When I first launched Ara: History Untold, I was immediately struck by the beauty of its procedurally-generated worlds that reminded me of the Total War games. It was a new, yet familiar world, filled with vibrant and detailed landscapes, most of which were covered by a fog of war. As someone who has always loved strategy games, I was eager to see how Ara would differentiate itself from other games in the genre, like Civilization and Humankind.

From Ancient Origins to a Futuristic World in Ara: History Untold

The goal in Ara: History Untold is to lead your own civilization through different historical periods, starting from the Neolithic, and become the most successful one in the world. This involves gathering prestige, researching new technologies, expanding your empire, and defeating rival competitors. The game’s final era is a futuristic one, which has never been treated in other 4X titles. Not only is it more relevant to our times, dealing with AI, transhumanism, and cybernetics, but it also allows you to see the result of all your economic, political, and military choices.

A Multi-cultural Roster of Leaders

One of the most impressive features of Ara: History Untold is the roster of 41 different cultures, each one with unique leaders ranging from well-known historical figures, like Charlemagne, Jeanne d’Arc, Elizabeth I, Boudicca, and others, to less-known personalities. Each leader has a different set of abilities that adds more depth to your strategy and encourages you to try different cultures. Each era brings new opportunities and technologies, as well as more challenges.

At the end of each act (composed of four eras), the leader with the lowest amount of prestige is eliminated, so it’s always important to avoid being the last one. Prestige is needed to win the game and can be earned in many ways, such as through commerce, military, religion, culture, and more. Throughout the game, it is also possible to complete minor objectives that can help gather prestige more quickly. The tutorial will help you take the first steps and learn the basic concepts, but Ara: History Untold is such a complex game that requires many hours of success and failure to be fully understood.

Making history

Contrary to other 4X games, Ara is more focused on economic and diplomatic strategies, while offering few military options to avoid being crushed by rival countries. Building armies is always important and, depending on your strategy, it might be an effective way to expand your empire and conquer rival nations by force. However, it is not the easiest route, and the game certainly has more depth in its economic and resource management aspects.

Diplomacy is another important gameplay aspect. Each action has an impact on your relationship with other leaders, and it’s very easy to be friends with everyone (except those you are fighting against), with very little effort required to fulfill their demands. Trade agreements, alliances, and cultural exchanges are crucial for your growth, and many times war can be avoided by trying a more peaceful and diplomatic approach. Your empire and your people’s survival are the key to success, and every decision you make will affect them.

Visually speaking, Ara: History Untold is simply stunning. The attention to detail in the world is impressive, especially when you zoom in and you can see the animated cities with their bustling streets and inhabitants. The user interface is very clean and comfortable to navigate, while the performance on PC is generally great and without major bugs. Despite its strengths, the game doesn’t come without flaws. The enemy AI can often be very predictable, lacking the challenge needed in 4X games. Additionally, the game’s focus on micro-management can become tedious later in the game when your empire gets bigger and it becomes more difficult to keep an eye on everything.

While it doesn’t reinvent the genre, Ara: History Untold is a brilliant and well-polished 4X game. Those who have previously played Humankind or any Civilization game will feel immediately comfortable. There is always much do to in the game and the replayability is huge, considering there are 41 different cultures and the map is procedurally generated each time you start a new campaign. Ara is also a fantastic choice for live streaming if you have built an audience passionate about 4X games, so you can discuss the best strategy for victory with your viewers and see the impact of your actions in the game’s world.

STREAMER SCORE

Ara: History Untold (PC) - 2024

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4.3

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Summary

Ara: History Untold offers a fresh take on the historical 4X genre. The big roster of leaders and its focus on economic and diplomatic strategies set it apart from other similar games. While some areas could be improved, such as AI behavior and the micro-management aspect, it’s a fantastic choice for strategy enthusiasts and newcomers who can find themselves captivated by the different historical periods.