1979 Revolution: Black Friday

iNK Stories Studio has raised the bar in real-world based narrative, and it will be exciting to see what they deliver next.

More intensely personal than any interactive movie you’ve played in years, Black Friday fearlessly explores one of the least visited pages of 20th century history. The first time you held a rock in your hand, it changed you forever. This is emotional, personal storytelling at it’s finest. Even better, it makes a bold statement about the fact that there is world history outside the sphere of Western propaganda.

There are minigames which break up the constant narrative, such as bandaging someone up and taking tons of photos, but ultimately 1979 Revolution: Black Friday is much more of an interactive story than a game. It just so happens to be a story which is so well written and performed, that it will make you wonder about yourself as a person.

1979 Revolution: Black Friday tells the story of the Iranian Revolution in the year within the title. It’s a beautiful, heart-wrenching story that makes you quickly fall for every character on screen.

1979 Revolution is an important game about a little known topic. Equally riveting, moving and educational. [June/July 2016]

Revolution 1979: Black Friday is a good historical adventure game that hit the player with its beautiful and dramatic narrative.

Accurate in its execution and complex in its politics, 1979 Revolution may have its flaws, but its faults do not overshadow its success of a nuanced portrayal of a history and its people.

A docu-game where the line between right and wrong is never clear nor defined. 1979 Revolution: Black Friday tells a brief but though story with great emphasis on players choices and moral ambiguity. Outdated graphics limit the game potential, but its story and its characters hit the target.

Though the poorly designed action sequences and occasionally technical shoddiness drag the whole experience down, 1979 Revolution: Black Friday is still a quality adventure game that tells a gripping story about people struggling to survive the times and bring about change.

A little too abrupt to be entirely satisfying, 1979 Revolution is still a powerful and memorable slice of history. [Issue#251, p.60]

Revolution: Black Friday is a very excellent use of a modern medium like video games to share an exciting and important moment in Iran's history.

Like a good film, 1979 Revolution often makes you feel like you’re witnessing real events, or at least an accurate depiction of those events.

1979 Revolution: Black Friday is a groundbreaking game, not in terms of gameplay, but in its depiction of real historical events in an accurate, thoughtful manner, and its exploration of a genre rarely touched by video games.

Despite some inconsequential decision-making and visual roughness, the amount of heart, character, and unflinching honesty in 1979 Revolution’s short two-hour tale is impressive. As an Iranian-American myself, it’s incredibly refreshing to not only see this subject matter explored, but done so in a smart and sensitive way that succeeds in educating as much as entertaining.

It’s not a schoolbook history lesson and shouldn’t be taken as such. Rather, it is a powerful take on historical events that was inspired by personal accounts, documents, and study.

It shows some flaws in terms of interactive storytelling, but nonetheless 1979 delivers a tense political thriller with strong characters.

Along with games like Cibele and That Dragon, Cancer, 1979 Revolution sets a new path for games by providing a template for how the medium can tell stories grounded in ordinary life.

1979 Revolution: Black Friday is a great game that gives an in-depth look at one of the many revolutions that occurred in Iran. Looking at the technical aspect of the game, it does have a few flaws. But since the main objective of the game is to go into more detail regarding what happened and how things were during this revolution, I must be honest and say that it serves its purpose well.

1979 Revolution: Black Friday is a game for those interested in history being depicted in an interactive format and it succeeds in providing that information but it also succeeds in providing a look into another person’s culture. There is not many games that attempt to do this and do it with the touches of compassion that are clear in the game.

A documentary in game form that allows the player to experience historical events authentically in a way no film could.

Despite the kinks, some of which may be ironed out in future installments, 1979 Revolution represents an unusual and largely successful mix of an adventure game and history lesson.

A historical event whose consequences are felt even today is encapsulated in this Telltale-esque adventure that might not be the lengthiest nor the most polished adventure of all time, but it does intrigue and raise important questions many of us weren't fully aware of.

Successful interactive drama in the Telltale-games style is exotic with time and place, but not with character motives. Story of the key moment of the Iranian Islamic revolution and the young photographer Reza Schirazi is thematically closer to us than plots of the similar Telltale titles. 1979 Revolution benefits from a great mood, well-written characters and undeniable educational factor, which is not boring at all.