Best voice acting in a video game

[G00N3R7883]

I could mention pretty much all of the Actors and Actresses from the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises, and I think Camilla Luddington deserves a mention for the Tomb Raider reboot ... but if I have to pick the one absolute best, I'm going to go with

Simon Templeman - Loghain, Dragon Age Origins.

Every great story needs a powerful antagonist, and he owned every one of his scenes.

 

[FC Groningen]

The Walking Dead season 1. The voice actors of Clementine and Lee are just outstanding.

 

[Predalienguy]

Any of the Sacrifice gods... particularly Stratos and Charnel

 

[The Madman]

BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!​

Seriously though, the Dawn of War series has some of the best over-the-top shouting I've ever heard in a game. It's hilariously awesome! It must have been so much fun to record some of this stuff.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines was amazing for similar reasons and wins my devotion for some of the most sexy voice acting I've ever heard in a game.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

I really loved the voices in Little Big Adventure 2... mostly from nostalgia, but I liked how the voices fitted the personalities and characterisations.

Spoiler: examples

 

[Ryallen]

Let's see now...

Logan Cunningham, who played Rucks in Bastion and the Transistor in Transistor. Dude's got some serious pipes on him.
Troy Baker from The Last of Us. I give the game shit a lot, that is true, but I have never denied the quality of the voice acting, and damn if Troy Baker didn't just blow it out of the god damn park.
Stamper from Battleblock Theater. I honestly think that Tom Fulp just gave the guy a list of what was happening in the scene, let him go nuts, and just animated around that. [youtube =http://youtu.be/pX613U_DWzE]

Krieg, from Borderlands 2. Voiced by Jason Douglas, who has the best psycho voice that I have ever heard, and I refuse to believe that anyone thinks differently.

 

[cleric of the order]

dawn of war. all of it.

but on more serious, less meymey grounds i suggest
MYTH THE FALLEN LORDs

seriously
(45 seconds, sorry can't seem to embed it to begin at that time)

It is really really well chosen.
The narrator feels like the best man for the job.
The man who i expect to be the voice of croaker from the black company, the IP Myth was inspired by.

 

[StoleitfromKilgore]

How about some german Jon Irenicus. I have only played the game in the german version, but somebody on a forum who has played both the english and german version once suggested that the german voice actor was actually "better". Comparing them on youtube I would say that I like them both, but I still prefer the german one by a margin. Don't know about the rest of the game though. Anyway, I thought it's worth mentioning. Usually I avoid german voice-acting even though its my first language, but BGII is one of the examples were the german voice-acting is actually very good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJBuPVaHtJc

But if I had only one choice I would definitely pick "Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines" (english). I also second "Sacrifice".

 

[THM]

Definitely the actors from Bioshock.

Also, the 'Fire Warrior' Warhammer 40k game. Not a great PS2 title, but it had Tom Baker (yes, that one), Sean Pertwee, Brian Blessed, and Peter Serafinowicz (not sure how his last name is spelled).

 

[Danbo Jambo]

I think that in BG they could suggest and not have to show. When you entered an Inn in BG they had the music and sound effects that allowed you to build the picture in your own head. BG had charm but with 3D you have to draw everything losing that charm. Also the characterization was better, with relatively few lines you knew Minsc with all the dialogue wheel stuff for interacting you dont get a sense of independent existence.

True. But I still think DA:O & The Witcher 2 got close to nailing that vibe. Inn DA:2 & DA:I I reall do feel like I'm playing "space-dragon-effect" at times.

"Rustic", "Medival", "Ole Worlde" - all terms I'd use to describe the BG games and DA:O, but definitely not later Dragon Age games.

 

[cathou]

i'll go for Kill all humans 2, krypto voice actor was very good.

i'll also think of the assassin's creed series, but i've only played the french version. they hire actors that are doing movies dubbing here in Québec. so basically, ezio is dubbed by the guy who dub Johnny Depp for exemple, and a lot of the actors have done movies and tv series as actors and are well nowned here.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

I'm sure this one has been mentioned, but basically the entire 'Legacy of Kain' series.

It helped that they had such outstanding writing, but I thought all the actors and actresses were just perfect for their roles.

Likewise, it had the late and great Tony Jay in it a the voice of the Elder God. Pretty much anything in which Tony Jay lends his voice is instant awesome.

Likewise, 'Sacrifice' had awesome voice acting (Tony Jay was there as well).

And finally, of course, Vaas from Far Cry 3 was just awesome.

 

[Privateatkky]

Keith David does an amazing job in any voice role. If I had to pick one of them it would be his performance as the Arbiter in Halo.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

I could mention pretty much all of the Actors and Actresses from the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises, and I think Camilla Luddington deserves a mention for the Tomb Raider reboot ... but if I have to pick the one absolute best, I'm going to go with

Simon Templeman - Loghain, Dragon Age Origins.

Every great story needs a powerful antagonist, and he owned every one of his scenes.

Very much ditto'd on Luddington and Templeman. I think Crystal Dynamics, Pratchett, and Luddington crafted an incredibly well realised protagonist. I rarely feel immersed or engaged in third-person perspective games from a narrative POV, but with this Lara, TR nailed it perfectly (at least for me).

Loghain's a great antagonist, but I'd qualify that by saying he'd get my, er, vote only when counting him joining your party. The conversations you can have about his - and his daughter's - past elevate him from just an excellently bolshy antagonist, to a great character with nuanced complexity and depth. Templeman does especially well in showing Loghain's range, and that's only showcased when he's spared at the Landsmeet.

(if only Dragon Age Inquisition had an antagonist half or a third as interesting as Loghain... )

Another brilliant piece of acting comes from the already mentioned Courtnee Draper, as BioShock's Elizabeth. The story may have its issues glaring plotholes, but I was sold on the two main characters from the moment they're introduced. I think Infinite's a dull, repetitive shooter with an ultimately wonky narrative, but it had heart and soul to spare, and it had to have the very best performances to deliver on that. Draper's Elizabeth's a standout game character, and she and Baker were just about perfect from beginning to end.

...oh, and lastly: Jo Wyatt's FemHawke in Dragon Age II's my favourite talky-PC, period. That woman's some kind of voice acting genius, and deserves more major roles. Sarcastic FemHawke = pure awesomeness. It's tricky to think of another lead character with as dry a wit - and delivery - as Wyatt's Hawke (especially in a game with dialogue/role choices), yet she also does an exceptionally naturalistic job at the more serious or somber moments with the story.

 

[Chester Rabbit]

Keith David does an amazing job in any voice role. If I had to pick one of them it would be his performance as the Arbiter in Halo.

Gah I forgot Keith David. Mainly because I don't primarily associate him with video games seeing how I heard that voice long before I played Halo 2 and Mass Effect. And though I love those roles. I think my favorite has to be him as Spawn.

 

[BaronVH]

Statement: HK-47. Interjection: Die, meatbag!

 

[soren7550]

Gonna exclude anything BioWare, BioShock, and Troy Baker since they're all givens.

Fable 3


As well as having an ensemble cast of great actors playing the major characters, for me what makes the voice acting in this game so good are all the minor NPCs who are voiced by great character actors, lesser known names, but hard working and talented stalwarts of British TV and radio who lend their talents in making Albion a believable and immersive world (e.g. Sean Pertwee, Mark Heap, Simon Greenall, Lewid Macleod, Karl Theobald, Edward Hardwicke, Rosie Cavaliero, Sarah Hadland, Jo Wyatt).

In my opinion, there isn't a single character or piece of voice acting in this game which isn't well written and derived by a top notch voice actor excelling at their craft, no matter how minor or inconsequential the character.

Fable 3 may have a lot of flaws as a video game, but the voice acting and writing NPCs and their dialogue isn't one of them.

This very much. I love the characters so much because their voices are so good, and I find Fassbender terrifying because of his work in Fable III.

One I really love is Gaige in Borderlands 2, her voice actress just does hyper dorky teenager so well:


Another I've thoroughly enjoyed overall is Laura Bailey. She does cool and disinterested with a side of badass in Saints Row and Tales from the Borderlands so well.

 

[deleted+75193]

DELETED

 

[Rayce Archer]

Arif S. Kinchen!
He has some amazing dialog in Marlow Briggs too, but I'm having trouble finding clips because nobody played it.

 

[soren7550]

Oh, one (or rather a few) that I forgot are a majority of the CoD games (I say majority since I haven't played them all, and World at War & Black Ops... the less said about a lot of the acting there, the better). Brooklyn, Price, Irons, Shepherd, Makarov, and more just give so damn much to their roles that it's a shame that less and less attention is given to the single player campaign.

In some instances, I can understand​

The less said about Mason [http://www.gamesradar.com/the-top-7-awful-fake-accents/] and the main Americans in World at War [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJMCjTYbz4s], the better.