Mass Effect 2 Cast List Announced

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[Knight Templar]

Not a bad list, lacks Jeremy Irons and Michael Wincott, the two best voices on the earth but still not a bad list.

Sadly, the overuse of apostraphes and vowels in sci-fi is pandemic. I mean, really, "Shala'Raan vas Tonbay??" Really, BioWare?

Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay is clearly a quarian name, so i guess they want the quarians to have a "feel" to them.

 

[qbanknight]

martin sheen and adam baldwin together in a videogame...kay

 

[Omikron009]

Wonderful. I hope I can choose "Kal Reegar" as a party member and piss him of by calling him Jayne all the time. Does he get a hat?

 

[Comma-Kazie]

Michael Hogan!?! *fanboy squeal* Man, Bioware really DID pull out all the stops.

 

[sneakypenguin]

Damn Michael Dorn Just Keeps getting Typecast. when are they gonna let him lose those brow ridges!

Impressive set of voice actors. but would expect no less from BioWare

I know most people remember Adam Baldwin for Firefly but to me he has always and will always be Animal Mother.

I like to think of him as Major John Casey from Chuck. =-) That show is frickin' sweet. Yvonne is in there too?!?! Jesus, the only way it could get better is if Zachary Levi was in it also...............mmmmmmmmmmmm. They should just make a Chuck video game, that would be awesome.

(black woman voice) Praise Jesus! A fellow chuck fan, that show freaking rocks and no one seems to watch it. Tis a shame.

Casey: Stay in the car.
Chuck: That's my four favorite words.

Chuck: Is it really so wrong for me to want a night off? I was having a really good time too until the assassins stole my pants and tried to kill me! I've earned it! I deserve it! [Casey hits him with a tranq dart] I'm losing consciousness...
Sarah: CASEY!
Casey: My ears couldn't take it. Either that or I shoot him.


On topic, seth green as the joker irritated me(the character doesn't seem to match the voice to me)

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

It's nice to see Seth Green and Keith David returning to reprise their roles. Their characters characters were some of the most engaging members of the alliance.

Hold it... Let me check that again...

Mass Effect 2 Cast List Announced
Martin Sheen [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000640/] ("Illusive Man")

Martin Sheen is the voice of the spooks?

 

[TheEndlessGrey]

That's quite a line-up. Considering the ridiculous amount of dialogue a voice-actor has to record in an average BioWare game, it's nice to see that it's going to be in the hands of...well...talented people.

...Emmy award-winning Martin Sheen? That's like getting Orson Welles to be in the Transformers animated film from the 80s...

Yeah, but Orson Welles died right after that movie.

Please BioWare...don't kill Martin Sheen.

Yes, let's make this more of a Max von Sydow appearing in Conan type of thing.

 

[Jandau]

When I see lineups like this I can't help but laugh inside at all crying the gaming industry is doing over the "rising" costs of producing games. Maybe if they didn't spend so much money on overpriced voice acting, they'd be better off...

 

[karmapolizei]

When I see lineups like this I can't help but laugh inside at all crying the gaming industry is doing over the "rising" costs of producing games. Maybe if they didn't spend so much money on overpriced voice acting, they'd be better off...

Yeah, I really want everything to be like the 90s again, when "not horrible" was the greatest compliment you could give to videogame voice acting. Hell, nothing in this is "overpriced"! If you have a story-driven game, you need proper voice actors, and unfortunately, a lot of those big names cost a lot for a reason - it's because they're good.
And (again, compare 90s video games) it's one of the production values where more money still has a lot of effect - compared to, say, graphics.

So hooray for Bioware... but a shame they don't seem to have Henriksen anymore. And don't say it's because he was on Mewtwo, because Keith David was as well.

 

[Jandau]

When I see lineups like this I can't help but laugh inside at all crying the gaming industry is doing over the "rising" costs of producing games. Maybe if they didn't spend so much money on overpriced voice acting, they'd be better off...

Yeah, I really want everything to be like the 90s again, when "not horrible" was the greatest compliment you could give to videogame voice acting. Hell, nothing in this is "overpriced"! If you have a story-driven game, you need proper voice actors, and unfortunately, a lot of those big names cost a lot for a reason - it's because they're good.
And (again, compare 90s video games) it's one of the production values where more money still has a lot of effect - compared to, say, graphics.

So hooray for Bioware... but a shame they don't seem to have Henriksen anymore. And don't say it's because he was on Mewtwo, because Keith David was as well.

So, according to you it either has to be a lineup to shame most movies and high-production TV shows or it has to be terrible? Riiight... No such thing as "middle ground"? Maybe hire professional voice actors who'd likely do a better job but cost less? It's either one extreme or the other for you?

 

[karmapolizei]

So, according to you it either has to be a lineup to shame most movies and high-production TV shows or it has to be terrible? Riiight... No such thing as "middle ground"? Maybe hire professional voice actors who'd likely do a better job but cost less? It's either one extreme or the other for you?

In a way, yes. I realize, of course, that this is kinda "special interest" territory, but to me, everything below "really, really good" in voice acting actually is terrible. And of course there's a lot of lesser-known voice actors that are really good, and some of them are even on the cast of Mass Effect, take Jennifer Hale for example, who did a terrific job for ME's She-Shep.

But still, I love to have Martin Sheen in a video game, because he's just BRILLIANT.
Also: Nerd-gasms and Sheen aside: These names are anything but high-profile. Even Seth Green is more nerd-fame than actual, full-blown real world fame, right?

 

[Daquin]

The real question is will Raphael "Carth" Sbarge be returning to give the inevitable "Space Jesus" character another go.

(even though Kaiden is sort of a different character, to me, he is the Mass Effect version of Carth...just for the voice)

 

[Amnestic]

The real question is will Raphael "Carth" Sbarge be returning to give the inevitable "Space Jesus" character another go.

(even though Kaiden is sort of a different character, to me, he is the Mass Effect version of Carth...just for the voice)

Last I heard, all the ME1 characters were returning with their original voice actors, so "Carth" should be making his comeback.

Not that I care. Kaiden sucked. I'll take Tali, Wrex and Garrus over him any day ;<

 

[Jandau]

So, according to you it either has to be a lineup to shame most movies and high-production TV shows or it has to be terrible? Riiight... No such thing as "middle ground"? Maybe hire professional voice actors who'd likely do a better job but cost less? It's either one extreme or the other for you?

In a way, yes. I realize, of course, that this is kinda "special interest" territory, but to me, everything below "really, really good" in voice acting actually is terrible. And of course there's a lot of lesser-known voice actors that are really good, and some of them are even on the cast of Mass Effect, take Jennifer Hale for example, who did a terrific job for ME's She-Shep.

But still, I love to have Martin Sheen in a video game, because he's just BRILLIANT.
Also: Nerd-gasms and Sheen aside: These names are anything but high-profile. Even Seth Green is more nerd-fame than actual, full-blown real world fame, right?

The thing is, I'm less than excited about famous TV and movie actors because they often aren't that good when it comes to voice acting (it's different than screen acting) and because it's not uncommon for them to phone it in. A good example would be Morrigan in Dragon Age. She's voiced by Claudia Black, a good TV actress that I loved in both Farscape and SG-1. She also has an interesting voice. However, the quality of her work in DA was debatable and a lot of her lines were just read in a flat monotone. While I'm glad to hear her voice, I'd also like some actual acting to be done with it.

On the other hand, professional voice actors are better qualified and practiced when it comes to voice work (obviously) and this is their chosen profession so they are more enthusiastic about it. Furthermore, they are usually priced lower than TV/Movie actors.

Making a star-studded voice cast like the one for ME2 is a publicity stunt and not a guarantee of quality. I also preffer the best voice work in my games and that's why I belive it should be handled by professionals who do that sort of thing for a living.

 

[Amnestic]

Damn Michael Dorn Just Keeps getting Typecast. when are they gonna let him lose those brow ridges!

The guy is known for playing a Klingon. And if he really had a problem with it, would he take these roles all the time?

A Klingon man's gotta eat.

 

[karmapolizei]

The thing is, I'm less than excited about famous TV and movie actors because they often aren't that good when it comes to voice acting (it's different than screen acting) and because it's not uncommon for them to phone it in. A good example would be Morrigan in Dragon Age. She's voiced by Claudia Black, a good TV actress that I loved in both Farscape and SG-1. She also has an interesting voice. However, the quality of her work in DA was debatable and a lot of her lines were just read in a flat monotone. While I'm glad to hear her voice, I'd also like some actual acting to be done with it.

On the other hand, professional voice actors are better qualified and practiced when it comes to voice work (obviously) and this is their chosen profession so they are more enthusiastic about it. Furthermore, they are usually priced lower than TV/Movie actors.

Making a star-studded voice cast like the one for ME2 is a publicity stunt and not a guarantee of quality. I also preffer the best voice work in my games and that's why I belive it should be handled by professionals who do that sort of thing for a living.

Alright, can't argue with that. But still, the I don't agree with you saying the ME 2 cast is "star strudded". Apart from Martin Sheen, nobody on this list is an actual star. Again, Seth Green might come close, but no more than that (and he kind of IS a voice actor, what with Robot Chicken and all that).

 

[mishagale]

So, according to you it either has to be a lineup to shame most movies and high-production TV shows or it has to be terrible? Riiight... No such thing as "middle ground"? Maybe hire professional voice actors who'd likely do a better job but cost less? It's either one extreme or the other for you?

In a way, yes. I realize, of course, that this is kinda "special interest" territory, but to me, everything below "really, really good" in voice acting actually is terrible.

I think you're on to something there. Since all the visual acting is being done (at best) by motion capture, the voice acting has to be really good to overcome the Uncanny Valley effect. Since RPG devs seem slow to pick up really good facial animation tech (ala Source) and insist on having their characters stand stock-still to talk, OK or even good voice acting can seem rubbish overall. Even if you've got the animation nailed, current technology still just can't make the characters live on it's own, it needs good actors* to bridge the gap.

*And note that good actor != good voice actor. Games companies should approach some of the Big Finish cast for voice talent.

 

[The Shade]

They should just make a Chuck video game, that would be awesome.

I'd play that.


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This game cannot possibly come fast enough... praise be to BioWare!