1979 Revolution: Black Friday

I really liked the atmosphere it creates on one side, but the controls are clunky, choices don't matter in the least. There are short arcade sequences every now and then. And then, it just ends, abuptly.

1979 tries to take you back to the Iranian revolution and put you in the shoes of a witness to it all. While you travel the various levels you'll also come across items from the actual time period, and once you click on them you'll get a new entry in a book you can access outside of the game, with information about said item. For example, finding a cassette in the middle of a protest, clicking on it will give you info on it, as well as the contents of the cassette, which is the strength of the game. Sadly, everything else is clunky and underwhelming. 1979 plays as a Telltale style game, with you being able to choose which direction to take the story in. Sadly, most choices are fairly obvious, and whatever you choose doesn't really change the game. It's also fairly jarring when in the middle of a serious game inspired by true events you get some mini-game to play or a string of quicktime events. Witnessing a protest turn violent, the last thing I wanted was to play a mini game in which I remove glass shards from someone's body, or dodge bullets by using cover. Levels are also fairly small, linear and filled with barriers preventing you from going anywhere but the very narrow path the game's makers chose for you. In some levels, for example, you need to take photos of everything around you, but you never get to choose what to shoot. Levels also repeat themselves - see one protest, and you've seen them all. It doesn't help that a level can be completed between a minute to several minutes, and that you can't interact with most of it. You might as well be staring at wallpaper. The game is also divided into too many chapters, making you jump from event to event in a jarring manner. But my biggest gripe with the game is how uninteresting the main character is. He's the stereotypical man in the middle, with family in the regime and in the protests. A man who takes no stand, and is deeply westernized, so any player can put himself in his shoes. He's a cardboard cutout.

The visuals weren't amazing and gameplay mechanics were shallow but the story, immersion and emotional impact were absolutely excellent. Good, basic introduction to the historical period, but really for me I can't remember the last time I teared up a bit playing a game.

This game needs more exposure. I'm seeing reviews here claiming that the developers are biased. Whether that's true or not, but the issue takes a backseat to the fact that we have a narrative-heavy game that puts the player right in the middle of a very dramatic period in the history of a country that we hear about often in the news, but otherwise know little about. The story might be fictionalised, but the backdrop is an educational experience, further enhanced by the commentary unlocked when you pick up relevant objects and take pictures. Technically, the game can be described as a "poor man's Telltale game". All the elements are here, to the point of being a blatant copy: long cutscenes with little direct control over the character, QTEs, exploration of an area with hotspots, dialogues and decisions. The decisions are the weak part, since I've found that few of them, if any, have an actual impact on the plot. Maybe they will in the next episode. It's a shame that, while copying Telltale, the developers did not use the opportunity to improve on some of its flaws. The voice acting is very good and authentic. The graphics, especially models, could use some improvement. So while the technical side would get no more than 3 stars, the story / subject matter deserve praise, so I am giving this game 4/5 stars.

its nice, tells a nice and even neutral perspective about an iranian revolution, but its too ugly, too short, has no good soundtrack, and cant spend time developing characters to make it a worthwhile telltale type game. together with a cliffhanger and the unknown fate of the dev, this game is kind of lost as a real product and turned more into a "what it could have been" demo, part 1. if it had full length gameplay, fully fleshed out story and no cliffhanger it would be easily 3.5 to 4 for its genre.