The events leading up to Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution are a tangled tale of chaos and mass protests that eventually led to political change. Now, a video game aims, in a sense, to recreate this complex history through entertainment.
The three-season game series 1979 Revolution recounts history through the use of actual photos, video footage and audio recordings of those involved in the revolution.
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Lead creator Navid Khonsari calls it a "revolution in gaming." A gaming veteran, Khonsari was the cinematic director for Grand Theft Auto 3 and Max Payne.
"It offers gamers something new in content and in genre. The stories told in 1979 are a collection of real testimonials that took place — pieced together to craft a narrative that hangs on actual events," Khonsari told Mashable in an email.
With the creative studio iNK Stories, Khonsari launched a Kickstarter campaign to support the launch of the game's first episode. Each season of the game includes three episodes, and the first episode of season one is set on the violent "Black Friday," labeled the revolution's "point of no return," when violent clashes erupted between protesters and authorities in Tehran, Iran, on Sept. 8, 1978.
In recreating scenes from Iran's revolutionary movement, gamers discover the story of the revolution through the eyes of a young photojournalist named Reza. Gamers playing as Reza take photos and experience how he becomes involved in the protests that would eventually overthrow the 54-year reign of the monarchy established by Reza Shah Pahlavi. In this psychologically challenging world, Reza and other revolutionaries are confronted with scenarios dealing in stealth, exploration and decision making.
Like many actual Iranians during the revolution, Reza gets caught up in the violence of the repressive Pahlavi regime. Yet, Khonsari emphasized the fact that the game is not a first-person shooter: "The reason for not having a first person shooter is that this revolution like the Arab Springs or the Cuban revolutions was not about rising up in arms but about making a change."
Currently, the game's prototype is being created at the PC console level, but it will also be available for tablets and smartphones. The game will be designed natively for these touch devices, on Android and iOS. It will also be compatible for Mac computers.
The game also features voice narration from actors, including Farshad Farahat of Argo and Navid Negahban of Homeland.
The Kickstarter campaign had raised more than $90,000 at time of writing — the campaign's final funding goal is $395,000 by Dec. 16. Those contributing $15 or more will receive an Android version of the game, and backers donating $20 or more will receive a PC or Mac edition.
The game has received backlash from Iran's government-run newspaper Kayhan, which has deemed it "Western propaganda" inaccurately showing the events of the revolution, as reported by The Guardian. However, Khonsari insists that the game's intention is not to portray negative imagery of the revolution.
"The game will expose audiences, through engaging gameplay, the difference between the 'people' and the 'government.'  And I believe this to be the most important distinction and first step in stripping people’s negative ideas about the Iranian people. By featuring the dynamic turning point of the Iranian Revolution of 1979 — who’s effects which still reverberate in world politics today — you are unveiling what actually built the 'negative' image of Iran," Khonsari said.
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Image: iNK Stories