This review was made possible thanks to a pre-release review code provided by Xbox Game Studios and Oxide Games.
The companies had no input nor saw the contents of this review prior to publication.
What is Ara: History Untold?
This is one farm. Of many. A lot of many.
Strategy gamesare known for deep, overlapping mechanics that require players to strategize and outmaneuver their opponents.
Oxide Games is seeking to innovate in the genre, too, with some new gameplay ideas and systems.
It’s also available through PC Game Pass.
The investment paid off, it seems, as Ara looks and runs great.
When every setting is turned up, though, the game is lovely to behold.
You’re able to zoom in to a ridiculous degree, letting you absorb the world and your contributions.
This is one farm. Of many. A lot of many.
Of course, you’re free to also totally ignore this feature, too.
There’s an original soundtrack as well, and it’s exactly what I expected from a strategy game.
It’s epic and grand, a modern orchestral composition that underlines the progression of history each match.
These soldiers actually accurately represent the units that are a part of the formation, and I’m zoomed in enough that you can see how weird these cities are designed.
The game never crashed, though, and these performance bumps were always incredibly minor.
I didn’t encounter many bugs, either.
The hallmarks of the genre are here: you found cities, which expand across regions that you claim.
Laying siege to a city because they looked at me wrong (I lost this game).
This works through the Prestige system.
Everything you do in Ara adds to or subtracts from your Prestige score.
You’ll gain a little Prestige.
These narrative events change as your nation does, but not so much from game to game.
Start an unprovoked war?
You’ll lose Prestige.
You’ll gain Prestige back.
Being able to watch battles play out in real time is fascinating. It’s fantasized and constrained by the art design, but it’s still a neat addition.
The amounts are dependent on the action or achievement, and it’s all tracked in the Nation Standings.
As a result, my productivity, research capabilities, and commerce skyrocketed.
Everything I’ve talked about so far is where Ara: History Untold excels.
My relationship with my fellow nations essentially amounted to extra research points a turn.
Its strengths rely in the flexibility it affords players, leading to infinitely diverse matches.
However, it’s not perfect.
Your relationships with other nations and tribes are restricted to a group of basic interactions with no real depth.
Here I have zoomed all the way into a stadium.(Image credit: Windows Central)
The first time around.
There’s so much depth everywhere else that the politics and narratives lacking that depth stands out.
Act III also very quickly becomes messy and overwhelming.
And now I’ve zoomed as far out as I can without buildings being unrendered. Can you still spot the stadium?(Image credit: Windows Central)
The biggest reason it’s so annoying to deal with is that food isalwaysyour biggest problem.
When you first start playing, Ara also offers to walk you through a detailed tutorial, too.
you’ve got the option to even customize exactly which nations and leaders you’ll compete against.
There are a lot of leaders in the game at launch, and more are likely on the way.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
Except, Ara is a better game than Civ 6.
I do hope it actuallycomesto Xbox console, though.
Researching new technologies is a staple of the genre, and it’s just as crucial here.(Image credit: Windows Central)
There’s countless hours of strategy fun to be had here, even with a slightly weaker final act.
You have also plenty of options for how to deploy your forces, including keeping armies in reserve until you actually need them.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Here you can see an example of some of the statistics the game provides you for battles.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Humble beginnings, but you’re here to grow this into an empire.(Image credit: Windows Central)
I had already achieved quite the lead this early in my first game, which was on the standard difficulty. There were many tiers above this that provide more of a challenge.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Look at all those farms. Also, look at all these menus! And you can hover over all of it for helpful information.
I only had one city for the entirety of my second game, and by the end it was twice the size of the next largest nation’s cities put together.
