Ara: History Untold is one of the most capable turn-based 4X games that has recently attempted to take over Sid Meier’s Civilization, which was once its exclusive domain. As a historical ant farm, at least, the liveliness and attention to detail of its animated towns and cities never cease to delight me. However, it holds us to higher standards as global leaders than Civ ever did, and it does not give us the means to experience what it is like to be king in real life.
Fundamentally, Ara’s perspective on history is not all that dissimilar from that of its 4X ancestors. You race down a tech tree divided into three acts of four eras each, starting from about Neolithic times and following a well-traveled, constricted road primarily centered on Europe and its colonial offshoots. One little wrinkle that I did find interesting is that the ultimate, futuristic period is much more about cybernetics, transhumanism, and general artificial intelligence than it is about space travel, which is, in my opinion, an essential and plausible step on the route ahead of us but is sometimes overlooked in favor of interstellar travel.
Similar to Civ, Ara allows you to choose from various historical figures with a straightforward yet striking 3D appearance. It is a wonderful touch to have some less traditional “rulers” like Copernicus for Poland and Sappho for Greece among well-known figures like Caesar and Shaka Zulu.
However, all of their perks are incredibly passive. None of them is capable of anything that the others are not. Furthermore, no culturally distinct units exist—at least not according to your chosen leader. A few wildcards, such as Berserkers, can be unlocked by constructing a brewery, but anyone who satisfies the requirements can use them. Additionally, there is a system of opposing personality traits that, while it does influence how other leaders will initially regard you diplomatically, may have been fascinating. However, in my opinion, it had little bearing. Additionally, from a balance standpoint, it appears quite odd that some of them only offer a negative modifier with no upside, as the leaders who possess them do not appear to receive anything to make up for this.
Wonderful World
Viewing Ara’s procedurally generated environments is truly captivating. The world appears bigger and more genuine since everything—from buildings to trees—is portrayed at a far lower scale than in previous games of a similar nature. The entire terrain is animated, adding life to every town square, windmill, and even herd of wild animals. To be honest, I like to just pan around and observe my folks as they go about their daily lives.
But it is not all that good. Completely automated road construction often results in these absurd tangles with far too many sharp angles to appear natural. You may argue that the purpose of this is to mimic actual traffic engineering disasters, but in comparison to everything else, it does not seem good.
The fact that there is not much variation in architecture outside of the era is another thing that disappointed me a little. An agricultural or residential neighborhood seems to look roughly the same for any given period, regardless of who created it, at least based on the civics I played. And that notion that your choice of leader is little more than a series of numerical bonuses is only strengthened by this.
To The Strongest
Fighting is alright. Although it is mostly automated, there is some tactical decision-making involved. You can choose units in a rock-paper-scissors fashion and unlock formations that can grant you small benefits depending on the kinds of troops you have access to. The first few times you see an engagement play out in full 3D, it is exciting to watch as hundreds of troops may battle, but these animations are not very dynamic, thus I quickly lost interest in them.
Additionally, Ara has a knockout mechanism, which is something I usually dislike. The ones with the least amount of Prestige—your total score based on everything from military wins to population size—are taken off the map and their cities turn into explorable ruins once a specific number of players have reached Ages 5 and 9.
It is wonderful that human players can disable this feature. However, it never really made sense to me that the diplomatic nuance of a broader ensemble would be lost by condensing the latter eras to a small number of superpowers. Eight players advance to Act 2 in a 12-player game, and five players continue to compete for the top slot in Act 3. The second time it occurs, vibrant cities of the Enlightenment disappearing overnight is just as strange.
In a game like this, diplomacy is as simple as it can get: you may open borders, declare war, send gifts, form alliances, and conduct research agreements. When you do not have access to a resource you need for a higher-tier building early in the game, trade can be helpful. However, you must make a significant investment in it to have enough merchant capacity later on to even begin to reduce your goods deficit.
Additionally forgettable are advisers, advisers’ faith, and the government. It is just stacking more numerical modifiers, similar to leader choice. Usually, they do not open up new playstyles or approaches to difficulties. They merely improve your performance on tasks that you could perform anyhow by a small amount.
Verdict
Ara: History Untold is a visually stunning historical 4X with intriguing underlying economics, but it bogs down well before the halfway mark. This is primarily due to the lack of sufficient UI assistance and tools to do what it expects you to handle. Apart from the map’s layout, most playthroughs will feel very much the same regardless of your choice of leader, religion, and government, which almost always only add boring passive modifiers. My March through the Ages was enjoyable, particularly the first of its three acts. However, I had to eventually give up on trying to play as well as I could have, passing turns till I won without doing anything. Many of these systems are cleverly designed and engaging, but after a while, they become tedious to interact with.
