‘1979 Revolution: Black Friday’ Lets You Live Events That Defined A Nation – Review

The video game industry is still relatively young and as we see it grow we continue to find new ways to play games. What started as two lines hitting a dot back and forth has matured into a medium where we can not only have a lot of fun, but can now be used to tell important stories as well. 1979 Revolution: Black Friday is one of those stories. Based on historical events that transpired in Tehran in 1978, 1979 Revolution: Black Friday shows us that Hollywood isn’t the only industry that can tell a compelling historical story.

STORY

You experience the game through the eyes of Reza Shirazi, a photographer who has returned home to Iran after some time in Germany. Upon his arrival he finds a very different Iran than the one he left behind. 1979 Revolution: Black Friday is an interactive drama that allows you to make choices that will directly affect you and the other characters in the game, some of which are based on the actual people and events that took place. Early on you have a choice to make. Well, to be fair, many choices, but overall will you join the revolution peacefully or go in hot and choose violence over peaceful protests.

Every step along the way gives you options where you can go down each path further and further. (For the sake of the review we chose to play through both ways and see the outcome of each.) As you play through the game making choices on the fly, things may not always be black and white. In the moment, you’ll find yourself having to choose your own path. As Reza you’ll find yourself having to choose between your family and the cause at times, and those decisions can be some of the hardest you encounter.

Like any form of media based on historical events we know exactly where this game is heading. As you make decisions that lead you to your destiny on Black Friday in Jaleh Square where Iranian soldiers opened fire on the crowd that had gathered that day, you find yourself able to change your views more than you can change the events and ultimately the tragic ending that we know took place.

As you play through the title it’s hard to ever shake that sense of despair that comes with such a dark moment in history. This speaks volumes to the writers and creators of this game – that even though you know where you are headed, you are thankful for the time you have to spend with these characters and for their desire to share such an important story with the world.

Most gamers in 21^st century America probably know precious little about these events, so making the decisions as Reza can feel very personal to you as well since you’ll feel as though you’re learning about the revolution and what’s at stake at the same time he is doing so. Using your camera as your primary weapon, you will decide whether you use this for the good of yourself, the revolution, or your country.

GAMEPLAY

Most of your time spent during multiple sessions will consist of walking around taking photos and interacting with other characters and objects to unlock as many of the stories as you can. With over 80 stories to unlock you’ll want to make sure you leave no stone unchecked. Each interaction comes with a bonus – when you take a photo in the game you can see an actual photo that the in-game photo is based on and learn the historical relevance to the photo itself. This is a groundbreaking achievement in storytelling and, outside of Assassins Creed Origins, you’ll be hard pressed to learn more about the historical events represented in a game.

Quicktime events will break this up on occasion so pay attention for those, especially if you’re a trophy hunter because certain ones will pop trophies for you. Other than that, most of the game is walking around taking pictures and interacting with everything that you possibly can to learn as much as you can about the events that transpired.

The beauty of the game is that whether you are familiar with the events that the game unfolds or not, you won’t feel out of place and can play through with ease. Though taking the time to read up on the historical events isn’t necessary to complete and enjoy the game, we highly recommend it because of the love that is clearly poured into each word that is written.

The only negative is the the lack of ability to control the camera with the right joystick as we have become accustomed to. This makes it hard to maneuver around some objects and people and can be slightly frustrating.

GRAPHICS AND SOUND

1979 Revolution: Black Friday has been out for a couple years on PC and in some ways, it shows. At times, the graphics just look dated – while at other times they appear to have a nice cell shadedness to them. Either way, the game doesn’t have the gloss of many of the AAA games coming out lately, but as it’s more driven by story than graphics it really isn’t necessary.

One of the first things you will see when you boot up the game is a recommendation to play through the game wearing headphones. We highly recommend this as well as it will help you not only enjoy the incredible soundtrack, but help you hear voices and conversations that may otherwise go unheard.

RECOMMENDATION

1979 Revolution: Black Friday is a must play for anyone that is a fan of the genre or history itself. With a run time of about two hours, it’s not a huge commitment (unless you choose multiple playthroughs) but it is a rewarding experience. With an ending set up for a sequel, we think you’ll play through more than once and hope that, in time, we get to see more of the story fleshed out. The Xbox One version of 1979 Revolution: Black Friday launches August 3rd and is available to pre-order now with a 20% discount from the Xbox Store. The game is also coming to PS4 July 31st and Nintendo Switch August 2^nd.  Please note that the Mixer interactivity is exclusive to the Xbox One version.

Xbox One is planning a huge collaboration with Mixer, allowing streamers to really showcase the game to their followers in a huge way.

*1979 Revolution: Black Friday was provided to the reviewer by the publishing company but this fact did not alter the reviewer’s opinion*

Check out our Review Guide to see what we criteria we use to score games.