Ara: History Untold 2.0 marks a significant relaunch for this ambitious historical 4X strategy game, developed by Oxide Games and Xbox Game Studios. Dubbed the ‘Revolutions’ update, it’s the most substantial content drop since the game’s initial release. Key additions include a comprehensive culture system featuring over 40 unique unlockable traits, a complete revamp of leader and faction mechanics to ensure greater distinctiveness, and innovative solutions designed to reduce the often tedious aspects of city micromanagement. This update presents a perfect opportunity for original players to revisit the game and an ideal entry point for anyone seeking a robust historical strategy experience.
Known for its strong emphasis on historical accuracy, Ara: History Untold deviates from the typical hex-grid design common in many top 4X titles, offering a unique twist on the genre. While critically praised for its addictive “one-more-turn” gameplay, the initial release was noted for lacking certain features prevalent in other games. This extensive ‘Revolutions’ overhaul directly addresses significant player feedback and introduces those much-desired systems.
A video showcasing the new ‘Revolutions’ update is available, highlighting many of the features discussed here.
Foremost among the new additions are the intertwined systems of culture and influence. A city’s culture stat is now impacted by a wide array of factors, including your chosen leader’s traits, various city improvements, and amenities. In turn, cities generate influence based on their culture, which can then be invested into over 40 distinct culture-based buffs. Players can also utilize influence to expand their territorial boundaries beyond conventional limits, facilitating the creation of sprawling empires in ways not previously possible.
The new Agitator unit, available from the late-Renaissance era, is another powerful way to leverage influence. These units can be deployed into rival territories to incite unrest and spread ideological subversion. Furthermore, each civilization now boasts unique historical military forces, emphasizing their distinct identities. This is complemented by a comprehensive leader overhaul, granting every leader unique mechanics, traits, and abilities, reminiscent of well-known strategy games.
Addressing player concerns about excessive micromanagement, the traditional crafting queue has been entirely replaced by an intuitive ‘priority and quota’ system. Players can now simply set desired stockpile levels and production priorities, and the game will intelligently manage resource allocation. Options allow for setting precise targets or unlimited production, with the flexibility to assume full manual control over job assignments if preferred.
Beyond gameplay mechanics, Ara 2.0 introduces significantly smarter and more personality-driven AI opponents. Map generation has been enhanced to include more realistic natural resource clustering and new rules that better simulate historical trade and competition. The game engine itself has received an overhaul, resulting in faster turn processing and reduced CPU load, alongside a modernized, scalable menu interface.
The Ara: History Untold 2.0 ‘Revolutions’ update is available now. Full details of all additions and tweaks can be found in the comprehensive changelog provided by Oxide Games.
This significant overhaul aims to solidify Ara’s position among the premier historical strategy games. If you’re exploring the new update, we encourage you to share your thoughts and experiences.