Tzar: The Burden of the Crown
| Tzar: The Burden of the Crown | |
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| Developer(s) | Haemimont Games |
| Publisher(s) |
Take-Two Interactive FX Interactive (Italy and Spain) |
| Designer(s) | Vesselin Handjiev |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release date(s) | March 31, 2000 |
| Genre(s) | Real-time strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single player multiplayer |
Tzar: The Burden of the Crown is a real-time strategy game for the PC published by Take-Two Interactive and developed by the Bulgarian game developer company Haemimont Games. It was released March 31, 2000. The game was met with moderate success; however, it got mild recognition and audience when it was published as a demo in several gaming magazines.
Gameplay
The gameplay is set in a fictional medieval age. The game is a basic real time strategy game that resembles Age of Empires. The basic goal is to conquer the neighbouring kingdoms and destroy all traces of them, or destroy their castles, depending on selected playing mode. There are many different buildings and characters you can produce, each depending on which of the 3 races you choose to be: European, Asian or Arabian. The main differences are the types of special buildings available, and the types of troops you can make.
There is also a campaign option for single players in which the player must complete specific goals, such as destroying an enemy force, or protecting a citadel from attack. The campaign has a total of 20 missions.
The game also includes a map editor where players can create their own map to play on with strategic rivers, forests, and resources to build their armies with.
The game is best known for the first ever implementation of a full experience system for every unit in a RTS game. The game doesn't have the commonly known system of Warcraft III for heroes but still every unit has the potential to reach level twelve and thus gaining a heroic status. There is no limit of the "hero" units a player can have, as long as they can keep them alive.
The game was considered by Linux Game Publishing to be ported to Linux, it was however rejected due to concerns within the company about its game-play and after hearing negative comments about the game from the Linux gaming community.[1]
Story/Plot
The kingdom of Keanor is under attack by dark forces and much lie in ruins. The old king has died and the son Prince Sartor's whereabouts are unknown.
Sartor is raised as a lumberjack in a village, unaware of his royal lineage as Prince. One day, mercenaries seeking Sartor raid the village, killing his uncle. A wizard named Ghiron arrives in time and saves him, revealing his royal lineage and promises to help restore the kingdom to it's previous glory. Ghiron takes him to find allies, such as his father's guard captain Woolin. They save the capitol from being completely destroyed. The trio seek more and more allies, growing enough to be confident in the final battle. Having enough resources, they lead massive armies against the Messiah of Evil, the manifestation of evil on Earth.
Sartor slowly gains allies. He travels far and wide to find people. He finds allies in the Asians on a far northern continent and finds favor when he kills their old time foes. Sartor soon finds Arabian allies on a far continent. He gets taken prisoner one time and his allies break him out of his imprisonment. Eventually, he gets the confidence and his allies to find the final allies.
In the end, the now-King Sartor leads his army to defeat the Messiah of Evil and his city in one large battle. In the end, recognizes that evil shall alwayss remain.
References
External links
- Tzar: The Burden of the Crown official website
- Tzar: The Burden of the Crown at GameSpot
- The Tzar: Burden of the Crown at MobyGames
- Unnofficial fansite with the full-scale list of other Tzar-related websites
- Buy Tzar: TBotC from GOG.com
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