1979 Revolution: Black Friday is a choice-driven historical narrative game developed and published by iNK Stories. You play as Reza Shirazi, a photographer journalist who recently returned to Iran after studying in Germany. He returns amidst a political and populist uprising against the King, the Shah. The uprising is due to the growing income inequality between the rich and poor. This review will cover the story and characters, gameplay, and the soundtrack.

1979 features an excellent and highly-researched story recounting the history of the 1979 Revolution in Iran. Your character observes the widespread protests and takes photos of these events, assumingly for press in global newspapers. The story feels episodic because as television shows do, the story provides background on the revolution, jumps into it brewing up, and then ends. I completed 1979 in 2.5 hours, so it was not overly long, but I did not feel like it was a waste of money. Rather, it provides an excellent insight and perspective into the entire conflict. Briefly, I think 1979 should have been episodic because some portions of the story felt rushed and I think being episodic would have allowed the developers to expand on the story.

The characters are interesting because they are similar in their overall aims but contrast in their approaches. The main characters include Reza, who wanted to be neutral in the conflict, Babak, Ali, and Bibi. Note, there are various other characters, but I do not want to spoil it. As accurately depicted with history, the main protagonists want to spark a revolution because they hate the Shah's Government of pro-Western policies such as free trade, foreign investment, and so forth. This allows a percentage of the population to cooperate and spur anti-Western sentiment. I love the dialogue because it allows all characters to clearly emphasise what side they are on, may it be opposing the Government or supporting the Government.

I really enjoyed the overall story and characters and their different traits. I did not know much about the Iranian Revolution but the game provided excellent explanations on what it was about, why did it happen, and who really were the bad faction(s). The characters made it interesting particularly due to their internal conflict about how they wanted to achieve the revolution.

The game incorporates simple gameplay. You play from a third-person perspective when manoeuvring. When the game goes into a cut scene, it is cinematic. And, the overall gameplay relates to Reza capturing photos with his camera, therefore taking photos is in first-person. The photos really add a nice wrinkle because they allow you to feel like an outsider capturing information of within a conflict. I noticed some bugs with movement. Specifically, when clicking on something while moving, the game would freeze on you. Also, I found it difficult to walk in tight areas because people blocked you if you walked into them.

1979 features a 'stories' feature, which means whenever you take a photo, there will be an in-depth explanation of what that photo really meant in history and why. I really like this feature because I want to learn more about the conflict and culture and it provided me that. It is optional, so for individuals wanting to play the game and be done with it can have it their way as well. However, the stories feature was clunky because it was difficult to smoothly transition between it and back into the game. Furthermore, I noticed a bug with the wrong information playing on the wrong story.

1979 has a small, but strong soundtrack to accompany the story. I believe the soundtrack ultimately fits the vibe and atmosphere of the revolution because the music represents bloodshed and conflict. But, it also has sounds to enhance the cut scenes and the stories told within those cut scenes. Therefore, I really like the overall soundtrack.

1979 Revolution: Black Friday is a very good game. I really liked understanding the premise of the conflict and I commend the developers for developing a strongly-researched and non-partisan story. My highlight was the characters and their dialogue because it allowed them to easily showcase their personality, there reasoning, and heighten the intensity within the game. I encountered various small bugs that did not hamper the game. At $11.99, I recommend this game. It is only 2.5 hours long, but I was thoroughly invested into this as the story continued and made me eager for a potential sequel.

8.75/10

- Story and its historical counterpart.
- The game captured through a photographer that could choose to be non-violent or violent.
- Brilliant dialogue that showcased the diverse personalities.
- Decision-making aspect and how that determines outcomes into the game.

- The story felt rushed, I feel some sections could have been expanded on.
- Stories functionality is clunky.
- Some sparse gameplay bugs.

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