153 réponses à ce sujet

[ikkedenechte]

Am I the only one who thinks the voice acting for maleShep is seriously below par ?

Most of the voices are very good, those of the main characters often outstanding( FemShep, Miranda, Garrus, Tali, Wrex , Thane,..)
And the worse thing is that it's not the voice itself that's the big problem. There are more voices in the game that are not so pleasing to my ears( Ash, Samara, Liara), but this is not insurmountable and very subjective anyhow.
The issue is that when I hear these voices I believe them, while maleShep sounds as if he's reading his lines from the textbook.
It really ruins playing male Sheps for me: I find myself constantly skipping dialog and as a result somtimes picking the wrong dialog option.

I think Bioware made a wise decision in Kotor having all but the player's lines spoken.
Dragon Ages approach of different voices to choose from seems(haven't played it yet) ideal off course altough I can imagine that this might be hard  to implement in ME's context (being a consolegame, different concept, ea)

[Flash_in_the_flesh]

I really like maleShep voice in ME2. Maybe it's because I got used to it. It could be better but it's good as it is. There's also big improvement from ME1 in the way he talks. I also like Samara's and Liara's voice. I could listen to Liara for hours.

Modifié par Flash_in_the_flesh, 27 février 2010 - 03:43 .

[Colinissile]

I also like his voice very much....there are very few time I can recall that I couldn't take the game seriously or some other issue just because the maleShep's voice acting.

[The Capital Gaultier]

Meer did a good job with Shepard.

[Karl45]

I thought it was pretty well done. Though there will always be difference of opinion when it comes to voice acting.

[jlb524]

ikkedenechte wrote...

It really ruins playing male Sheps for me: I find myself constantly skipping dialog and as a result somtimes picking the wrong dialog option.

Hah!  This happened to me too in the one time I tried to play as a MaleShep.  I just don't bother anymore and roll a FemShep.

[Skarwael]

Karl45 wrote...
Though there will always be difference of opinion when it comes to voice acting.

This.

[PyroFreak301]

I've been playing as FShep because of the better voice acting, but they're both done well enough.



DA:O uses the same system as KotOR where the player doesn't actually get any spoken lines. The only voice you do get to hear is quick "I can't open that" kind of thing.

[QualityJeverage]

Jennifer Hale's performance as femShep may be better by "traditional" standards, but this is not a traditional acting part.

The problem with her performance is that there's too much emotion and feeling in her lines. Shepard is supposed to be a blank slate. An empty shell character that the player can imbue with whatever qualities he/she wants. Every single one of Jennifer Hale's lines has unspoken undertones and hidden intentions. If you aren't trying to play your character that way, her performance will fight you every step of the way.

Meer's performance is indeed very flat and unemotive. For a normal acting part, that would be bad. For Shepard, it's probably the best we can hope for. His lines are empty because his character needs to be empty. The performance may not be as traditionally pleasing as Hale's, but it's what the part really needs.

You need to understand how difficult to play Shepard must be. The actor is essentially being asked to play the part of every possible character that the player could want. Putting too much emotion or intention behind the lines risks alienating a subset of players who don't want their Shepards to go that way.

[jlb524]

QualityJeverage wrote...

The problem with her performance is that there's too much emotion and feeling in her lines. Shepard is supposed to be a blank slate. An empty shell character that the player can imbue with whatever qualities he/she wants. Every single one of Jennifer Hale's lines has unspoken undertones and hidden intentions. If you aren't trying to play your character that way, her performance will fight you every step of the way.

This is the thing I like about Hale's VO.  It adds some humanity to Shepard.  Meer sounds like a robot, but I guess that's preferable for some b/c of the reasons you mentioned.

[QualityJeverage]

jlb524 wrote...

QualityJeverage wrote...

The problem with her performance is that there's too much emotion and feeling in her lines. Shepard is supposed to be a blank slate. An empty shell character that the player can imbue with whatever qualities he/she wants. Every single one of Jennifer Hale's lines has unspoken undertones and hidden intentions. If you aren't trying to play your character that way, her performance will fight you every step of the way.

This is the thing I like about Hale's VO.  It adds some humanity to Shepard.  Meer sounds like a robot, but I guess that's preferable for some b/c of the reasons you mentioned.

Exactly, it's all about balance. For a certain group of players who want their Female Shepards to sound like Hale's performance, it's going to be great! But then because she put that emotion into her work, there will be another group of players whose Female Shepards sound completely wrong to them.

Meer sounds like a robot, but that enables the player to define their male Shepard in any way they want, without the voice actor sounding like they want to go in a different direction. Basically, it's a necessary evil.

Modifié par QualityJeverage, 27 février 2010 - 04:10 .

[TheTrooper1138]

I hate Meer's Shepard... if you play Renegade it gets a bit better later in the game, but he just can't compare to Hale! I don't want a robot char. Either they do it like they did in DAO or they go all the way and have some real acting on Shepard and with Femshep they do, thanks to Hale's outstanding performance (unbelievable she also voice Bastila so damn annoyingly and yet lovable... ).

So, I'm playing Maleshep now once for the experience and of course to romance Ashley in ME1 and some of the ladies in ME2, but that will be it, after that I will go back to playing Femshep only... maybe someone will finally do a mod that lets you romance Maleshep's LIs, that would be great, then I wouldn't even have to play them all with that annyoing robot... :innocent:

[keginkc]

In seeing many, many (many, many, many) of these threads since the release of the original Mass Effect, I've come to the conclusion that most folks prefer the Shepard VO they experienced first. I played as a male shep, and that voice is the default for me. I like Jennifer Hale's work as femShep, particularly as a paragon (and I think Meer stands out in the same way for most of his renegade dialogue, although I naturally migrate towards paragon), but it's not *my* shep, and it never will be.

[SelphieSK]

His voice comes out flat sometimes, but... Who am I kidding I hate it >.<

[DCopley]

QualityJeverage wrote...

Exactly, it's all about balance. For a certain group of players who want their Female Shepards to sound like Hale's performance, it's going to be great! But then because she put that emotion into her work, there will be another group of players whose Female Shepards sound completely wrong to them.

Meer sounds like a robot, but that enables the player to define their male Shepard in any way they want, without the voice actor sounding like they want to go in a different direction. Basically, it's a necessary evil.

Personally I'd rather the voice actor go in a different direction than none at all

[TheTrooper1138]

keginkc wrote...

In seeing many, many (many, many, many) of these threads since the release of the original Mass Effect, I've come to the conclusion that most folks prefer the Shepard VO they experienced first. I played as a male shep, and that voice is the default for me. I like Jennifer Hale's work as femShep, particularly as a paragon (and I think Meer stands out in the same way for most of his renegade dialogue, although I naturally migrate towards paragon), but it's not *my* shep, and it never will be.

I might be inclined to agree, were it not for the fact that I tried playing as Maleshep first and was so set off by the voice, that I immediately went to playing Femshep... also thanks to the marketing of the default Shep I can't take Maleshep seriously... a fashion model, yeah, that would be the first person I would look to, to save the Galaxy... My Maleshep looks more like Duke Nukem, still the voice kinda ruins it... <_<

[Gill Kaiser]

I preferred Hale in ME1, but I actually preferred Meer in ME2.

[keginkc]

TheTrooper1138 wrote...

I might be inclined to agree, were it not for the fact that I tried playing as Maleshep first and was so set off by the voice, that I immediately went to playing Femshep... also thanks to the marketing of the default Shep I can't take Maleshep seriously... a fashion model, yeah, that would be the first person I would look to, to save the Galaxy... My Maleshep looks more like Duke Nukem, still the voice kinda ruins it...

Obviously that's going to happen sometimes...

My point was primarily that once you've listened to a certain voiceover actor for 40 or 50 hours (or 100+ in my case) hearing somebody else doing the same lines is always going to sound strange. 

I actually only played paragon male shepard in ME1 and ME2 and renegade female, which I need to go back and rectify.  So I may have a similar problem with regards to alignment, rather than gender.  Although in ME2 I found myself mixing paragon and renegade choices a lot more than I ever did in ME1, so it may not be a factor at all.

[Noobius_Maximo]

He speaks in a monotone sometimes, but I think it's good.

[CHT87]

Meer did a really good job with Shep. Both in ME1 and 2.



He can do it with more feeling, but I think BW did not want this. Compare his speech in the launch trailer to the ingame parts. He is really good, but he is not supposed to give us to much emotions in his voice acting.

[hibiscus7694]

Has anyone actually looked up who does the FemShep's voice? Those of you who played SWKOTOR the femshep is Bastilla and Kaiden Alenko is Carth.

I am sure people have made this connection already.

But I am wondering who thinks that the standard issue Male Shepard looks ALOT like Dominic Purcell from Prison Break and Blade: Trinity.

[Jalem001]

Meer is not awful in ME2 or ME1. Some lines are awkward, but for the most part he delivers well. FemShep will nail her lines more consistently, but she also lacks the "I'm a military commander." feel. Just isn't right. Trying too hard?

[Avissel]

QualityJeverage wrote...
Meer sounds like a robot, but that enables the player to define their male Shepard in any way they want, without the voice actor sounding like they want to go in a different direction. Basically, it's a necessary evil.

Exactly, the voice actor for J.C. Denton in the Deus Ex game was instructed to do the same thing, and praised for it.
It allows you to bring in your own emotinal feeling to the voice lines, instead of having the character express how you should feel about what was just said.

[TheTrooper1138]

Avissel wrote...

QualityJeverage wrote...
Meer sounds like a robot, but that enables the player to define their male Shepard in any way they want, without the voice actor sounding like they want to go in a different direction. Basically, it's a necessary evil.

Exactly, the voice actor for J.C. Denton in the Deus Ex game was instructed to do the same thing, and praised for it.
It allows you to bring in your own emotinal feeling to the voice lines, instead of having the character express how you should feel about what was just said.

then why voice him/her at all? It just doesn't make any sense. Either voice him/her and let the actor/actress ACT or do it like in DAO, KotOR or any other game like that and don't voice him/her at all. Obivously as some dev already pointed out in the Gayshep discussion, ME is a "third person RPG" and some of the character is just pre-defined by the devs, so having a voice actor/actress who actually acts fits the concept much better...

[MonkeyLungs]

I think Meer did a great job in ME2. Not to knock Hale's work but after playing both games extensively I have to say Meer does better to much better consistently.



However, as far as voice acting for main characters go they are both great. I think Bioware made good choices with the VA's and I have mainly compliments for both Meer and Hale.