Release Date: 05/04/2016
Played On: Win
Available On: Droid / iOS / Mac / NS / PS4 / Win / XBO
Time Played: 2h 10m
Progress: Completed
Developer: iNK Stories
Publisher: iNK Stories
We've come a long way from educational games featuring a dancing tomato that acts out verbs entered through a terminal interface. I wish I could remember what it was called, but when I was a kid in the 1980s all I wanted to do was make that tomato run and jump all day long.
Relegating any game as "educational" can often be unfairly reductive, as most gamers aren't looking for an education. That and the fact that most educational games of the past haven't been all that entertaining, as they tend to focus on learning instead of fun. Perhaps it's a necessity of disseminating information, that too much frivolity will dilute its value and relevance.
To take a short step back, I think this is why I genuinely love the progression of narrative experiences in gaming. On one hand they explore the ways that video games can tell a story in a unique and interactive way. While on the other hand, they can deliver a lot of information in a way that feels like 'play' instead of the rote learning many of us disliked in school.
1979 Revolution: Black Friday attempts to combine the familiar narrative design of three dimensional point and click games, with interactive educational elements. If you're familiar with the TellTale method of narrative games, this will be immediately familiar. Although, instead of comedic characters and dramatic mysteries, you're treated to the harsh realities of the 1979 Iranian revolution.
You play as a photographer named Reza, who starts the game tied to a chair as you are interrogated and beaten. This frames the story into a series of vignettes that recall the events that lead Reza and his friends to their present moment in time. It's a nice way to jump from scene to scene, even if it's nothing new when it comes to storytelling devices.
After a short introduction, Reza hits the streets with his friend, to witness the rise of a revolution. There are people filling the streets in protest, while others bear witness to the rise of a revolution. Pretty soon Reza and his pals get mixed up in the mass demonstrations and conflict, only to find themselves part of the fallout that erupts from these acute moments in history.
Mechanically there isn't a lot to differentiate 1979 Revolution from other three dimensional point and clicks. Most of your inputs will be spent walking around each environment and locating hot spots for interactions. Additionally, there are a couple of quick time sequences (again similar to those in TellTale games), as well as 'urban triage' events that task you with treating wounds by following prompts in high pressure situations.
The big difference is Reza's camera, which is available throughout the game to take photos of the events happening around you. It's a simple mini-game of hitting the shutter when a swinging bar hits the sweet spot, but I never found it annoying or gimmicky.
What really shines about Reza's camera, is that it solidifies the player's interaction with the story. Get ready to spend a lot of time taking pictures of different events on the streets, which are followed up with pages of information relating it back to real world history. This is where the education side of the game comes into play, and enhances the experience above other similar point and clicks.
Often, the scenes you wander into throughout the game have been copied directly from real photographs. At regular intervals I managed to take a picture that was then shown alongside a real world photo of the same scene. The way that Reza's camera links you to these historical images is important and goes a long way to blurring the line between the game and the history it's based on.
Furthering the immersion is how each character relates to one another during the story. The voice work in 1979 Revolution is decent across the board. There's a good mix of characters and circumstances that cover everything from fighting with the military, to having dinner with your parents. It might sound simple, but all these little elements contribute to a deeper understanding of Iranian culture, and the dissonant forces contributing to societal unrest.
I suppose when you load up a game like 1979 Revolution, you need to start with a mindset of wanting to learn a thing or two. Most of the time I spent in the game was focused on learning about the world and the current events of the time. Looking back, I'm sure you can probably speed run through this game in half the time (or less), but you'd be missing what makes this a special and unique experience.
One part that stands out in my mind, is when I was walking through the streets as Reza, and took a photo of a guy selling flat bread on the side of the road. It seemed like a relatively banal scene at the time, but I was treated to a little bit of information about Iranian food. Then I walked across the street and checked out a stall selling books, only to discover more interesting information on the clash between politics and religion.
All of these simple and seemingly innocuous interactions, masterfully build on a broader understanding of the revolution. Of course I'm still no expert, but I feel like I now know ten times more about Iranian culture and politics than I did when I started playing. What's more, I enjoyed the story and found myself actively searching for new pieces of the puzzle to uncover and learn.
This is the genius of 1979 Revolution, as it actually managed to educate me by presenting me with an interesting story. Reza's experiences throughout the game are based on real events, which are backed up with historical facts and compelling information. This gives the world and characters a deeper meaning than fiction often provides, but the narrative is interesting enough to avoid sounding like a boring lecture.
I guess that's the part that stands out more than anything in this game, as it shows how far educational games have actually come. Even if I wasn't interesting in learning about Iranian history, I would have enjoyed the narrative on its own merits. However, with the additional benefit of how deep the lore can go in the real world, the experience is lifted to more than the sum of its parts.
What's more, the choices presented to you throughout the story, also hint at some of the divisive experiences real people had to face at the time. There are many moments where you must choose between violent or peaceful protest, who to save and who to leave in harm's way, whether you fight as part of a nation, or pretend that it has nothing to do with you. All of these moments branch the story in different way, but the real impact is felt when you realise these are real choices made by real people. This isn't just a gameplay system to give the illusion of different outcomes in a fantasy game, these are actual dilemmas that these people faced. It's important to note the difference, and I felt much more invested in this game than I ever have with other branching narratives.
In many games the illusion of choice is barely skin deep and usually obvious within a few scenes of a choice being made. In 1979 Revolution, many of the choices appear relatively superficial, but I found out the hard way that there are certain paths that will end your game prematurely. Of course you can reload and try again, but having some hard fail states throughout key scenes really helps to drive home the reality of the situation. The fact of the matter is that these choices led to the suffering of real people, so why should it be any different in this game.
Therein lies the true strength of this modern educational game, which combines play with hard facts. I've played some games based on real events that either fall into the trap of straying too far from reality to be interesting, or overloading you with so much information it becomes boring. When I'm playing a game, I don't want to feel like I'm reading an encyclopedia, but if it's based on historical events, I want some authenticity. No doubt this seems like a balance that's hard to achieve, but I think 1979 Revolution does a pretty good job.
If you're opposed to learning things in your game and want pure escapism entertainment, then you're probably not into heavy narrative games in the first place. However, if you like a bit of a think-piece that will leave you feeling a little more informed by the end, this is one of the best I've played. It's a serious game, but ultimately a compelling experience. It's another example of how gaming as a medium can be used to tell stories in a way that no other medium can accomplish.
While the focus may be primarily on political history and societal conflict, the most interesting parts for me were cultural. I've never lived in Iran and know little of its unique culture, so having an opportunity to interact with it directly and learn a thing or two is always welcomed. This is why I love art in general, as it gives us a way of communicating across geographical boundaries.
There are more little indie games being made that focus on culturally relevant experiences, and I can't wait to play more in the future. While 1979 Revolution doesn't do much to iterate on narrative gaming, it has convinced me that educational games can be as fun as they are educational. This is a deserving title that accomplishes everything it sets out to do.
We could all do with learning a little more about the world, so why not have fun playing a game at the same time?!