Tzar: The Burden of the Crown

Taking the skewed isometric fantasy world of WarCraft II and the fourway resource management of Age Of Empires, Tzar: The Burden Of The Crown comes across immediately as the mewling offspring of a drunken union between the two games - as if each one, through beer goggles clouded with lust, had copped off at a party.

The thing with Tzar is that although it's a perfectly playable real-time strategy game, the thought continually crosses your mind that what you really should be doing is playing Age Of Empires II. Let's do the math: /tgehas 12 races to choose from, Tzar has three. Both games have the same four resources to collect (stone, gold, wood and grub) and roughly the same units (villagers, knights, cavalry, siege engines, etc). Where the games differ is that while Tzar has a fair old stab at injecting RPG elements and magic, Age has that quality feel, is packed with features and perfectly balanced.

Why have cotton when you can have silk? Well the graphics, animation, story and AI are all better in Age Of Empires II, but what Tzar lacks in the feel of its cloth, it almost makes up in charm. The single-player campaign may be twee, girly bollocks, but the huge skirmish maps offer many a burly battle. Tzar is an enjoyable game, not the best by any means, but a pleasing fantasy romp all the same.