Well yeah but isn't that indictment only half of what the game's trying to communicate? Or even just a part? As well as indicting the brutal western past that haunts the main character, his ultimate demise is at the cold, untrustworthy hands of progress. While the past was filled with villains, there were also heroes, but ultimately it doesn't matter where you stand to a government that needs to organize the anarchy that dominated that time period. From a different perspective, civilization is as monstrous as the west, and the government is comparable to Dutch's gang. If players leave feeling nostalgic for the west its probably because the ending makes you feel almost sympathetic for Dutch, a man who at least seemed to communicate some honor and aspiration in his murder and mayhem, as compared to the slimy, self-interested bowler who ultimately does John in.
I think like all Rockstar games, the story has to be viewed from the most cynical perspective, one where truth means tragedy, and heroics are a joke, and the best you can hope for your protagonists is that they walk away from their ordeal alive, and with a more grounded appreciation for their own slice of peace in whatever hell they reside in.
dcumm313's comments