Ara: History Untold Game Review – Complex but Rewarding
fortressofsolitude.co.zaFans of 4X games (Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate) have regularly been blessed with newly released titles. One or two games launched annually provide ample choice for genre fans. Another title added to the list is Ara: History Untold. It’s a game dedicated to the fans, but how does it hold up, and is it worth a try for newbies or those novices amongst us?
Jumping straight into Ara: History Untold, you can choose your faction to play as and whether you’d want to commence with a tutorial. The tutorial isn’t one of those one-off, short tasks where things are simplified to assist in picking up the basics. Instead, you’re thrust into the game with a few hints and tasks on-screen to help you progress in the early game. You can keep this on or hide the menu as you gain confidence.
On the whole, the game and its objectives are pretty straightforward. You choose a civilisation to lead and play through an alternative version of history, where various nations of a similar timeframe build their nations alongside you in a race to the top of the leaderboard. As a South African, it was almost inevitable that I would go with the Zulu nation as my first attempt.
Along this journey, you’ll be presented with many upgrades, such as reaching new eras as you expand, building new cities in various regions across the map, and allying with or attempting to destroy your neighbours. While the early game is relatively simple, where you can simply exist in your bubble, your journey would inevitably lead to war.
As with most 4X games, you’re tasked with establishing your city (before it becomes a kingdom or fully-fledged nation), expanding its borders, gathering resources and exploring the far ends of the map. However, unlike other titles that have your world split into slices of hexagons, Ara: History Untold features a more creative, region-based expanse system. Here, each neighbouring region is split into different resources, each having two to five zones. These zones allow players to
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