I played through a major ending and tried one or two branches, in 6 hours. I didn't get to additional major endings, but have read that there are different endings. I found this game's story immersive and gripping, and the art quite good, though there were small gripes I had with the walking speed and handling.

My favourite part about this game is the story. It plays like a Telltale game, with choice selection by your character in intense situations as the story progresses. What you do affects the people around you and potential results of major events.

The story is based on true events, and I found this way of learning about historical events very immersive. Walking around in the streets you can check out the local foods, listen to local radio... it was a virtual cultural tour for me.

I recall finding a magazine or cassette (I forgot exactly what) featuring the legendary singer Googoosh, which one of my close friends who is Persian, has often fondly talked about. This small detail in the game really had an emotional impact on me, because when I heard about this old singer in my real life I was kind of interested but didn't understand the context in which she was famous. Seeing a mention of her in the game however, as people yelled and screamed, and gunshots were ringing throughout the marketplace, really put into context how influential these cultural artifacts are and it was something I could relate to after playing the game. I really enjoyed learning about the history and culture from a game perspective, and look forward to more games like this.

One other thing that stuck out to me were the characters, I found all the main characters quite interesting and could sympathize/ empathize with them. We get to learn about the main character's family and how differing political opinions, especially in a revolution with heavy political consequences, can tear apart a family though they still love each other. This historical event really has torn apart many people's relations yet you can empathize with how strong human emotions can be, under these intense circumstances.

A small gripe was the walking handling by which I mean that sometimes the camera would move in strange ways and the walking speed wouldn't match up. Just a small thing which irritated me a couple times but wouldn't really affect the whole story in a major way.

Overall I recommend this game for the superb characters and cultural immersion. Do keep in mind that it will probably last around 5~8 hours, which depending on you could be short or the perfect length.

Certainly one of the more unique and surprising games I've played. The concept had peaked my interest, as I'm a film-maker and interested in politics myself, and also interested in world history. I believe you cannot truly make an informed choice, until you understand the context behind what you believe, and the bigger picture. I'm well aware of Iran's history in the 20th century, from the CIA/British coup against Mossadeq, to the current day Islamic republic. When I'm told by the media that 'Iran is evil', my first thought is 'why?'. It seems in today's world, we're expected to hate on command, rather than to think critically and dig deeper. With that in mind, I was keen to see how the events were depicted in this game.

Black Friday is a character-driven story set during and after Iran's Islamic Revolution about photographer Reza Shirazi, from a wealthy loyalist family. Whilst taking photographs of the turbulent times of the 1979 Revolution, he quickly becomes roped into revolutionary circles, against his will, because of the pictures he's taken. The story is choice-driven, and you can disagree with being exploited by revolutionaries, or you can embrace it. Either way, this is not a story about heroes and villains. Everyone has their flaws, and most of the revolutionaries are more driven by their own paranoia and distrust for one another. The game doesn't glorify or specifically demonise anyone, but simply lets you see them as they are. From that, you can form your own decisions. Speaking of decisions, your decisions will carry real weight in this game, and Reza will face the consequences of his choices. There are even choices such as engaging in prayer, which can lead to different interactions within the story with other characters, some of which will happen in surprising ways. The two endings I've seen so far were totally different, and the second especially surprised me. The game is fairly short, so a second playthrough is no trouble at all, and it's great to see how differently things can happen as a result of your choices.

It plays largely like a Telltale Games adventure title, with a photography minigame built into some sections, where you capture the images of the revolution. Each time you do this, it'll unlock the actual photo it is based on, and the story behind it. In that sense, it's very informative and feels almost like an interactive museum of the 1979 Iran Revolution.

The characters are memorable, realistic, well-written, and well-acted. The production crew did a great job of telling the story of people caught up in dangerous events. Nobody comes out of it clean, nobody wins. In the end it is a sad story about the downfall of a nation, and the bloodshed involved. As I stated: there are no heroes here. Even if you play moralistically, you'll still be roped into dangerous circles.

In terms of story, writing, and events. This game reminds me heavily of Spec Ops: The Line. In the sense that it does not shy away from difficult subjects, such as depicting variations of Islamic faith, or the western interventions that have taken place in Iran's history.

My only issues with this game are:

-It sometimes stutters right before you make a choice.
-I had a bug where I was stuck in photography mode during a cut-scene.
-Some characters sounded way too American.
-Reza's father's head is way too big.

I'd recommend this to anyone who has an interest in history, and I'd recommend really taking the time to find all the stories and information. As someone who already knew a fair bit about Iran's history, I still learned some new things here. And unlike most Telltale games, I actually felt compelled to play it through a second time, which yielded a very different experience.

I've seen some downright silly reviews and claims, such as 'Muslim propaganda', 'biased towards communism', 'I wanted something anti-muslim and this isn't it!'. These are shallow, simplistic, misguided claims. The game objectively shows no bias, yet you can bias your protagonist's choices however you please. You can be pacifistic, you can be violent, you can be religious, you can be secular. All have different outcomes and they are interesting to see. In the end, this is not a story about Islam, it's the story of a dangerous time, in a turbulent place, and the story of characters caught up in it. Every character has a human side, every character has flaws, whether moralism, idealism, spirituality, brutality...

Overall, an educational experience. Ignorant folks could actually learn a lot from it, if they'd stop making presumptions and stopped to think for a moment before opening their mouths.

Like most other Iranians, I get very excited about anything that has to do with us and our history, so when I heard about this game's existence I bought it right away. Now that I finished my first time playing it, as much as I hate to ruin the 69 reviews I thought I could share my thoughts:

I can't recall any other game that really focused on a historical event like this and not only told the story but also let the player become a part of it. You can make some choices that really help your character or the ones around him, or be their doom. That's already something that quite a few big game titles don't manage.
But the story telling is flawed. Some characters have no personality or are so rarely there that there is really no reason to care for them, and there aren't many characters to begin with. I ended up only caring for two characters, and the second mostly just because his role just hit home for me.
And just when things are really heating up, the game ends. And it's not even a big ending that really feels like one, it's more like listening to music and during the chorus your speakers just suddenly die. A lot of questions should have been answered, but aren't even mentioned again, and you simply don't get much deeper into what was happening which is a pity.

The gameplay was not that interesting for me aside from choosing what to say and occasionally how to act. What you can do most of all is looking for things and collecting them, which then give you a little insight on both what was happening during the revolution and also Iranian culture as it was back then and still is now, which is neat for those who don't know much about Iran but still perhaps too little for those who really know nothing.
More important information can be collected by taking photos, and you do that in a very basic "click at the right moment" minigame. Depending on how well the photo turns out, the more information you get.
There's also everybody's favourite thing in gaming history: Quick time events! *sarcasm*
Also, on two occasions I had to patch up people who were hurt and I have to say that that were just silly. Especially having to put bandages around the wounds, it looked really bad and out of place compared to the style in the rest of the game.

The game looks alright. It's rather obvious to tell which character models were worked on longer and which ones were rushed, and in just one scene, standing on one spot, I could count up to almost 10 copy-pasted NPCs. But I really did like the style they went with and enjoyed looking at the character I play. The environments were also done nicely, it really reminded me of walking down a street in Tehran.

I have the luck of rarely ever getting glitches and such in games, but there was this one point where I walked into a half circle of people in the hope that I could collect something in the middle, but then Babak closed the circle and I couldn't get out because he just wouldn't move. I had to restart the whole sequence and stay away from groups from then on which probably made me miss out on some things.

So, tl;dr: while this game is very flawed, it does go down an interesting path and I did enjoy my time playing it. It doesn't cost much, so I do recommend it as both a small "collect stuff and achievements" game if you enjoy those and an alternative to a short and probably biased documentary.

I've always been wary of games that try to tackle historical events, because they rarely seem to get their subject matter right. There's something disrespectful about historical games like the early Call of Duty titles, which placed players into real wars that real people fought and died in, exploiting those experiences by transforming them into mindless entertainment for the masses. Tackling this kind of heavy subject matter requires a degree of nuance that bleak loadscreen quotations or pressing F to pay respects don't even begin to provide.

1979 Revolution: Black Friday doesn't share those problems. Created by Rockstar Games veteran and Iranian national Navid Khonsari, whose family escaped the turmoil the title aims to portray, the game tells the story of the Iranian Revolution of 1979, which lead to the deposition of the Shah of Iran and the end of the Pahlavi dynasty. The influence of this period in Iranian history cannot be understated, yet knowledge of this point in history remains woefully elusive to the American public consciousness.

It's fitting, then, that the game starts out with so much exposition. This isn't a Call of Duty title looking to capitalize on history as a mere backdrop to action-heavy gameplay. The Telltale-esque title places players into a series of unfolding events as an Iranian photojournalist recently returned home from Germany. Early in the story, players will take a walk through a protest-crowded street, snapping pictures and listening to their companion expound on the issues facing Iran leading up to the 1979 revolution. Westernization, income inequality, government censorship - the developers are clearly aware of their audience's unfamiliarity with the setting and do a fantastic job of the setting the stage for the players.

It all comes naturally; your character, after all, has been out of the country for awhile, so it stands to reason that he might need to be caught up on current events. After snapping a photo, players are presented with a quick blurb of information and given the option to learn more, leading them to small snippets of Iran's history in the game's journal.

Fortunately, unlike many titles tackling heavy subject matter, 1979 Revolution is at least somewhat able to stand on its own as an entertaining game. It's informative without being preachy, and engages players with choice and consequence and quick-time event systems Telltale Games or Life is Strange veterans will find immediately familiar.

1979 Revolution is best described as a political thriller, and it isn't long until your jaunt down exposition lane is interrupted by the proverbial ♥♥♥♥ hitting the fan. It's a character driven story, showing Iranian nationals with a variety of different political and religious views reacting as their country is turned upside down. The voice acting is crucially well executed, thanks to a cadre of veteran film actors. Almost everyone involved with the project has a prior work that I've seen or am at least familiar with; I recognized the voice of Mozhan Marnò from The Blacklist, House of Cards, and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night immediately.

The game is an indie title though, and you can tell that the funds for its actors may have been diverted from other areas of its limited budget. The art assets in particular leave a bit to be desired; it will quickly become apparent that character models and animations are being reused for the game's extras. In a game like this though, pursuing flawless writing and voice acting for its characters ultimately should trump almost everything else.

1979 Revolution does end a bit abruptly. It's not as bad as say, The Banner Saga, but I was expecting the narrative to go on for an additional chapter, or maybe for it to show a bit more of the revolution's aftermath. It's not a bad ending per se, but it does sort of build and build and then just end in the middle of its own climax.

Overall, the game succeeds in bringing a historically accurate, better understanding of the titular revolution to those who play it. It's not a deep look and it doesn't get too bogged down in historical details, instead focusing broadly on the people of Iran as they lived through this formative moment in their nation's history. 1979 Revolution is worth checking out on that basis alone if you're interested in experiencing a sample of pre-revolution Iran and how it evolved to become the nation we have today.

If you're not interested in that, I'd find the the title harder to recommend. This is a game of ideas, and it follows that the title is inextricably linked to the message it wants its players to receive. Standing on its own, its narrative isn't as satisfying as a Telltale Game and its gameplay doesn't touch Life is Strange, but if you're generally interested in experiencing a bit of history, that can make the title shine.

1979 Revolution: Black Friday is a short game at just over two hours of total playtime, and is available on Steam for a full price of $12. I'll leave the value judgment up to you.

A point-and-click choices-matter game like a documentary about the period right before the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Pros:

+ A unique concept, a unique story...
+ You can explore the elements of a daily life in Iran before the Islamic Revolution, and gain the facility to interpret the difference between those days of Iran and today's Iran.
+ The social and politic incidents on the way leading to the Revolution are prosperingly covered one by one in brief.
+ The price of the game.
+ A personal affirmative point: Persian language... I, as a Turk speaking Turkish, have noticed that there are numerous Persian-origin words much more than I know. :)

Cons:
- The whole game is really short. I was pretty suprised when I earned the achievement called "The End" referring the end of the story.
- The movement of the main character, Raza, would be more comfortable.
- Essentially the course of the main story should really have taken shape based on our choices, but it is not perceived so much in fact. Most of the questions look like to possess choices of replies which come to almost the same thing. Maybe the shortness of the game gave rise to this idea.

Do I recommend the game in conclusion in spite of the cons I've stated? Yes.

As someone who study history professionally, I sometimes do not like some mainstream historical games that are eurocentric and politicized. Out of curiosity, I purchased this game the moment it came out because the topic always fascinates me. Before playing it, I thought this game is more or less going to be another game preaching you how bad Khomeini was and how he "stole" the revolution. However and fortunately, I was completely wrong.

The developer claims the plot is based on a real story. The protagonist, Reza, is from a wealthy family. He studied abroad in Germany. When he came back to Iran, he almost came across the ongoing revolution by accident. Iran was not it once was anymore. After seeing what he saw, he decided to participate in it. Whereas, his involvement troubled him with countless dilemmas, compelling him to pick sides. On one hand there is his brother, on the other are his friends and cousin. You choices affect how the game progresses.

This game excites the hell out of me. Walking on the street, you feel as if you are living through the revolution yourself. Seeing people protesting and suffering, you are compelled to feel sympathetic towards them. The political figures in this game are entirely real. When I was the graffiti of Khomeini on the street, I was like "Oh my God!" and my heart was beating so fast.

Yes, historical figures matter. But history is, in fact, made possible by the little people. This game does not pick a political side nor try to preach you liberal democracy. Instead, it tells you the paradox and contradiction existed in the revolution, making the choices hard to make. Ideal is idealistic because it is not reality. The moment when you threw the stone, it changed you forever. Is violence necessary? Is family more important than ideal? Is life more important than freedom? Would you sacrifice the 1/3 for the other 2/3? You are the one to answer these questions that we are still unable to answer today.

I feel I can relate to this game so much. I also come from a wealthy family. My parents also lived through a different revolution. I am also idealistic yet realistic. My ideal betrays my spectrum but I feel it is right. My reality does not allow me to follow my ideal if I were to keep my status. I believe in democracy yet I see authoritarianism as a highly efficient system. I love my family yet I want to pursue my ideal.

I think we all are Reza. We are all as contradictory as the choices we make in this game.

What a game!

PROS:
+ Great documentary, it's a piece of history
+ Based on true story, by a real witness

CONS:
- Not fun, it's better to just watch someone else play
- Control is awkward, sidekick often blocks the way
- Very short, it can be finished in a couple hours
- Ending is not satisfying, it ends abruptly

This game is based on an interesting concept - playing a photographer tied up in the struggles of the 1979 Iranian revolution. However, it suffers from a couple of crippling faults that make me not recommend it.

First of all, the game is criminally short, with a total playtime of maybe 3 hours at best. And that is with reading every journal entry and taking every optional photograph. This is made worse by the fact that the game SEEMS to lay the seeds for a story with a much bigger scope with it's large cast and some narrative choices, but then cuts everything short just as things seem to finally heat up.

While the dialogue is decent, the mood works well and the characters are all at least serviceable, this game also really fails to deliver on the whole "gameplay" side of things. Action sequences are done via uninspired QTE-mechanics, the photography aspects feel very scripted and basically just a way to deliver extra exposition and progress through regular areas is extremely linear - the camera will usually guide you along a very narrow path with a couple of interacteable objects strung along, which then ends at the object that starts the next sequence. Overall, it feels very transparantely more like an amusement park ride than a game. There are no puzzles or real challenges in any meaningful sense of the word.

I can't recommend this game even to fans of the genre. I got it because I found the setting interesting, and the game certainly delivers on that end, but it still left a bitter taste in my mouth. Don't buy. Or at least, wait until it invariably goes on sale below 5 bucks.

I don't know what's worse, a game which is just hopelessly bad or a game wich is bad because wasted all its good potential with bad choices? Well, in this case I'm talking about waste of potential and it's really a pity because this game had a lot of potential, but failed in any way.

1979 Is a critical year for Iran, where the days were constantly characterized by demonstrations, revolutions and riots on the roads to oppose to the increasingly oppressive regime of the Shah (king).
You are Reza, who after living and working in Paris comes back to Iran to see the events. Reza doesn't have any political Idea at the beginning and only has a passion for photography. This makes him the perfect neutral character to be shaped by the player that, according to the choices given by the game's situations, will become a "violent revolutionary" or a "peaceful idealist".
The game starts with Reza escaping from the police but eventually being arrested and interrogated. During interrogation will start the flashback that will tell Reza's story, or how he got involved in the revolution.

Graphic is very simple, I'd say half way between cartoon and realistic. But maybe outdated might suit better the level of graphics developed in Unity and badly optimized, as it is barely playable on my machine with mid-low basic details, which is nonsense. Not to mention the Russian, Spanish and Turkish antialiasing options, but nevermind.
However the (low) detail level of models and textures is irrelevant, What is relevant is the life and details that the developers gave to the various ambiences, small or big. The roads, houses, refuges, give a good idea of credibility to the setting, especially the roads, so full of life, events, curiosities to see. It's pretty obvious that this is where the developers' efforts went.

I can't honestly say there are memorable soundtracks, yet there are appropriate accompaniment tracks. What I can say is that Voice acting was well done, a good and appropirate job.

One word? Telltale. More words? The game is strongly story-driven, so most of the times the game will be about cutscenes and dialogues. Sometimes you can wander around the roads, or rooms to take pictures, interact with people or examine a couple of items. However the main gameplay consists of dialogues with multiple answers choice (you have to choose how you answer or react, you don't choose the topics to talk about as in a common point & click), few Quick Time Events and some minigames (taking photos, curing wounds and so on).
A special mention goes to the notes that pop up for each interaction (photos, characters, events) where you can read about it and all the context of the time, giving you one of the most accurate and interesting historical context and reconstruction.

I think I'll make it as short as I can:

• Answers Timing. One of the weakest point ever of any telltale-like game is that you have a short time to pick up your answer, which has a high chance to influence characters or story. In other words every choice must be thought. What do you do if the answers you can pick are simply put, nonsense, or bad written hence incomprehensible? You run out of time and just shut up, or end up with some generic answer. Totally mood-killing.
  
• QTE. There are a fistful of QTE. In the entire game. And some of them, if you fail, start up again with the first button already missed...
  
• Chapters. The game is structured in chapters. Too bad that each chapter is long about 10 to 20 minutes, dialogues included. Some of these chapters consist only of dialogues, and if you consider the "Answer timing" issue you can get through a chapter without moving an inch in a matter of minutes. The game in its entirety lasts only 4 hours. Definitely too short.
  
• Incomplete. The story is essentially inconsistent. You spend your first "minutes" (hours could be an exaggeration) moving around, knowing people, unveiling story and so on, and all the misteries and facts that get you involving with the game are never EVER explained. Who is the spy? Is Abbas a manipulator? A double agent maybe? Was Bibi actually behind everything? Behind what, by the way? Babak's death might have consequences between family? No answers at all. Because this story has a purpose, which is to let you know the events of the time how was life back then and in the years before. Of course, but a chopped story is a chopped story and all the great work made to recreate and reconstruct the story of that year is the only valuable thing left. Which is not enough.
  
  
  TL;DR. Pros And Cons
  +++PROs+++
  • SETTING. Through the entire game you can live the danger and the crisis of the time. Through the game you can do many actions, interactions or dialogues that will unlock some very interesting documents that tell a part of Iran's story of the time, from different point of views or about many different things. That is an amazing job. Everything helped by a good recreation of settings, fron rebel's hideouts, a room full of family films, to the roads full of life, with people demonstrating, talking, and everything.
  ---CONs---
  • GAME. Nothing works fine in the game, either the structure made of micro chapters, either gameplay made of briefly and badly described dialogue choices you must select before time's out, either the protagonist's story, which starts good and expands itself with interesting events, various characters and dialogues that reveal some mistery which unfortunately will never be revealed because the real point of the story is that people die in the Evin prison.
  
  I played this game on this machine:
  Laptop Lenovo Z50
  Intel Core i5-4210U
  8Gb RAM DDR3
  GeForce 840M/Intel HD Graphics 4400
  Windows 10 Home x64
  
  

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To be honest, I'm quite surprised by this game and the almost unbiased picture it tries to paint; a picture of a part of history that seems to be almost lost within the fog of time - one that is not only crucial to fathom parts of the modern past of the middle-east, but of the whole world back then... and now.

You'll see the events of the Iranian revolution unfold through the eyes of aspiring photographer Reza Shirazi, who just returned to Iran, amidst the growing chaos and confusion in which he'll have to find his place and finally put his convictions into action. You do so mainly by interacting with the environment, NPC's and in particular by taking pictures with a camera Reza always carries with him and by which you'll be provided with additional information regarding the people of Iran and key players/events of that time.

Despite its short playtime and thus limited information on some subjects, 1979 Revolution: Black Friday largely succeeds at storytelling and neither needs to hide itself from or even avoid its competitors - on the contrary, the weight of the subject matter and how they handled it is elevating videogames in general to a level where their relevance in today's society and how they have matured truly has to be recognized - but before I lose myself puffing it up too much, it unfortunately doesn't do that well in the gameplay department. Minor bugs and things like a sometimes too small and narrow window, in which you have to react and decide in which manner you want to handle situations presented to you, tend to pull you out of the otherwise great immersion this game creates and hinders one at reflecting over the moral ambiguity such conflicts often inherit.

Nonetheless, 1979 Revolution: Black Friday is a game I can wholeheartedly recommend, not only to those particularly interested in the subject at hand, but to anyone that likes to question why the world spins like it does... and what better way is there to start while playing a videogame?
If this game in the end fully accomplishes what it wants though, or fails due to the complexity of the topic, is nothing I wanna judge over and since there's never an easy answer, no simple black or white, I wanna end on a quote that buzzed through my head while playing this truly unique presentation of these somehow almost seemingly forgotten historical events:

"Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship." - George Orwell