The Rule of Cool. Tvtropes talked about that. Sometimes, I like it. (See my article about DMC3.) Sometimes, I don't. (FUCK Hellsing.)
There's a game franchise I like that makes good use of the Rule of Cool. Namely, Dynasty Warriors.
Okay, so I've only played DW3 and 4, and I played their Xbox conversions. (I didn't have a PS2 at the time. What difference does it make!? It has a hard drive!) As far as (mostly) mindless action games go, it's really good. However, there's something I've noticed.
DW is based of the Three Kingdoms era of Ancient China. Some of the characters in the game were real people. Real historical figures in . . . an action game. Think about that for a moment. It doesn't seem all that strange when you first play it, especially since the source material, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, contains a few exaggerations of its own, but, what if someone was to portray a war hero in the manner that DW does, but for a more, modern persona? Imagine how the American Revolution would look.
"Sir, the Redcoats! They've outnumbered us! What'll we do!?"
"Hey, wait . . . look over there! It's General Washington!"
{Show General George Washington on horseback, riding to the front, looking completely badass. He kills a bunch of British soldiers, using his saber, a number of flintlock guns, and his own badassery. He never speaks, until he kills a British officer.}
"I defeated an officer!"
"Hooray for General Washington! Now our morale has improved!"
You see what I mean? But that doesn't mean the DW games are any less enjoyable. Oh no; quite the contrary.
