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Tornac

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Best Video Game Voice-Acting

You may or may not realize it, but voice acting can add a lot to a video game. When done well, voice-acting can make you really connect with a character and the game world surrounding him or her. They bring the story to life. Would a story in a game like, say, Mass Effect 2 really have the same impact if the characters voices seemed lifeless, mechanical, and emotionless? Likely not. Recently, games have begun to take voice-acting seriously, and this list is compiled of gaming's greatest vocal cords.

NOTE: This list has been ranked in random order, and NOT ranked by their quality in any way. Thank You.

Incomplete

List items

  • "Life is complicated"

    This line, along with million others spoken by Nico Bellic, will forever be etched into my brain. Why? Because of Michael Hollick's incredible delivery of every line he spoke. While Hollick's performance as Nico is the real star of the show here, that doesn't mean he's alone. Jason Zumwalt (Roman), Timothy Adams (Brucie), Ryan Johnston (Packie), and a million other excellent voices are on par with Hollick, and make Grand Theft Auto IV a game just as fun to listen to as it is to play. In fact, it's pretty much impossible to find a game with superior voice-acting to this series.

  • BioWare has always had great voice-acting in their games, but Mass Effect is still miles ahead of the studio's other works. When combined with the innovative conversation wheel, the voice-acting made me feel that, for the first time, I was actually in a conversation with these alien lifeforms. It just has a certain smoothness and fluidity to it that sets it apart from other voice-acting.

  • Sure, most the voices you hear are through low-quality audio diaries scattered throughout Rapture, but that doesn't make the characters lose their impact. I've said this many times before I'm sure, but Bioshock is my favorite game of all-time. A large reason for that is because the story is one of the most original I've seen in any medium. A large reason the story is so emotionally powerful is because the voices are nailed. Andrew Ryan, Atlas, Sander Cohen, Julie Langford, Yi Suchong, and a billion others are among the best characters I've encountered, and they are brought to life by their voices.

  • This isn't about a long list of characters with wonderful voices. In Portal, you hear one voice, and that is the disembodied GLaDOS. She sounds so evil, so menacing, and so... calm about the whole thing you can't help but be a little amused. If I had to give an award for the single best voice in gaming, it would be hard to beat GLaDOS.

  • Sure, Nolan North does voice-acting for pretty much every game released these days, but his performance as fortune-hunter Nathan Drake is just amazing. It's like Drake was created with North in mind. No, it's like North was born just to do the voice of Nathan Drake. Yes, the other voices are phenomenal, but Nolan North's work with Nathan Drake is right up there with GLaDOS as the best.

  • It may not have been the greatest game in the world, but you'll be surprised at the cinematic quality in Heavenly Sword. Seriously, these production values are mind-blowing! Each character is brought to life by expertly delivered lines of dialogue, and while it's a shame the game surrounding them was only decent, the exceptional presentation make it worth a rent.

  • What is arguably Ubisoft's most popular franchise at this point in time, Assassin's Creed II has voice-acting that isn't just well delivered, but also voice-acting that sounds authentic. With Renaissance Italy setting the stage, accents that are historically accurate can be a tough job. Making them sound natural is even tougher. But Assassin's Creed II does just that, and breathes life into all the characters, both killer and victim. Oh, and there's Nolan North again, playing modern day Desmond... God, he's like the Superman of video game voice-actors.

  • Ninja Theory proved with Heavenly Sword that they understand how to make a cinematic game with great characters and story. Enslaved takes things to the next level. Led by Andy Serkis, the story is brought to life by the amazing and life-like performances. Plus, the gameplay is also quite enjoyable, especially when compared to the developer's previous game (see above).

  • Featuring many of the voices of the Batman animated series, the performances in Batman are unsurprisingly great. One particular standout is The Joker, voiced by Mark Hamill, who is insane and diabolical as you'd expect from Batman's nemesis. Batman, voiced by Kevin Conroy, sounds as bad-ass as the character should. No hilariously stupid Christian Bale voice here. Only awesome.

  • Since Red Dead Redemption is another open-world game from Rockstar, amazing voice-acting is expected. So while the quality of the performances in RDR may not surprise you, they still are pretty impressive. John Marston in particular is excellent, but even minor characters stay in your memory thanks to their excellent voice work.

  • If you're going to be looking at faces that animate so realistically, the voice-acting better be believable too. And boy does it succeed here. Everyone nails it hear. But I guess that's not too surprising; it is a Rockstar game after all.
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