Playing as Reza, an Iranian photojournalist, the player makes choices that help determine the fate of Iran.

If you were a fan of the Carmen Sandiego series of computer games back in the day, you're going to love this. A new game called 1979 Revolution: Black Friday lets you play as Reza, an Iranian photojournalist who gets swept into the Iranian revolution.

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Like the Mass Effect series, Revolution has a "choose your own adventure"-style plot, with points throughout where you select just how Reza reacts, which in turn can influence characters' behaviors and the overarching story.

For those who need a refresher, the story goes like this: The Shah of Iran, a U.S. ally, was facing mass protests against his rule in 1978 and in response launched massive crackdowns on people. The protesters coalesced into the 1979 revolution, which saw the Shah flee the country. In the aftermath, communists and Islamists battled over who would control the country. The Islamists won out, putting into place the government Iran still has to this day. (This is an extremely simplified version — you can read more about the days of the revolution here.)

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But rather than holding a giant gun, Reza wields his camera in capturing the early days of the revolution in 1978, before things take a turn for the dangerous as the uprising spirals into new and unplanned territory.

"I think it's deep, deep in the foundation of journalism and photojournalism to try to create a truthful and honest depiction of what took place," director and creator Navid Khonsari told BuzzFeed News. "I've always questioned, 'How can you take that picture when something is happening, how can you report that?' And that was interesting to me. That brings up the morality of a character."

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Throughout the game, there are also opportunities to actually use Reza's camera to capture scenes from the revolution, like this guy covered in photographs of victims of the Shah's brutality.

A straight play through of the game takes about two and a half hours — if you don't bother with any of the exploration points built into the story and don't go back to play through the many plotline branches.

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