game that was released in 2000. Developed by Haemimont Games, it offers a rich medieval fantasy experience, complete with a compelling storyline, intricate gameplay mechanics, and an immersive atmosphere.

Gameplay that takes you away

Let's imagine you're trying Tzar: Burden of the Crown for the first time, having never played it before. How does Tzar welcome you?

Tzar greets you with a classic, top-down camera view typical of real-time strategy games. From the very first 30 seconds, you’ll likely be impressed by the pleasant graphics and the enjoyable soundtrack. Despite being an older game, the visual presentation holds up surprisingly well, with detailed sprites and richly designed environments that create an immersive medieval atmosphere.

Tzar: Burden of the Crown: European city and troops.

The soundtrack, in particular, stands out. In recent times, many new games fail to provide a memorable audio experience, but Tzar's soundtrack is a delightful exception. The music perfectly complements the game’s setting, enhancing the mood and pulling you deeper into the game’s world. In fact, the soundtrack is so captivating that you might even find yourself adding it to your YouTube music playlist.

Tzar features a classic RTS gameplay structure that will feel familiar to fans of the genre. You can choose from three distinct factions: Asian, Arabian, and European. Each nation has unique advantages and disadvantages that shape its playstyle, offering varied strategic options depending on your choice.

Starting Off

At the beginning of each game, you start with a Castle—your main building—and three peasants. The Castle is the heart of your city, and it’s from here that you’ll develop your civilization and expand your empire.

Resource Management

To develop your city, you'll need to gather four key resources: food, stone, wood, and gold. Each resource is essential for building structures, training units, and researching upgrades. Here’s a breakdown of the resource management system:

• Food: Crucial for sustaining your population and training units.
• Stone: Needed for constructing buildings and fortifications.
• Wood: Used for building structures and creating basic units.
• Gold: Essential for advanced units, upgrades, and maintaining your economy.

Building Infrastructure

For efficient resource collection, you can construct special buildings such as warehouses, farms, or lumber mills. These structures not only speed up resource gathering but also provide valuable upgrades to improve your efficiency. It’s important to plan your city layout carefully to minimize travel time for your workers.

• Warehouses: Serve as storage for resources and reduce travel time for resource collection.
• Farms: Produce food continuously, ensuring a stable supply for your population.
• Lumber Mills: Speed up wood gathering and provide upgrades for faster collection.

Tzar: Burden of the Crown: Settlement of your dream.

Resource Limits and Logistics

Unlike food, which is continually produced, other resources like trees, stone, and gold are finite. Each resource point has a limit, and once depleted, it’s gone forever. This adds a strategic layer to the game, as you must constantly seek new resource points to sustain your economy.

Additionally, logistics play a crucial role in Tzar. The distance between resource points and your main buildings affects how quickly resources are transported. To optimize efficiency, you should build multiple resource buildings close to resource points, reducing the travel time for your workers and ensuring a steady flow of materials to your base.

Strategic Considerations

Balancing resource gathering with city expansion and military production is key to success in Tzar. Each faction’s unique strengths and weaknesses will influence your strategy, and adapting to these nuances is essential for mastering the game.

Once you have stabilized your economy and constructed several living houses, it's time to consider expanding your territory. For this, you will need soldiers and war machines. Each nation in Tzar: Burden of the Crown has unique types of warriors and special upgrades available in the blacksmith house, adding depth to your military strategy.

Military Development

To build your army, you will need to create military buildings where you can recruit new soldiers. The types of troops available depend on your chosen faction, with each offering distinctive units and upgrades. What sets Tzar apart is the ability to level up your troops through combat or by training them with training mannequins. As your warriors level up, their health, range, armor, and damage parameters increase, making them more formidable on the battlefield.

Tzar: Burden of the Crown: Battle in the woods.

Types of Units

Each faction has a variety of units, from basic infantry to powerful cavalry and specialized archers. Additionally, factions have unique war machines that can turn the tide of battle. For example:

• Asian Faction: May have fast, light units and powerful ranged attackers.
• Arabian Faction: Could feature swift cavalry and unique siege weapons.
• European Faction: Likely includes heavily armored knights and robust siege engines.

Advanced Military Options

As you progress, you can build a magic tower to access powerful mages and summon fearsome creatures. These magical units can cast spells that can decimate enemy forces or bolster your own, providing a significant advantage in battles.

Blacksmith Upgrades

The blacksmith house offers various upgrades to enhance your units' capabilities. These upgrades can improve your soldiers' armor, weapons, and overall effectiveness in combat. Investing in these enhancements is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge against your adversaries.

Conquering your neighbors

With a well-trained and equipped army, you are ready to conquer neighboring territories. Strategic planning and effective use of your units' strengths are key to success. Whether you prefer to overwhelm your enemies with brute force or employ cunning tactics and magic, Tzar provides a rich and engaging combat experience.

Positive features

Full of Possibilities

Tzar: Burden of the Crown offers a plethora of opportunities to develop your city and army. As you progress, you unlock a wide array of buildings, hidden upgrades, and special functions. You can even conquer the seas by farming fishing spots and building your own fleet.

Tzar: Burden of the Crown: Trainning camp.

Detailed Animations

One of the standout features of Tzar is its great animations. Almost every action is animated with several sprites, providing a realistic and engaging experience. For instance, when a unit dies, its body goes through several stages from fresh to skeletal remains, mimicking real-life decay—a feature rarely seen in modern games. Each unit in the game has a unique fighting style and beautifully crafted animations. My favorites are the Samurais and Asian peasants, who display impressive Kung Fu skills that add a touch of humor to the game. Equally impressive is the horde of black dragons summoned by Asian wizards, offering a visually stunning spectacle. Considering the game was created in 2000, the graphics are soft and remain comparable to those of some modern games.

Campaign and Multiplayer

The campaign mode is well-crafted with an easy-to-understand story and memorable characters. It offers a satisfying experience that can be completed in about one evening, but it's engaging enough to be worth your time.

For those who truly enjoy the game, you can invite friends to join you in multiplayer battles. Remarkably, the multiplayer mode is still functional, allowing for exciting cooperative or competitive gameplay.

Small Minuses

Despite its strengths, Tzar has a few drawbacks:

Lack of Teaching Tips

A significant downside is the lack of in-game tutorials or tips about the mechanics. There's little guidance on how different buildings work or what is needed to unlock certain technologies or special troops. However, this can also be seen as a challenge that encourages players to explore and discover all the game's functionalities on their own.

Interface Limitations

The interface lacks some modern conveniences, such as a 3D camera, descriptions of keyboard shortcuts, and a quick save button. While these omissions don't make the game bad, they do make it harder to navigate and understand, especially for new players. However, this old-school complexity is part of the charm for many hardcore gamers who appreciate the challenge.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Tzar: Burden of the Crown is a rich and engaging strategy game that offers a nostalgic trip back to the early 2000s. Despite its minor shortcomings, it stands out for its depth, animations, and replayability. If you haven't played it yet, it's definitely worth revisiting, and if you're a fan of classic strategy games, you'll find much to love in Tzar. So, dive into your Steam library, give it a try, and enjoy the unique atmosphere and gameplay that this gem has to offer.

Tzar