HotChops Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamil are so good that I'm excluding Batman: Arkham Asylum. I'm also tempted to discount Mass Effect because it's operating on an entirely different level from other games. If I'm not mistaken, ME2 had about 55,000 lines of dialogue. But I certainly have to pick Mass Effect. Tali is a fantastic example. Without a visible face, the burden of conveying emotion is almost entirely on the voice actor. If you think about it, Tali's voice actress does superb work: you sense her paranoia and strength when she's ambushed by Fist's thugs, you feel her despair when she goes looking for her father, and you can tell how pissed off she is when she joins the Cerberus crew. Similar nods go to Lance Henrikson and Tricia Helfer, who have to deliver their lines in the absence of an actual face (with the recent exception of Arrival and Henrikson.) I also agree that Red Dead Redemption has very good voice acting. Occasionally characters deliver their lines with cigars or cigarettes in their mouths and it comes together very well. Likewise, the accents are spot-on. A lot of developers outside of the American southwest employ terrible southern accents (take Crysis 2 for example). I live in a part of Texas that still holds onto it's cowboy roots, and I know a good Texas accent when I hear it. On that note, I really look forward to L.A. Noire. Some people don't understand how difficult it is today to find people who can accurately portray characters from the mid 20th century. I think that they've made some great choices for that game, and this time it won't be a simple matter of voicework either. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 You guy's really have even the slightest doubt that I was serious? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vargras Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 Mass Effect 2, femshep is some of the best I've ever heard. Mass Effect 1 femshep always sounded like someone had put sand in her vagina... I don't remember anything about her voice acting in ME2 though, which means it probably was pretty good. Fem Shepard is voiced by Jennifer Hale, who also voiced Cortana in the Halo series and Samus Aran in most of the Metroid Prime trilogy (if not all of it, I'm not entirely sure on the last game). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
excel_excel Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 (edited) I actually thought Kevin Conroy was a bit stoic and unemotionless in Arkham Asylum. Compare his voice work in the game to the animated series and its movies and the difference is there. Edited March 31, 2011 by excel_excel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyber Rat Posted March 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 I'm also tempted to discount Mass Effect because it's operating on an entirely different level from other games. If I'm not mistaken, ME2 had about 55,000 lines of dialogue. I honestly don't wish to disregard dialogue heavy games or big budget games. If they bothered to invest in good VA, then credit where credit is due. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 Mass Effect 2, femshep is some of the best I've ever heard. Mass Effect 1 femshep always sounded like someone had put sand in her vagina... I don't remember anything about her voice acting in ME2 though, which means it probably was pretty good. Fem Shepard is voiced by Jennifer Hale, who also voiced Cortana in the Halo series and Samus Aran in most of the Metroid Prime trilogy (if not all of it, I'm not entirely sure on the last game). Yeah, I know it's the same actress in both ME1 and ME2. I wasn't trying to say the actress was bad overall, just that I didn't care for her performance in ME1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Heart Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 Jennifer Hale did not voice Cortana. That would've ruined Halo for me. Jen Taylor was very good. Speaking of Halo (and Uncharted...and Mass Effect's EDI), got to love the ODSTs too. I remember seeing a preview for ME2 and thinking Yvonne Strahovski might be terrible (the line they show her delivering was thankfully not the take they used in the final game) but I was surprised at how good she was. I mean, I usually find 'typical' Australian accents annoying but I love her voice. At that point, I had not seen Chuck so I had no idea that 'cold and distant, with occasional moments of warmth' was what she had been doing for a while already. Can't really fault any of the Mass Effect voice cast, I even liked Zaeed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotChops Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 I actually thought Kevin Conroy was a bit stoic and unemotionless in Arkham Asylum. Compare his voice work in the game to the animated series and its movies and the difference is there. I agree, and I don't know if he had trouble because he didn't have good animation to guide him or what. Hopefully it'll be better in the sequel. Mass Effect 2, femshep is some of the best I've ever heard. Mass Effect 1 femshep always sounded like someone had put sand in her vagina... I don't remember anything about her voice acting in ME2 though, which means it probably was pretty good. Fem Shepard is voiced by Jennifer Hale, who also voiced Cortana in the Halo series and Samus Aran in most of the Metroid Prime trilogy (if not all of it, I'm not entirely sure on the last game). Yeah, I know it's the same actress in both ME1 and ME2. I wasn't trying to say the actress was bad overall, just that I didn't care for her performance in ME1. She does sound kind of bitchy. That's why my renegade character is a femshep. It's a good fit imo. Occasionally she uses her tender voice, such as when she's romancing a character. To be fair, I think part of the problem is that classic double standard towards strong women. Femshep is obligated to be as strong and tough as her male counterpart. Afterall, she's the captain of the ship and a SPECTRE, arguably she's appropriately assertive. I can't speak for everyone else, but I think that she just seems bitchy to me because she's a strong female character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 I don't think that's it, cause she's equally strong in ME2 but doesn't sound so bitchy to me in that game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Heart Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 I actually thought Kevin Conroy was a bit stoic and unemotionless in Arkham Asylum. Compare his voice work in the game to the animated series and its movies and the difference is there. Having watched Mask of the Phantasm last night, I did notice a slight difference but I think it was more to do with that Batman not looking like he suited that voice (as if it's ever easy to match a voice to a mostly-disguised person). Obviously, that's just me though. Part of it might be that he was having to sort of explain gameplay elements in some of the dialogue? Compared to Mask of the Phantasm, Mark Hamill was really hamming it up in Arkham Asylum. Although, I think it worked with that version of The Joker anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vargras Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 Jennifer Hale did not voice Cortana. That would've ruined Halo for me. Jen Taylor was very good. Speaking of Halo (and Uncharted...and Mass Effect's EDI), got to love the ODSTs too. I remember seeing a preview for ME2 and thinking Yvonne Strahovski might be terrible (the line they show her delivering was thankfully not the take they used in the final game) but I was surprised at how good she was. I mean, I usually find 'typical' Australian accents annoying but I love her voice. At that point, I had not seen Chuck so I had no idea that 'cold and distant, with occasional moments of warmth' was what she had been doing for a while already. Can't really fault any of the Mass Effect voice cast, I even liked Zaeed. WHATEVS, MAN. She still voiced Samus, even if they were grunts of pain and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTF Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 Since the new spider-man game is a go and it's amazing and 2099 I'm guessing NPH and Radioactive Spider-Blood (90s cartoon intro reference) guy will be returning for that later this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgamemnonV2 Posted April 3, 2011 Report Share Posted April 3, 2011 Oblivion had hands down the best voice actors in any game. They were so good even Patrick Stewart couldn't compete n was only able to do a few lines before bethseda wrote his character out of the game to avoid his attempts dragging down the rest of the game. The vocal range was amazing too. The way between conversation options Old_Woman_7c could go from a croaking hag to a high class duchess type voice was frankly amazing. For all Nolan north get's praise he could only do the one voice throughout Uncharted. Wes Johnson makes up for 97% of this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmj966e7saE&feature=related HAMMMMMMM IT UP! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted April 3, 2011 Report Share Posted April 3, 2011 The vocal range was amazing too. The way between conversation options Old_Woman_7c could go from a croaking hag to a high class duchess type voice was frankly amazing. Fallout 3 and New Vegas had this problem too, where characters would change voice actors mid-conversation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyber Rat Posted April 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2011 I have an exam this week, so you folks are free to add any new suggestions until Sunday. After that, I'm gonna start going through the list, eliminating stuff and compiling a Top "somenumber" (haven't decided yet how top). Check the first post to see whether your suggestion has already been mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorgi Duke of Frisbee Posted April 4, 2011 Report Share Posted April 4, 2011 Oblivion had hands down the best voice actors in any game. They were so good even Patrick Stewart couldn't compete n was only able to do a few lines before bethseda wrote his character out of the game to avoid his attempts dragging down the rest of the game. The vocal range was amazing too. The way between conversation options Old_Woman_7c could go from a croaking hag to a high class duchess type voice was frankly amazing. For all Nolan north get's praise he could only do the one voice throughout Uncharted. Wes Johnson makes up for 97% of this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmj966e7saE&feature=related HAMMMMMMM IT UP! Oh man. I completely forgot about that. That is indeed terribad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Posted April 4, 2011 Report Share Posted April 4, 2011 The vocal range was amazing too. The way between conversation options Old_Woman_7c could go from a croaking hag to a high class duchess type voice was frankly amazing. Fallout 3 and New Vegas had this problem too, where characters would change voice actors mid-conversation. Not nearly as often though. I encountered it all the time in Oblivion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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