I think the fact of the matter is just that in order to simulate the phalanx effectiveness from the front it has been tweaked so much it is ûbermensch.
I get more and more convinced of that the more battles against them I fight. And that is historically incorrect. Determined, flexible and mobile troops, be they Roman legionaires, Spanish Tercios or the Doppelsöldnern of the medieval/renaissance pikeblocks would break up and beat the phalanx/pikeblock (in effect they are almost the same) most of the time.