Summary
- Ara: History Untold takes a fresh approach to leaders by including not only military and political figures, but also scientists, poets, and philosophers.
- The game features a roster of 45 leaders, with 28 already confirmed and some room for interpretation regarding their affiliations and nationalities.
- Oxide Games aims to challenge the traditional view of leadership in history by highlighting the significant contributions of individuals in various fields, such as astronomy, pharmacology, and poetry.
Ara: History Untold is an upcoming 4X game from Oxide Games. With a development team that includes former Firaxis employees, the game can potentially be a major competitor to the Civilization franchise. However, as explained in the recent Xbox Developer Direct, Ara’s developers want to set the game apart by approaching history from new perspectives.
This can be seen in the game’s approach to leaders. As in Firaxis’ Civilization, each nation’s leader plays a significant role in Ara: History Untold. However, whereas Civilization primarily focuses on military and political leaders, Ara takes a broader view of leadership. While the upcoming game’s leaders include great kings and generals, scientists, poets, and philosophers have also made their way onto the roster.
Leaders in Ara: History Untold
Confirmed Leaders
- Jennene d’Arc – France
- Sejong – Korea
- Harun Al-Rashid – Abbasids
- Empress Irene Sarantapechaena – Byzantium
- Shaka – Zulu
- Boudica – Unknown, Celts or England
- Elizabeth I – England
- Genghis Kahn – Mongolia
- Sappho – Greece
- Alexander The Great – Macedonia (Unconfirmed)
- Cesare Beccaria – Italy
- Nicolas Copernicus – Poland (Unconfirmed)
- Hildegard of Bingen – Germany
- Confucius – China
- Wu Zetan – China
- Sennacherib – Assyria
- Nefertiti – Egypt
- Catherine the Great – Russia
- George Washington – United States
- Howard Florey – Australia
- Itzcoatl – Aztec
- Ashoka – India
- Leopold I – Belgium
- Yaa Asantewaa – Ghana
- Amanirenas – Kush
- Tamar The Great – Georgia
- Halie Selassie – Ethiopia
- Tokugawa Ieyasu – Japan
Likely Leaders
- Charlemagne – France (Unconfirmed)
- Julius Caesar – Rome
- John A. Macdonald – Canada
- Eva Peron – Argentina
The upcoming 4X game features 45 leaders, according to the selection screen shown in the Developer Direct. Oxide Games has revealed the identities of 28 of them, though there is still some room for interpretation. For example, the game’s concept art for Boudica describes her as “Queen of the British Celtic Iceni tribe,” but it’s unclear whether that means she will lead England or the Celts in Ara: History Untold.
Similarly, Alexander the Great was King of Macedon, but it’s unclear if the game considers the Macedonians a distinct civilization from the Greeks. Meanwhile, the concept art for Nicolas Copernicus didn’t mention his nationality. The real Copernicus came from an ethnically German part of Poland, so while he is probably Polish in Ara: History Untold, this has yet to be confirmed.
As for the other 17 icons, some are hard to identify. However, the Roman Emperor is probably Julius Caesar. Another character looks like Canada’s first Prime Minister, John A. Macdonald. A third icon closely resembles the typical depiction of Charlemagne but could conceivably be another medieval European monarch. If it is Charlemagne, he will most likely lead France, but could also rule the Holy Roman Empire, if it exists in the game. Finally, the woman two spaces to his right might be former Argentine First Lady Eva Peron.
Ara: History Untold’s Unusual Leaders
Ara’s leaders reflect Oxide’s visions for History Untold. Most were military or political leaders; even the slightly more obscure ones wouldn’t be out of place in a Civilization game. However, Howard Florey was a pharmacologist, Sappho was a poet, Beccaria and Confucius were philosophers, and Copernicus was an astronomer and mathematician. All of them were very influential in their own ways, though none of them wielded political power. Confucius and Beccaria at least wrote on politics, but the others might seem like odd choices for a 4X strategy game.
However, this is part of Oxide Games’ point about how leadership doesn’t necessarily have to be confined to a military or political context. While most of her work has been lost, Sappho was regarded as one of the greatest lyric poets in the ancient world. Florey helped discover penicillin and was the key figure in turning it into a useful and effective drug, while Copernicus developed the heliocentric model of the Solar System. Meanwhile, Confucius was one of the most influential philosophers in history, while Beccaria is regarded as the father of modern criminal law.
One could argue that these figures have as much historical influence or more than some of Ara’s more conventional choices of leaders. Given Oxide Games’ stated desire to approach historical strategy games from new perspectives, they may actually be perfect fits for Ara: History Untold.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 89 /100 Critics Rec: 92%
- Released
- October 21, 2016
- ESRB
- E10+ for Everyone 10+: Drug Reference, Language, Mild Violence, Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- Firaxis Games
- Publisher(s)
- 2K Games
- Engine
- Unity
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
- Franchise
- Civilization
