One can describe Tzar as a mix between Age of Empires, WarCraft II, and Seven Kingdoms. Tzar's battle system is simple like WarCraft II, and the units can gain levels like Seven Kingdoms. Researching technology, upgrading units, and gathering resources like food, wood, stone, and gold is very much like Age of Empires II. Tzar is another one of those RTS games that take place in Medieval-like time. Don't think this is just a mere 'WarCraft clone'. Although it may lack some originality, Tzar has several aspects that cause it to give a unique experience.

There are three unique cultures to choose from in Tzar - the Arabians, the Asians, and the Europeans. Each of these groups has their own unique units, attributes, strengths and weaknesses, and even their own unique architecture.

The battle system in Tzar is much like WarCraft II. It is a simple point-and-click system. Tzar has several role-playing attributes. Most of the units are capable of picking up items and gaining levels. Like most other RTS, in Tzar, the player can simply build up a massive army and overrun the enemy, but powerful magic and religion can be used to even out the odds. Each culture has different magic spells; summon spells, and religious attributes. The Arabians can summon jinnis, the Asians can summon dragons, and the Europeans can summon bats and golems.

The campaign games are very well done. The campaign has some attributes of an RPG. It is not like the WarCraft campaign scenarios where you kill-everything-you-see-then-end-of-story. The campaign scenarios are more in-depth. Some of the units may interact with one another. The conversations, of course, are meant to direct the player where to go or what to do. The players are also capable of creating and customizing their own campaigns.

The music of the game is a little crappy, but the scenario editor allows the player to customize the music by importing other MIDI files into the scenario. The sound effects of Tzar are pretty good. Players may find the loud, painful sounding death cries appealing. The character portraits are very crappy (Sartor, the character the player plays in the built-in campaign, has a head that is shaped like an onion with a turban on top) and the artwork for the game isn't good either.

Tzar has several other flaws in its design. The level-gaining system can make units far too strong to the point where one solitary unit can turn an entire enemy nation into rubble. The Arabians have a special Magic Workshop that can create special artifacts and potions to increase the attributes of units, but the potions are so cheap to purchase that the player can simply buy super-powerful items and make their units practically invulnerable.

Despite its flaws and low-tech design, Tzar still is a well-rounded RTS. Although it may seem outdated, one should never judge a game simply by its graphics. Tzar may be another 'WarCraft II clone', but it certainly is a fairly decent one. After all, it was a best-seller in Russia and Bulgaria.

· · · Kane