Ara: History Untold
Release Date: September 24, 2024
Strategy, economic, turn-based, 4X, alternative history, Game Pass, singleplayer
OpenCritic
Steam
A 4X turn-based strategy by Oxide Interactive. Ara: History Untold tasks us with leading our chosen nation through different ages, discovering and conquering new territory, developing culturally and technologically, and handling warfare.
Ara: History Untold is a 4X turn-based strategy game by Oxide Interactive. The team was founded by some former employees of Firaxis Games, responsible for the bestselling Civilization series. The developers have previously co-created Ashes of the Singularity and the Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation expansion, as well as proprietary technology used in the Star Swarm tech demo.
Mechanics
Ara: History Untold is a top-down game. The player leads their chosen nation, needing to lead it to a bright future through different ages. We can play as a historical figure, like Safona, Nefertiti or George Washington, or create our own custom leader.
Our main tasks are to discover and capture new territories while acquiring valuable resources. The latter are needed to build structures granting new abilities and strategic bonuses, letting us grow technologically, unlocking new goods, resources and upgrades. We must also take care of art, culture and establish relationships with our neighbors, trading or entering alliances. In case diplomacy fails, we need a powerful army to field. Though the scale of the game is huge, we mustn't forget about individual citizens, all of which have unique personalities and stories.
The game doesn't feature predetermined victory paths, with it being up to us how we'll dominate other nations. Together with procedurally generated maps and challenges, this makes each playthrough different than the last. Speaking of maps - we'll get to conquer tropical jungles, vast deserts, beautiful valleys and towering mountains.
Technical aspects
Ara: History Untold runs on the studio's proprietary Nitrous Engine. Its graphical capabilities are rather impressive, making the maps extremely detailed.
Videos and Screens
[1:02] Ara: History Untold ARA - History Untold - Trailer ¦ gamescom 2024
[7:35] Ara: History Untold Ara: History Untold - Game Overview - Xbox Direct 2024
TheSixthAxis: 8 / 10 by Stefan L
Ara: History Untold is another distinctive take on the historical 4X strategy genre, putting a real emphasis on furthering your nation, managing supply chains and resources, and shifting the focus away from warring mentality it's so easy to sink into. There's room to grow, but this is a strong contender.
IGN: 6 / 10 by Leana Hafer
While Ara: History Untold is a visually captivating historical 4X with an interesting underlying economy, it gets bogged down well before the midway point.
PC Gamer: 70 / 100 by Robert Zak
A beautifully presented and accessible game in a sometimes obscure genre, Ara: History Untold is a pretty picture book rather than a deep tome.
The main pros of the game
- Unique Mechanics: Players appreciate the intricate crafting and economic management systems, which provide a fresh take on the 4X genre, distinguishing it from traditional games like Civilization.
- Visual Appeal: The graphics and map design are often praised for their beauty and detail, creating an engaging visual experience.
- Depth of Strategy: Many users enjoy the depth of gameplay, including the need for careful planning and resource management.
- Developer Engagement: There is a general sense of optimism regarding the developers' responsiveness to player feedback and their commitment to improving the game through updates.
- Challenging Gameplay: The game is noted for its challenging early stages, which some players find rewarding.
The main cons of the game
- Micromanagement: A significant number of reviews highlight the excessive micromanagement required, particularly in the late game, which can lead to a tedious experience.
- Performance Issues: Many users report performance problems, including crashes and poor optimization, even on high-end hardware.
- Balancing Issues: Several players mention unbalanced gameplay, particularly in terms of military units and AI behavior, which can detract from the overall experience.
- Limited Diplomacy and Combat: Players criticize the simplistic diplomatic options and the lack of depth in combat mechanics, making these aspects feel underdeveloped.
The features or elements that are missing from the game according to users
- Quality of Life Improvements: Users express a desire for more automation options to reduce micromanagement, such as bulk updates for buildings and clearer resource management interfaces.
- Enhanced Diplomacy: Many players call for a more robust diplomatic system that allows for deeper interactions and strategies with AI opponents.
- Military Unit Upgrades: There are requests for the ability to upgrade or reorganize military units more effectively, as well as to have units that can evolve over time.
- Expanded Game Content: Some players hope for additional content, such as more civilizations, leaders, and unique characteristics that reflect historical accuracy and diversity.
- Improved Tutorials and Guides: Feedback indicates that the tutorial and in-game help systems could be more comprehensive to assist new players in understanding the complex mechanics.
Summary
- Overall, while "Ara: History Untold" has received praise for its innovative ideas and depth, it faces criticism for its current execution, particularly in terms of micromanagement, performance, and certain gameplay mechanics. Players are hopeful for future updates to address these issues.
Summary generated on:
Ara: History Untold Summary
Platforms:
PC / Windows
Developer: Oxide Interactive
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios / Microsoft Studios
Ara: History Untold System Requirements
PC / Windows
Minimum: Intel Core i5-5300U / AMD Ryzen 5 2400G, 8 GB RAM, graphic card 4 GB GeForce GTX 970 / Radeon RX 480, 50 GB HDD, Windows 10 64-bit
Recommended: Intel Core i5-6400 / AMD Ryzen 5 3600, 16 GB RAM, graphic card 11 GB GeForce GTX 1080 Ti / 8 GB Radeon RX Vega 64, 50 GB HDD, Windows 10/11 64-bit
Civilization 7's situation on Steam remains bad as rivals stay active. One received „divine” expansion, and the other gets features, missing from Firaxis new strategy
Humankind, Old World and Ara: History Untold are unlikely to knock Civilization off the 4X strategy throne (even together). Nonetheless, the recent changes and new features in these titles have won praise from players.
video games
Jacob Blazewicz
March 10, 2025
New 4X Strategy From Civilization Co-creators Has a Release Date. Ara: History Untold Will Focus on Uniqueness
Oxide Interactive studio has revealed the highly anticipated trailer for Ara: History Untold. At the Xbox Developer_Direct, we also learned the release date for this 4X strategy.
video games
Maciej Gaffke
January 18, 2024
First Gameplay From Ara: History Untold; Competitor to Civilization
Ara: History Untold, the debut work of Oxide Interactive, which will compete with the Civilization series and items like Humankind, has lived to see its first gameplay.
video games
Christian Pieniazek
August 22, 2023
Civilization's Rival From Microsoft Delayed
Historical 4X strategy game Ara: History Untold, hailed as a rival to Civilization 6, has suffered a delay.
video games
Hubert Sledziewski
July 31, 2023
Civ 6 Fans Envy Features of New Competitor
Announced the day before yesterday, Ara: History Untold seems to be the next significant competitor to Civilization. The game will offer, among other things, the ability to create your own commander.
video games
Miriam Moszczynska
June 14, 2022