Ok, let me first start this off by saying that I am not suggesting RWR should seek to adopt an anti-war message, nor that if it doesn't, there's something wrong with it. As it stands RWR is awesome fun and I don't need it to convey a political/philosophical message.
Having said that - out of curiosity, mostly - while playing, has anyone been struck by an undertone of the wastefulness of war (in terms of human lives)? Especially with the new blood decals, and the body-count for a typical game in literally the hundreds if not thousands, I'm really struck by how these little soldiers are basically just cannon fodder.
I use the term "cannon fodder" deliberately here because that game generated some attention when it was released, not in small part because it was perceived as an anti-war war game. So what this all comes down to is this: If there is intended to be any type of message sent by RWR (or if that's something the developers want to explore at some point), I wonder if it could take some cues from Cannon Fodder such as the increasing number of gravestones on the title screen. With each tiny soldier having a name and occasionally speaking, I think there's interesting potential here, even if it comes through in a mod. I'm not suggesting I want soldiers spamming their life stories mid-battle, but imagine if occasionally friendly (and enemy) soldiers would share personal details while waiting in the trenches or running toward a waypoint?
Anyway, like I said, I'm not campaigning for this to become a message-game. Just wanted to see if anyone else had given this some thought. Regardless, I continue to have a hell of a lot of fun with the game.
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