Summary
WhileCivilization 7may or may not arrive this year, it has a potential major competitor in the upcomingAra: History Untold. Developed by Oxide Games, a studio founded by former Firaxis developers,Arais not the first game to step forward to challengeCiv’s dominance in the tun-based 4X genre. However, whileCivilizationundoubtedly inspired it,History Untoldshakes up the formula in several important ways.
One of thenew ideas inAra: History Untoldis the game’s Prestige system. The player’s goal inArais to build the most influential civilization of all time, but there are many paths to achieving that. UnlikeCiv, where there is a list of specific victory conditions, victory inArarequires the player to build up a score called Prestige. However, some fans might not be clear on what Prestige actually is.
Prestige in Ara: History Untold
Oxide spoke briefly aboutAra: History Untold’s Prestige system during theXbox Developer Direct on January 18. As Design Director Michelle Menard explained, Oxide’s design philosophy can be summed up as “Rule how you want to rule.”Araencourages players to do that by awarding them Prestige points for a wide range of actions. This allows players to play however they want while progressing towards victory instead of building their playstyle around predetermined objectives.
Gaining and Losing Prestige
Oxide’sAra: History Untolddivides Prestige into seven categories: Commerce, Culture, Government, Industry, Military, Religion, and Science. Players earn Prestige in each category, which contributes to their total Prestige. While there are still a few things that Oxide hasn’t explained about Prestige, the studio has given a general idea of what each category means.
Some of these requirements are self-explanatory, though others require further explanation. Quests, for example, are optional objectives that players get starting in the Middle Ages. Triumphs, meanwhile, areAra’s equivalent of Wonders, while Masterpieces are probably its answer toCivilization 6’s Great Works. However, fans haven’t revealed exactly how players go about collecting them. The same goes for Golden Ages, which sounds a lot like themechanic fromCiv 6’sRise and FallDLC, but Oxide hasn’t explained exactly how they work inAra: History Untold.
It’s also possible to lose PrestigeinAra: History Untold. The gameplay trailer from August 2023 included a brief look at warfare. This includes the detail that declaring war costs a small amount of Prestige. It also appears that failing a Quest might incur a Prestige penalty. Presumably, losing wars and other failures might also cost Prestige, though Oxide hasn’t clarified whether that’s the case.
Prestige Decides Who Wins and Loses in Ara: History Untold
The Prestige system is also crucial to winning the game, thanks toAra’sthree-act structure.
At the end of each Act, the game ranks civilizations in four tiers based on their Prestige. Civilizations in the lowest tier are considered Forgotten and eliminated from the game. Their empire falls into ruins for other players to claim and pick over. This turnsArainto what Oxide calls a “historical battle royale.”
However, winning does not necessarily mean being the last player standing. Instead, Act 3 will introduce various challenges to test the player’s strategy. These include new quests starting in the Industrial Revolution and various crises that will emerge as players get closer to the end of the game. Navigating them will help players achieve victory inOxide Games’Ara: History Untold. Oxide Games hasn’t detailed what those late-game challenges are or explained the specifics of how victory works. However, Prestige will be the deciding factor in winning the game.
Sid Meier’s Civilization 6
WHERE TO PLAY
Civilization VIoffers new ways to engage with your world: cities now physically expand across the map, active research in technology and culture unlocks new potential, and competing leaders will pursue their own agendas based on their historical traits as you race for one of five ways to achieve victory in the game.Expansive empiresSee the marvels of your empire spread across the map like never before. Each district, wonder, and improvement is built on its own hex, allowing you to customize your city to your heart’s content. From the Commercial Hub to the Spaceport, every district provides unique and powerful bonuses. Pick and choose which districts to build to fit your needs! Build better than your opponents, place yourself strategically for your allies, and become the best civilization on Earth.Active ResearchBoost your civilization’s progress through history to unlock powerful bonuses before anyone else! To advance more quickly, use your units to actively explore, develop your environment, and discover new cultures. Research isn’t just limited to science. Explore the Civics tree to unlock powerful new governments and cultural policies Cultivate the civilization that fits your playstyle, or switch it up every time you play!Dynamic diplomacyAs the game progresses, so do your diplomatic relationships. From primitive first interactions where conflict is a fact of life, to late game alliances and negotiations. Carry influence with nearby city states to gain its diplomatic allegiance and earn game-changing city-state bonuses. Enlist spies to gather crucial intel on rival civilizations, steal precious resources, and even topple governments.
