Halo: Reach Forum
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  • Subject: Voice acting
Subject: Voice acting
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One of my problems with Halo 3's campaign was the voice acting. Sure, you have music that could have been taken straight from The Lord of the Rings, but the voice acting in general kills that seriousness. Take Truth's voice acting, for example, in Halo 3, as apposed to his voice in Halo 2. In Halo 2, his voice fit his character so well, he's a liar, but he sounds convincing. In Halo 3, he just sounds...Cheesy. The same could be said for some of the other characters in the series.

In the novels detailing Reach's fall, Eric Nylund did a fantastic job conveying the seriousness of the matter; Sure, it's and idea we've seen before-aliens burning a planet to the ground-, but Nylund's writing did a fantastic job of creating a bond between you and the Spartans.

If the Spartan's sound like Truth in Halo 3, I'll have a difficult time taking the game as seriously as I took the novels. My plea to you, Bungie, is this: Get some better voice actors. Please.

  • 07.03.2009 5:06 AM PDT

Remember,
It is easy to be male
it is another thing to be a man.

I thought the majority of Halo 3 voice acting was good. Miranda and Truth should have been better but steve downes played MC well.

  • 07.03.2009 5:45 AM PDT
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Posted by: Peacekeeper MX
I thought the majority of Halo 3 voice acting was good. Miranda and Truth should have been better but steve downes played MC well.


Well, maybe I was rather harsh on Bungie. Still, the point remains that the sense of seriousness the reader gets in the novels isn't quite replicated in Halo 3, so some changes need to be made, whether it be changes in voice acting quality or something else. Just me.

  • 07.03.2009 5:54 AM PDT

Remember,
It is easy to be male
it is another thing to be a man.

I agree with you that the feeling of seriousness that is felt in the novels is not on the whole transmitted well with the voice acting

  • 07.03.2009 6:04 AM PDT
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I do not appreciate B.Net Group solicitation. If you ignore this and send me an invitation anyway, I will block communications with you.

Aside from not being able to get Michael Wincott to return as Truth for Halo 3, Bungie explained that Truth was never supposed to seem like an evil mastermind like he did in Halo 2, but rather a deluded, almost insane prophet blinded by his lust for both the transcendence of the journey as well as power. Terence Stamp did wonderfully in this new light.

As for the rest of the voice acting, can you point out who you actually had a problem with? The only voice actress I ever had an issue with was Justis Holding, who replaced Julie Benz as Miranda Keyes. Dadabo, Downes, Taylor, Scully, Perlman, David, and every other main talent involved in the Halo franchise did a fantastic job.

The atmosphere of the novels differ from the games, I'll admit, but keep in mind that the games were clearly developed this way to provide a more open feeling for a wider audience. Halo doesn't stay true to the impassioned seriousness of the books, and honestly, that's probably the way it should be. You have to consider that vocal talents often don't have their own freedom to interpret their lines how they want, and are sometimes directed in extremely specific ways for some. Sometimes their performances are not their own, if you get what I'm saying.

The novels are their own entity and are identified in their own way. It should stay that way.

[Edited on 07.03.2009 6:11 AM PDT]

  • 07.03.2009 6:07 AM PDT
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Posted by: Dream053
Aside from not being able to get Michael Wincott to return as Truth for Halo 3, Bungie explained that Truth was never supposed to seem like an evil mastermind like he did in Halo 2, but rather a deluded, almost insane prophet blinded by his lust for both the transcendence of the journey as well as power. Terence Stamp did wonderfully in this new light.

As for the rest of the voice acting, can you point out who you actually had a problem with? The only voice actress I ever had an issue with was Justis Holding, who replaced Julie Benz as Miranda Keyes. Dadabo, Downes, Taylor, Scully, Perlman, David, and every other main talent involved in the Halo franchise did a fantastic job.

The atmosphere of the novels differ from the games, I'll admit, but keep in mind that the games were clearly developed this way to provide a more open feeling for a wider audience. Halo doesn't stay true to the impassioned seriousness of the books, and honestly, that's probably the way it should be. You have to consider that vocal talents often don't have their own freedom to interpret their lines how they want, and are sometimes directed in extremely specific ways for some. Sometimes their performances are not their own, if you get what I'm saying.

The novels are their own entity and are identified in their own way. It should stay that way.


True, but when the game is based off a novel seems to me to be a different situation, I think it should have a similar mood to remain faithful to the novel. By the way, what you said about Truth's voice actor was interesting, thanks for the info, I never thought about it like that.

[Edited on 07.03.2009 9:04 AM PDT]

  • 07.03.2009 9:00 AM PDT

IM A LEGIT 16

The only voice actor I had a problem with was the one who did Miranda, she sounded too generic.

The rest were all great, so I have no doubts it would be different for Reach.

  • 07.03.2009 9:37 AM PDT