Most shooters have players who amount to steely-eyed supermen, never taking a moment out of their busy day to look at the new guy who just walked in the room and give him so much as a nod. May I suggest for the purposes of atmospherics, immersion, and a direct visual indicator of morale that when two players come close together and neither are looking down their sights or otherwise busy, characters might turn their heads toward one another, make eye contact, give a nod or a grin or a scowl or a wide-eyed look of raw unbridled terror, and then go back to what they were doing.
Consider; you run into the kitchen of some godforsaken apartment where Fritz is in cover peeking over the kitchen table. You walk past him, and for a second his eyes follow you (triggered by a teammate in close proximity entering his field of view). Suddenly a spatter of pistol rounds smack into the table, and Fritz's eyes go wide with sudden terror (triggered by supression). He starts shooting furiously and you hear a Russian slump over just past the door, falling through the doorway and his eyes wandering to the toes of your boots (you're imagining things, or maybe he actually did look at you?!). Fritz gets a maniac grin (a kill scored in good team morale), hops up, and runs through to the next room. Now compare the possibility for an emotional, human connection with both teammates and enemies with the current status quo of robotic, unemotional characters. Also consider the possibilities for the enemy; if two targets pull up beside eachother, and one nods to the other, you suddenly know who outranks who in that foxhole and can aim accordingly.
Of course, these animations wouldn't be seen first-person; your view won't change even if your character turns his head a little to the left. And they would need to be fairly subtle and not too common, to keep from overwhelming the player. But if TWI wants to add real polish to the game and make teammates feel like they're human beings in the same experience rather than characters in a game, I think something like this would make the game have some really unforgetable moments.
Consider; you run into the kitchen of some godforsaken apartment where Fritz is in cover peeking over the kitchen table. You walk past him, and for a second his eyes follow you (triggered by a teammate in close proximity entering his field of view). Suddenly a spatter of pistol rounds smack into the table, and Fritz's eyes go wide with sudden terror (triggered by supression). He starts shooting furiously and you hear a Russian slump over just past the door, falling through the doorway and his eyes wandering to the toes of your boots (you're imagining things, or maybe he actually did look at you?!). Fritz gets a maniac grin (a kill scored in good team morale), hops up, and runs through to the next room. Now compare the possibility for an emotional, human connection with both teammates and enemies with the current status quo of robotic, unemotional characters. Also consider the possibilities for the enemy; if two targets pull up beside eachother, and one nods to the other, you suddenly know who outranks who in that foxhole and can aim accordingly.
Of course, these animations wouldn't be seen first-person; your view won't change even if your character turns his head a little to the left. And they would need to be fairly subtle and not too common, to keep from overwhelming the player. But if TWI wants to add real polish to the game and make teammates feel like they're human beings in the same experience rather than characters in a game, I think something like this would make the game have some really unforgetable moments.