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Grand Theft Auto director takes on Iranian revolution – Metro US

Grand Theft Auto director takes on Iranian revolution

In-game image. Via Metro World News In-game image.
Via Metro World News

From jacking cars to smacking the Shah, creative director of video games Grand Theft Auto and Max Payne Navid Khonsari’s new project is a game that allows you to participate in the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

The crowd-funded project will give supreme autonomy to the user, and allow them to experience the bitterness of a shattered dream of liberty.

Metro: Why do we need a game about the Iranian revolt?

Khonsari: The world needs convergence between entertainment and real life. The premise of this game is you can learn more about the type of stories we have seen in recent years [Arab Spring]. In those revolutions you can see the victory and reward, but not what they fought.

Are you going for ultra-realism?

The template is like a TV series, you only play for two hours at a time. We look to create momentum from the departure of the Shah to what happens under the new leadership. It’s through the eyes of a scorned revolutionary, a young man who starts with an impassioned attitude, succeeds and becomes a hero but then becomes an enemy of the regime.

Is this a step to making software guides to real revolution?

There are conversations about revolution because it’s so focused on narrative and we give the player the ability to make moral decisions as the main character. We are looking at other revolutions from El Salvador to Liberia, the US and Cuba.

Will your average player be able to absorb this?

The first goal is an amazing game experience, focused on smartphones and tablets to be immersive. We want it be like [TV dramas] Homeland or Breaking Bad, a journey you get swept away on.