By Lorin Baumgarten

Finally there is time to play. It seems as though finding free time in which to immerse myself in a world that is different from my own has become more difficult as of late. The precious time needed to delve into some far off galaxy or crazy cell-shaded wilderness has become less available and more brief. So when I dim the lights, set up the oversized chair just so, and firmly grip the controller in my hands, I want the best possible experience I can have for my limited disappearing time. I want to be completely lost in whatever world I have traveled to, and I want nothing to pull me out. But things do pull you out of the gaming experience: the phone, the dog, the kids. With all of the potential external distractions, the last thing you want is for the game itself to yank you from your suspension of disbelief. Enter EpicBattleCry, Skirmish 56. There was a question posed on this week’s EpicBattleCry that brought to light an interesting issue that, for some, does just that – pulls them out of their experience. The question is, does Kiefer Sutherland screaming at you ruin your game?

Ok, that is not exactly the question. It was more along the line of “Do celebrity voices in video games add to the experience or detract from it?” The question arose because of the recent reveal by game developer BioWare about the voice cast of their upcoming mega-sequel Mass Effect 2. The developer recently announced that the cast of their upcoming title would include science fiction favorites Michael Dorn – Worf from Star Trek, The Next Generation, Tricia Helfer and Michael Hogan from Battlestar Galactica, Adam Baldwin from Firefly, and Carrie Ann Moss from The Matrix. Also included in the cast are Seth Green from The Family Guy and Martin Sheen from a little film you might have heard of called Apocalypse Now or a tiny TV show called West Wing, among others.

An impressive cast list, to be sure. But is it good for the game? Will such a showing of well-known film and television actors enhance the video game’s experience or will it distract the player because the voices are so recognizable? With this particular game, we will have to wait six more weeks to find out. However, there have been many examples in the past that offer up a solid basis for discussion. This, like many other subjects in our lives, is not a black and white issue. There are examples on both sides of the issue and it is not a subject which can be assigned a wholesale “good” or “bad” label.

One of the primary reason I bought Halo 3: ODST is because it reunited Adam Baldwin, Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion from Firefly. I was not disappointed. Along with Tricia Helfer (who had dated Fillion at one point), the cast created voice work that brought a taste of their previous shows into the game’s world without compromising the integrity of the game’s own narrative. It was great to hear them together again and listening to them riff together felt like putting on a comfortable old jacket.

Another couple of examples of star power in games that worked very well are two titles directly related to licenses: Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and Vin Diesel as Richard B. Riddick. Here are two properties that would have suffered greatly if they didn’t have the star power (and voice) behind them. These are both examples that everyone could agree upon are, without a doubt, better for the Hollywood talent in them. How about Michael Ironside as Sam Fisher? I can’t watch Mr. Ironside in live action films now and not think of Splinter Cell. Michael Ironside is that series and his work in the games is nothing short of fantastic.

But it is not always like this. I return to the example from the first paragraph. Kiefer Sutherland is an actor I have watched for twenty years and I have enjoyed his work immensely. But from the minute I heard his voice for the first time in Call Of Duty: World At War I could not get past it. All I could think of was him. And it did take me out of the experience. Every time he spoke in the game, it would pull me out of the game and have me thinking of Kiefer Sutherland, the blond-haired, blue-eyed med student from Flatliners or the intense CTU agent from 24.

Another example of mislead, however well-intentioned, casting is perhaps one of the funniest men on the planet, Will Arnett. Mr Arnett was the biggest draws for me to play Eat Lead: The Return Of Matt Hazzard. But once I fired up the game, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking of Gob and Arrested Development (Will Arnett’s brilliant role on one of the funniest comedies of all time). Every time I heard Mr. Arnett’s voice in the game it was right back to the Bluth family’s crazy, dysfunctional household.

So why does this happen? Why are celebrity voices ok in some situations and not in others? The short answer is: I don’t know. I have no idea what defines a situation where a known talent adds to a game rather than distracts from it. I can offer no advice to developers as to how to gauge this and on what to base a decision that has the potential to cost them millions of dollars.

What I do know is that there are times when having high quality and well-known talent brings much to the experience. Jack Black as Eddie Riggs is perfect. But I also know that having a name actor simply for the sake of having one could easily backfire.

Additionally, we must not forget that there is a wide pool of extremely talented actors and voice actors out there whose voices we have never heard or would not recognize. There are many talented actors who do multiple voices and have years of experience doing voice-over work. Take for example one of the most inspired voice-over performances in all of video games, Mark Hamill as The Joker in Batman: Arkham Asylum. Had I not been told, I would have never known it was him. Simply a brilliant performance. Now imagine they had Jack Nicholson do it because – well – he’s Nicholson.

Utilizing the incredible talent in Hollywood is a good thing for video games. Interest on the part of mainstream actors to participate in video games is a good thing for the gaming industry. Most of the time I think the addition of these talented professionals is good for the game. However, it is not a foregone conclusion that big name talent equates to positive results and I would urge developers to consider carefully how the game may be impacted by a certain voice as compared to another. I am worried about Martin Sheen as Illusive Man in Mass Effect 2. He is a very talented actor in what, I am sure, will be an excellent game. But will I be able to forget that it is Martin Sheen, the President Of The United States, and believe that it is Illusive Man?

What do you think?

Lorin Baumgarten is the owner and founder of Furious Gamer Radio.