Fuelled with the spirit of uprising and betrayal, the turbulent days of the Iranian revolution are being revived in a video game created by Iranian Canadian gaming veteran Navid Khonsari, one of the people behind some of the most acclaimed games of the last decade.'1979 Revolution' is the brainchild of Khonsari, who helped create the cinematic look and feel of many video games including Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, San Andreas, Max Payne I & II, and The Warriors.
The game follows the journey of its young protagonist, the 19-year-old Reza, who discovers and partakes in protests as they gain ground resulting in the eventual toppling of the Shah and the creation of an Islamic republic.
"Reza has no political affiliation in the beginning. He is more of a young man that everybody can relate to, who is excited and wants to see what is going on in the world," said Khonsari, who says the game's genre is action-adventure.
The game features exploration, stealth and decision making for the survival of the central character, as the player navigates and orchestrates a revolution.
As the government lays down martial law which leads to protests, the military in retaliation start shooting at civilians on a day known as 'Black Friday,' Reza's non-partisan attitude gradually disappears, especially after someone very dear to him gets shot by security officers.
"Until that time, the protests against the Shah were focused on bringing about true democracy and also very much focused on equality, both socially and economically, for the people," Khonsari said. "The Iranian revolution was a success. It overthrew the Shah, he fled the country, and then Khomeini came."
Thereafter enters the feeling of betrayal. Khonsari says, "We see how that drastically changed and how the revolution went from being an inclusive revolution to being deemed as 'the Islamic revolution.' We see how people who fought for the revolution, in particular women, lost their rights."
Disillusioned by the new direction the country takes with the Khomeini administration, Reza's actions immediately make him a threat to the new Islamic government.
"So he transforms from being a hero of the revolution into a member of the opposition, and then, eventually, an enemy of the state," said Khonsari. "The idea was to try to show not just one element in the 'glorified' revolution, but to show the much deeper involvement in not only the revolution but the aftermath of it."
Although the game covers many of the milestones in the history of Iran from 1978 to 1982, Khonsari says he has no intention of preaching.
"I think that people who dont know anything about the Iranian revolution will be able to learn a lot about it, but I should add that education is not my main focus. The idea is to entertain and engage people with the gameplay."
When asked how he thinks Iranians will receive the game, Khonsari said he believes it will be received really well in his homecountry.
"I think that enough time has passed; we are dealing now with the children of the revolution. Iranians are huge consumers of pop culture and certainly video games," he said.
"From what we have seen from analytics in terms of Facebook, and who is interacting with our content, we have a huge amount of support from Iranians, so I think that the young will like it. I think, because it was made by somebody who is outside of Iran, those who might not understand the material will automatically deem it as false without even having experienced it, which is the nature of what people do when they dont understand something."
'1979 Revolution' is planned to be released in September on many different platforms including PC, IOS, Linux, Mac and consoles.
"Its an interesting time right now between Iran and the world because nuclear negotiations are taking place. In terms of the timing, I think that its a great time for us to put this game out, because it just furthers conversation," said Khonsari.
By The Journal of Turkish Weekly
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