Civilization heats the minds of many players. But the most exciting competitor will appear at the end of September on Steam and in Game Pass.
At gamescom 2024, Civilization VII finally presented new information, but few players seemed excited. Because Civ VII completely overhauls many features and entirely removes others. And not all players are pleased with this.
However, in just a few weeks, a new strategy game called Ara: History Untold will be released. The game will launch on Steam and in Game Pass on September 24. And this could be a real Civ-killer and a successful alternative for many disappointed players.
Global strategy with simultaneous turns and beautiful graphics
Ara: History Untold is a global turn-based strategy game and is inspired by other titles like Civilization, Humankind, Old World, and similar games.
The developer behind the game is Oxide Games, known for their first game “Ashes of the Singularity.” The engine from “Ashes of the Singularity” is also used in Ara: History Untold.
What is Ara: History Untold? In Ara: History Untold, you choose a nation from various options, build cities, gather resources, and progress through different ages. In doing so, you can build world wonders or wage wars against other nations.
This initially sounds very much like Civilization, but Ara: History Untold also brings its own ideas. A few more subtle differences are:
- You don’t move over hex tiles, but move over dynamic polygons. This is intended to reduce micro-management as the areas are larger.
- The game also features simultaneous turns: All players set all actions simultaneously and then end their turn. Only then are all your actions executed at the same time. This is meant to make multiplayer games run faster.
- Research is always chosen from random cards and not from a fixed tech tree. This is reminiscent of the game Old World, which also relies on randomness in research.
You can initiate battles, but they will then automatically take place over several rounds without your influence. This may be too little for some of you strategists. But we’ll have to see in practice how well the combat system ultimately works.
Additionally, a unique aspect is that you collect prestige throughout the game. If you do not have enough, the game may end after the first age. According to the developer, this is meant to prevent players from continuing to play for hours when they have no chance anymore.
What else stands out? The graphics and design are very detailed. While Civilization has been treading water for 8 years and serves you the same graphics from part 6 again in Civ VII, Ara: History Untold features many fine details: You can zoom in and watch your population work. The game also seems significantly more mature than the colorful, playful comic look of Civilization 6 and 7.
Can you watch any gameplay somewhere? Yes, you can already check out gameplay on YouTube. The German YouTuber Gaius Julius Caesar has recorded about 40 minutes of gameplay. Here, you can also see how he manages his cities, defeats an opposing tribal village, and explores the map. Much of this, such as districts and training specialists, feels very familiar:
More strategy games: Are you looking for more alternatives or simply searching for the next hit for your game collection? MeinMMO presents the best games in the genres of real-time strategy, turn-based strategy, and 4X that you can play on PC in 2024: The 15 best strategy games for PC 2024
