Pretty much every videogame character, particularly those in genres like FPS, RPG, JRPG, etc, are one dimensional cliches.
But you know, in the end the design is more focused on the game than the writing, etc. I know some developers employ writers but let's be honest, none of them are exactly top of the line literature novelists are they?
Specifically for the FPS badass grunts, I blame Jim Cameron for making the whole thing look so cool in Aliens.
I mean sure, I'd like to see someone take more of a risk - I mean Nathan Drake in Uncharted was engaging enough (if cliched) and at least believable in an Indiana Jones way.
But I think we're a ways away from a developer sinking $20 Million into an FPS with realistic, flawed characters, real world settings, no easy answers and complex narratives that leave you thinking and perhaps troubled with the sense they've lost rather than won.
Good job for books and films is what I say.
Try to be reasonable... its easier than you think...
