In the genre of action games, market success depends almost entirely on establishing a game's protagonist as a grade-A badass ... and there is an arms race going on.
Common-or-garden-variety Navy SEALS, ex-Green Berets, veteran Marines and hardboiled cops might as well be tree surgeons. Even the go-to Asiatic badasses -- samurai, ninja and kung-fu masters -- need much more than bushido, ninjustsu and the Mantis Fist to turn heads.
Gimmick after grim gimmick piles up, and last year's over-the-top asskicker looks like a 19th-century gentleman pugilist this season.