Ara: History Untold Review (Xbox for PC)

Following the release of Age of Mythology: Retold earlier this month, the Microsoft-published simultaneous turn-based “historical grand strategy” game Ara: History Untold has now arrived exclusively for PC under the Xbox Game Studios label. This isn’t exactly your average take on history – blending all sorts of histories, influential figures and countries together, with non-linear tech trees, no pre-set paths to victory and what the US developer Oxide Games (comprised of former talent from Civilization team Firaxis) describes as a gameplay experience that leads to “endless possibilities”.

After a stunning opening cinematic filled with a canvas of history, you’re met with the main menu which is comprised of single and multiplayer modes. Outside of multiplayer, which supports options for 1 – 36 players (as well as AI) and also includes “cloud-backed synchronous/asynchronous” gameplay, single-player is where you’ll want to get started.

You’ll begin by picking an influential figure from a list of more 36 leaders (if you include the digital and premium edition leaders). This includes prominent individuals like Jennene d’Arc, Elizabeth I, George Washington and Genghis Khan. These leaders specialise in all sorts of fields and there’s a good selection on offer. It’s not all just wartime and political figures either, with Ara recognising experts in medical fields, religious leaders, science and even prominent figures who dabbled in the arts and culture, etching themselves into history with landmark discoveries, revolutionary philosophies and creations. This character menu is all supported by a narrator sharing a brief history of each individual, and once you've picked someone, you set up your game (including the settings, map options, difficulty and nations) and launch into it to forge your legacy.

Ara comes with a comprehensive built-in tutorial, so newcomers are taught how to play on the fly and are given some tips on what to do at different phases of the game with the help of a detailed encarta. If you are new to this type of experience, be warned there’s a lot to take in and learn, and the only way to really understand how to reign over your empire is to absorb every detail you can.

The primary objective is to build your nation’s prestige – with the most prestige leading to victory. There are a handful of ways to earn prestige, including war (military), scientific and medical advancements, or a focus on fields like commerce, government, industry, culture, religion or global impact. How you earn prestige all depends on how you decide to rule. You can go to war with another nation, or you can manage any diplomatic relations in a more peaceful manner – offering up gifts, opening trading routes with other nations, forming alliances and more (again, these pathways will all earn you prestige). There’s plenty of choice and enough random scenarios thrown in each game (where you’ll have to make decisions and actions resulting in all sorts of reactions) to keep each turn exciting.

As you evolve as a nation, you’ll work your way through different ages like the Bronze Age, unlocking new units, Paragons ("which have powerful abilities to help your nation thrive"), open new construction options which can help build your civilization, economy, improve your defense, agriculture, science and even construct famous landmarks to show your success as a country. You’ll work your way through each age and act, researching and unlocking different fields, governing your cities, expanding your borders, all while managing the evolving world around you. It's a rinse-repeat cycle and it’s honestly hard to step away from the game at times when the next turn is just a click away.

In our sessions we had all sorts of scenarios unfold. In one case, as France, we declared war with Poland early on, won some battles, and later down the line the same nation returned, asking for an end to the conflict and we eventually provided some aid. Our relations with another country (the Celts) got off to a bumpy start, but in the end they also called on support. And meanwhile we had some other nations, like Italy, who we maintained healthy relations with throughout history, and eventually offered us insights on how to advance certain fields and technologies. In between all of this, we were micro-managing smaller disputes and offering our advice on other conflicts. This really is just an incredibly small slice of the kind of worldly encounters you’ll experience in Ara.

This is all wrapped up in a detailed UI and overlay which is filled with building scenario options, unit orders and research fields. Again, it's going to be quite an overload at a glance, but the more time you spend with Ara: History Untold, the more these same menus become second nature, with navigation and the understanding of how the mechanics work becoming a lot easier. As you progress in each game, your map will also grow in scale, with the fog of war lifting. The colourful graphics and ability to zoom in on your city and landmarks also add to the worldbuilding.

As for the future of Ara, it will be interesting to see how it evolves post-launch, with the developer making it clear there’ll be no microtransactions, but some additional content could perhaps add some extra value to the experience. As for an Xbox release, while it might not be a thing right now, it will be coming to the Series X|S at some point after launch.