10 Games with Oscar Worthy Voice Acting

As video games have progressed through the years, starting first as simplistic exercises in hand-eye coordination and eventually evolving into the fully fleshed cinematic experiences we enjoy today, we've seen the evolution of game performances from the cringe-inducing (Rebel Assault anyone?) to the tear-inducing (Metal Gear Solid 4). Voice acting is a particular art, it requires just as much preparation and research of a character as any other form of performance, and can sometimes even be more difficult for the actor, depending on the method of production.

You'll notice a lot of these games are only from the past ten years (and that's stretching it), but there's good reason. Games have grown a lot in the last decade, and with them, the performances. Gamers are a more nit-picky crowd than they were in the mid 90's, and the influx of A-level talent performing in games is testament to that. So, someone, please, give these games an Oscar. If god damned Crash has one, there is no excuse.

 

 

 

 

Bare with me for a moment. I realize that the voice acting in the Max Payne games are melodramatic and full of nonsense, but that is entirely the point! For a game casting to fulfill exactly what its developers were going for, Max Payne hits the nail on the head and delivers to the best of their ability. James McCaffrey uses his deep voice to bring a film-noir like sensibility to the titular character, as does Wendy Hoopes with her portrayal of Mona Sax, the game's femme fatale. Through outrageous metaphors and soap-opera quality dialog, the actors are able to flesh out the perfect melodrama experience.

 

  

 

 

The PlayStation 2 was a mecca for new platforming franchises. Since the birth of Super Mario 64, the platforming genre had been a relatively lackluster area as most games attempted to copy its formula and success, but failed. In the early 2000's, there was a sudden burst of new, great platformers that took the presentation of the genre to a new level while retaining the same classic elements.

 

Sly Cooper was my personal favorite. Not only did it have cutie animalias, but the cel-shading was gorgeous and obviously, the voice acting top notch. With its heist-film setup and cartoon style, the Danny Ocean-style wit of Sly played by Kevin Miller, nerdy tech turtle Bentley played by Matt Olsen, and bumbling demolitions brute Murray played by Chris Murphy all nail their roles. Jokes don't fall flat, and the entire experience is locked down by the performances.

 

And, Carmelita Fox, played by three different actors in the three games, is the sexiest cartoon this side of Jessica Rabbit.

 

  

 

 

I'm gonna go ahead and dump the awesomeness of the Jak series' voice acting success on The Sopranos and Doogie Howser, M.D. actor Max Casella, who provided the voice of Daxter throughout every game. The rest of the cast is good, sure, but it's Daxter that provides both the humorous and emotional through-lines of the series. 

 

To prove my point, I give you a particular favorite line from Jak 3:

 

"Yeah, whatever. Isn't it kinda nice to just curl up in the shade sometimes? Just chillin it... watching the hot babes prancing around in their skimpy little bikinis. Ya know, how they just jiggle. I get that special tingling feeling in my tail."  -Daxter.

 

Point proven? 

 

 

 

 

Though the only person in the game that reprises their role from the films is Jimmy Smits as Bail Organa, the substitute cast is efficient enough, but it's the two leads that really push this game to a whole new level of performance, at least as far as Star Wars games go. Sam Witwer and Nathalie Cox as Starkiller and Juno Eclipse (who, coincidentally, also appeared on our list counting down the best T&A in gaming) respectively, have great chemistry together - as much as pixelated avatars can  - and make the game's canonical storyline leave a lasting impression.

 

Though there are some missteps in certain performances, the overall experience is a high quality presentation that makes The Force Unleashed the best Star Wars game since Rogue Leader. 

 

 

 

 

It may have been repetitive and grown relatively stale after a short while, but one can't deny the quality of the incessant jokes and gags that are delivered by the film's entire original cast. Bill Murray sounds more lively than we've seen him in years, Dan Aykroyd sounds relevant again, Harold Ramis' bloated old-man body is hidden by his on-screen skinny Egon Spengler, and Ernie Hudson is still the underbilled black man that is way more of a badass than the rest of the team. 

 

Though the game may not have delivered on all fronts, it's worth playing through just to be able to pretend that there isn't a decade of struggle to try and get these guys back together IRL for a new film. 

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure that anyone really expected the Kingdom Hearts concept to work, but work it did. Thanks largely to the A-list cast assembled to play the Square Enix characters, including Haley Joel Osment, Lance Bass, Mandy Moore, David Boreanaz, Billy Zane and Hayden Panettiere, not to mention most of the original voices for the Disney characters - Sean Astin, James Woods, Gilbert Gottfried and more - the game reached new heights for a licensed game.

 

I'm not entirely sure where the inspiration to cast Lance Bass as Sephiroth came from, but the casting director for this game should be given an unlimited supply of Mickey Mouse ice cream bars. 

 

 

 

 

What is there say about the voice work in GTA that hasn't been said already? Starting with Grand Theft Auto III, the series has attracted actors from all over to play both major and minor characters. Samuel L. Jackson, James Woods, Ray Liotta, and so many more have all been immortalized (and demoralized) in video game history, courtesy of Rockstar. 

 

With GTA IV, the usually comically over-the-top franchise took a step in the more serious direction, and delivered a film-quality drama tale of immigrant Niko Bellic trying to make his own American dream, and of course, not finding exactly what he expected. Even more commendable on GTA IV is that Rockstar delivered without having to rely on A-list Hollywood talent.

 

 

 

 

David Hayter. Not only did he write the first two X-Men films and help adapt Watchmen to the big screen, the man is the voice of Solid Snake from the gloriously cinematic Metal Gear Solid series. The man is a nerd's wet dream when it comes to career possibilities. Oh, he also got to voice Captain America in X-Men: Evolution.

 

In seriousness, the vocal work in these games are phenomenal, especially when you consider how many cut scenes or codec transmissions you are actually watching. The ratio of quality to quantity is important in voice work, and it says something about the talent involved when 99% of hours upon hours of dialog is pitch perfect.

 

 

 

 

 

I fully realize that this game came out less than a month ago, yet it's already shot to the near top of this list that encompasses over ten years of games. But the way I see it, this is a continuation of Batman: The Animated Series, at least as far as the voice acting goes, and that began long before any of the previously mentioned games. Using that train of thought, Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Arleen Sorkin are here at the ground floor of what is hopefully the start of a new era for quality games based on comic book characters.

 

The trio from the classic animated series take their characters and inject just a little more madness into them, sending their performances from the cartoon world to something resembling reality. And Hamill's Joker? Man. Just spooky.

 

 

 

 

When I speak of Bioshock, I often tell my listeners (my cat) a tale of woe. I tell them of how it felt to play the game for the very first time, to experience the twists and turns of the story, and how I wish I could somehow erase my memory and be able to experience it again. Of course a lot of effort was poured into the experience, but the environments and storyline would all be for naught if the performances weren't of equal value.

Bioshock's real achievement is being able to tell the narrative using voice acting only. If you think about it, there are maybe two actual cutscenes in the entire game. The rest of the story is told through the tapes you collect and over Rapture's loud speaker. The game immerses you in the environment and keeps you there with the high quality voice work chilling you to your bone. I was poor(er) when I first played this game, and I played it on a a standard def TV with no surround sound of any kind. Blasphemy, yes, but guess what? It was the voice acting that made it not matter.