Voice actors need to get MAD!

[Clive Howlitzer]

One of the more satisfying things for me in any video game is when I hear a voice actor actually sound angry. A lot of the times, a video game voices equivalent of anger is this forced and awkward slightly raised voice.
It is always nice to hear them cut loose and actually sound angry(Even if the in-game animation can't always keep up) or have them actually yell. It always helps to raise the tension in a scene up a little bit more. It is a shame that the way most companies handle voice acting, sort of goes against this. The way they hand over scripts the day of, just reading lines in a booth all in one shot, no interaction with other voice actors.
I wonder if that is why the Legacy of Kain series is my favorite for voice acting, they were all given their scripts ahead of time and interacted with each other in the same room while reading their lines. It must have helped a lot to get the mood.
-EDIT-
Someone mentioned this didn't allow for discussion so I guess I'll tack this on. What experiences in games leaped out at you as having some angry voice acting that sounded real? You could use other emotions as well. Or on the other side, how many times has great voice acting been brought down by shoddy character animations? I am looking at you, Skyrim!

 

[Shirastro]

uhm ok..........

I guess i agree but i don't see a lot of discussion value here.

 

[Squarez]

Wouldn't this post be better suited to a blog or something?

 

[])rStrangelove]

IMO some of the best voice actors are the ppl on the streets in AC1. Angry guards ("Dirty thief!") and those annoying old ladies ("NOOOO you don't understand, i need the money. I BEG OF U SIR I BEG OF U!").

Jeez.

 

[ChupathingyX]

I thought Carl Weathers (Apollo Creed from Rocky) did a great job at sounding angry in Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. When you first meet his character, Col. Garrett, he's going off at one of his officers about why they're being attacked and aren't allowed to do anything.

Also, there are quite a few characters in the Dawn of war games that like to scream.

 

[MercurySteam]

Well from what I've seen, Bioshock Infinite is going to have some of the best voice acting ever:


Courtnee Draper actually gets Troy Baker to shout at her to get her into an emotional state for the scene. Now that's real voice acting.

 

[The Madman]

My thoughts instantly went to the Dawn of War series and the Chaos units. Seriously, some of the most gloriously insane and over-the-top voice acting I've ever heard in a game. Ever. I can only imagine how much fun the people doing these voices must have been having, I just wish there was a video of them recording... it must have been glorious!

And wha'dya know, a quick youtube search for an example brings this up.

Spoiler: I like the guy who pops up around 2:50, fun little video.

On a more serious and slightly less completely batshit insane note...

Spoiler: I've always thought this was a fantastic bit of voice acting as well, David Warner did such amazing voice acting.

 

[Zhukov]

I agree with the point regarding voice actors being in the same room. It makes a huge difference. Anyone who has played Enslaved will know what I mean. Another, more popular, example would be Uncharted games, which benefit greatly from this approach.

As for characters getting convincingly mad... umm... I got nothing. Huh. Shame. The closest I can think of is the big daddies from Bioshock. When those fellows get pissed off, good Lord, they let you know about it. I've always loved how they go from lumbering gentle giants to thundering engines of violence. But that's not quite what you meant.

Games that undermine good voice acting with bad animation? Look no further than basically every game by Bioware. Dragon Age: Origins in particular. Their use of dialogue trees forces them to produce animation and voiceovers separately, and it shows. They're slowly getting better, but the problem persists.

EDIT:

Also, this...

 

[Scorched_Cascade]

First thing I thought of was Azariah Kyra's speech from DoW2. The entire thing is golden and one of the best pieces of voice acting I've heard but if you want to hear the angry bit skip to 1.29

 

[The Madman]

Games that undermine good voice acting with bad animation? Look no further than basically every game by Bioware. Dragon Age: Origins in particular. They're use of dialogue trees forces them to produce animation and voiceovers separately, and it shows. They're slowly getting better, but the problem persists.

I've always thought it's sort of a hill for them. Bioware have never been bad but they've had some rough points as well especially around the middle where, as you say, they were first experimenting with fully voiced dialogue. With Baldur's Gate when there was only limited voice acting they were good, fantastic even as I link an example above, but it's also really hard to keep up that level of quality over thousands of lines across hundreds of possible lines of dialogue.

By the by, if you liked Bioshock and it's voice acting look up System Shock 2. Why?

Turn the volume up.

Higher.

Now turn out the lights.

Now tell me this isn't just downright chilling!

 

[Scorched_Cascade]

As another Dawn of War contribution to this thread I give you the Litany of Fury. It showcases the best voice talent from Dawn of War 1 and its expansions.


Yes, they get angrier as it goes on.

 

[ZZoMBiE13]

Voice acting once convinced me that I was almost a Jill Sandwich.

We've come a long way baby.

 

[Phlakes]

Voice actors need to act. I've been (naturally) playing lots of Skyrim, and all the dialogue is basically just giving you the line straight. That happens a lot.

Battlefield 3 did a great job with it. Film quality, I'd say.

 

[Raven_Operative]

I thought the voice acting was rather good in this:

One of the few places where the actor can adequately display rage IMO.

 

[Zen Toombs]

What experiences in games leaped out at you as having some angry voice acting that sounded real? You could use other emotions as well.

I love the voice acting in Mass Effect 1 & 2. I feel that all of the voice actors did an amazing job (except for in Pinnacle Station... grr...), especially Jennifer Hale. Event of note:
Renegade ending of Tali's trial [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjwtAJ1ltRI]

Edit: I just learned how to show the video directly! Huzzah!

 

[Soviet Heavy]

My thoughts instantly went to the Dawn of War series and the Chaos units. Seriously, some of the most gloriously insane and over-the-top voice acting I've ever heard in a game. Ever. I can only imagine how much fun the people doing these voices must have been having, I just wish there was a video of them recording... it must have been glorious!

And wha'dya know, a quick youtube search for an example brings this up.

Spoiler: I like the guy who pops up around 2:50, fun little video.

On a more serious and slightly less completely batshit insane note...

Spoiler: I've always thought this was a fantastic bit of voice acting as well, David Warner did such amazing voice acting.

Damn it you beat me to it. Dawn of War has some of the most over the top voice acting ever. They cannot stop screaming!

Also, watch this.