Ara History Untold 2.0 transforms the historical 4X with culture and influence

As the name suggests, Ara: History Untold 2.0 is a full-scale rebirth for the Civ challenger built by Oxide Games and Xbox Game Studios. The 'Revolutions' update is its biggest since launch, incorporating a full culture system with more than 40 unlockable traits. It also overhauls the way leaders and factions work to make each feel more distinct, and introduces some smart ways to strip out much of the busywork of city micromanagement. If you played Ara at launch, it's a great chance to come back, and if you skipped it originally but are looking for a historical alternative to Civ 7, now's the time to try it.

Ara: History Untold places heavy weight on its historical accuracy, and it dodges the now-standard hex grids that you'll find in many of the best 4X games, giving it a more distinct spin on the formula. Grace handed it a very respectable 8/10 in our Ara review, saying that its compelling one-more-turn loop makes it "frighteningly easy to lose track of time." However, it was missing some of the systems that have become commonplace elsewhere, and this grand overhaul is an attempt to correct for some of the biggest demands from players.

At the top of the list is the introduction of culture and influence. The culture stat can be affected by everything from your leader's traits to city improvements and amenities. Cities will then generate influence based on their culture, and it can be spent on a range of culture-based buffs, of which there are more than 40 to choose from. You're also able to spend influence to expand the size of your territories beyond traditional border limits, allowing you to create sprawls that were previously impossible.

Also making use of your influence is the new Agitator unit. This becomes available in the late-Renaissance era, and your Agitators can be sent into rival regions to stir rebellion and instigate ideological subversion. Alongside this, every civilization now has unique historical forces to better represent their differences, and this is paired with a complete leader rework that gives all of them distinct mechanics, traits, and abilities in a similar manner to the likes of Civ.

Another common complaint was overburdened micromanagement, so the old crafting queue has now been totally scrapped, and replaced with a new 'priority and quota' system. Let the game know what levels you want to stockpile and where it ranks in the overall order of importance, and it'll take care of things. You're able to set precise targets or allow for unlimited production, and can take full control over job states if you want.

Alongside this, Ara 2.0 makes its AI-controlled opponents smarter and more personality-led. Map generation has been ramped up with more "realistic natural resource clustering" and some additional rules to better model real-world historical trade and competition. The engine's also been overhauled for faster turns and lower demands on your CPU, and the menus have been given a fresh look that scales to all manner of display types.

The Ara: History Untold 2.0 update, Revolutions, is out now. You can read through the full changelog courtesy of Oxide Games for a complete list of every single addition and tweak.

Will this overhaul earn Ara a spot as one of the best games like Civilization? Only time will tell, but we've rounded up more of the best turn-based strategy games to give you plenty of choice.

If you're checking out the new update, drop into the PCGamesN community Discord server and let us know what you think of the changes.