The Voice Acting Is Horrendous [Archive]

Archived Post

11-14-2009, 01:13 PM

I am sorry but I have to disagree. The voice acting seems to me to capture the saturday morning cartoon version of comic books that the game seems to be going for.
I agree. It's all a matter of opinion, but I think the cheesy lines and sometimes over-the-top voice acting suits the game well.

Roper, your Foxbat is pretty good, but I think you need to put a little more gusto behind it. "Quick! Someone find a GM and tell him to port me to a different spawn point!" is one of my favorite lines in the game - if only they were all that good.

But oh, the greatest voice acting in the game, far and away, is the Defender Fanboy at Kountry Komix. I sat there and listened to his dialogue for a good 15 minutes one day and laughed my butt off.

Archived Post

11-14-2009, 01:15 PM

Well, it's an MMO. Most people could care less about theatrics.

Then again, I can't agree with the OP. There is a difference between horrible voice acting and horrible dialogue. This game has corny, generic dialogue at times, but the voices make it sound really good.

And yes, Foxbat has the best voice act in the game.

Archived Post

11-14-2009, 01:29 PM

Best voice acting is Ironclad. I love that guy. "THE GLORY OF BATTLE!"

Archived Post

11-14-2009, 01:30 PM

Best voice acting is Ironclad. I love that guy. "THE GLORY OF BATTLE!"

He does have some epic quotes. I was glad when I met up with him on Monster Island.

"These Qularr aren't so tough! They wouldn't last one round in the intergalactic gladiator arena."

Archived Post

11-14-2009, 02:32 PM

The only voice acting that really put me off was that in the Nemesis missions. The fake accents especially.

I did like foxbat and the defender fanboy of course. I though Ironclad was quite good and the only reason I am sick of hearing Defender's voice is that I have done the tutorial waaaaaaaay too many times for my own good :)

Archived Post

11-14-2009, 06:47 PM

Agree with above poster re: Nemesis accents they were pretty bad

But I think the over-the-top old school comic style is awesome, fits the game perfectly and brings a smile to my face every time I hear a new Foxbat quote.

Cheers

Archived Post

11-15-2009, 05:59 PM

A lot of voices fit in well with the cartoony style, but some of them are honestly cringe-worthy.

Archived Post

11-15-2009, 08:03 PM

Some of the voice acting is pretty entertaining; others...not so much.

Some comic book games go for the kid-friendly chesse, some go for the dark, edgy feel...

This game, on the other hand, literally feels as though it was intended for us nerds that spent waaaay too much time watching saturday morning cartoons when we were younger. When I think of CO, I think of a game where you play a superhero in a Saturday morning cartoon comic book world. Kind of like the '90's X-Men series, the Spider-Man series, etc.

I gotta confess though, to begin with before i had played CO I was really hoping for the dark, edgy Batman the Animated Series feel. As CO currently stands, it is nothing but pop culture parody in the form of mainstream MMO "questing". I'm cool with that, but I'd love to see the CO team actually do some content that wasn't based off of missions titles poking at song titles, movies, rival MMO's, etc. I have no doubt that the CO team has creative writers and content developers...and I'd like to see them give it a try.

When I think of "heroes fighting the forces of Eeeeeevil" missions involved don't make me think of things like "Gronds Have More Fun", "World of Witchcraft", "I Choose You, Gadroon", etc.

The current style of content is all fine and good, but I'd like to see these guys push the envelope a little bit from time to time.

I know, topic jump...sorry.

I guess all in all the main problem I have with the voice acting is that there isn't enough of it. Characters that have voice actors tied to them jump from voice to text a lot. And if one of the problems with voice acting is lack of funding to hire a lot of voice actors...hold contests and let players help you out. Something tells me that some of us would be willing to help out. Hell, while we're at it...work on methods for players to add mission content. There's a potentially low cost answer to content gaps and lack of endgame right there.

There's my two cents...rub them gently.

@Maglama: Stop letting Glamurai hog the spotlight...I happen to be a Bombinatrix fan.

:D

Archived Post

11-15-2009, 09:51 PM

About the only voice acting I really hate and will always press the escape key is when entering the desert crisis. Witchcraft is a close second once you enter the actual desert but at least she's tolerable even though she comes across a little ditsy.

Foxbat, Ironclad, and yes even Defender with his beacons are the memorable ones. Sometimes I wish the NPC's would actually speak.

Oh and let's not forget the cut scenes in the news studio. That was kinda fun and would be great to get more out of them.

Archived Post

11-16-2009, 03:21 AM

@Maglama: Stop letting Glamurai hog the spotlight...I happen to be a Bombinatrix fan.

lol. She's hawt.

And I didn't know that was Witchcraft talking in the Desert cutscene. I didn't think she would sound like that.

And what about Kinetik and Sapphire? Do you get to hear them later on in the game?

Archived Post

11-16-2009, 06:51 AM

I also can't agree with the original poster, or this post, I am pretty sure I've made an exact opposite thread earlier in CO's lifetime, possibly twice.

I love the voice acting, some of it's campy, but most of it just feels fun, and does anyone remember the power armor trailer? Freakin' awesome!

I no longer play with sound, but that's because I bought a new monitor that doesn't have built in speakers.

If you haven't gotten to do them yet, there are unity missions where you team up with some of the CHAMPIONS team, one at a time, and they'll say things like "Guys? Hold up, I was answering a text from Witchcraft."

Or Witchcraft while lagging behind will be like "I sense, we should go... that way, hey, wait, where is everyone?"

I can't remember if these are voice acted or not, but again, I haven't played with sound in a while.

Archived Post

11-16-2009, 08:09 AM

I am sorry but I have to disagree. The voice acting seems to me to capture the saturday morning cartoon version of comic books that the game seems to be going for.

I agree i thought the voices were pretty cool cheesy but thats how i think they should sound.

Archived Post

11-16-2009, 05:43 PM

It's a little known fact that Chronomancer did all the voices in Champions. He's quite versatile!

/wink

-S

Archived Post

11-16-2009, 06:17 PM

Witchcraft always sounds like she's pouting and about to cry.

Meh. I'm not CRAZY about a lot of the voice acting, but with one or two exceptions, it's not offputting. Though playing Dragon Age will show you what can REALLY be done with the art. Different style, different results.

Archived Post

11-16-2009, 06:59 PM

He should get a professional to help him hone that talent. It's neat, but really lacking in some places. He sounds so bored in the Lemuria opening cinematic but it feels like he's trying hard to be dramatic.

Archived Post

11-17-2009, 01:17 AM

my favorite voice acting in the game is actually Rakshasa in the Canda Crisis.

First time I hear him I honestly LOLed. There's something so freaking over the top weird about his voice in that, that I've decided to finish the Canada crisis instead of the desert one just to get to hear him agian.
The way he says that bit about Kigatilik having slept to long, and then to "wake up wake up", gah, I always imagine him as this goofy cackling madman lol.
"Oh Mr. Kigatilik, you've been quite naughty, you've slept far too long in the Ice tomb, wake up, wake up"

Ironclad is good, especially in the MI crisis voice over.

I was surprised the first time I heard Foxbat's voice over though. He just sounded so over the top geeky and nasaly. The voice is just kind of makes you want to Weedgie it.
I imagined Foxbat sounding WAY different. Something whacky, disconnected from reality and a bit smug, like a Will Ferrel Character.

Witchcraft does sound a bit pouty at times, I have to admit I'd been thinking that when listening to the desert voice over.

Best Defender voice over, MC introduction.

Archived Post

11-17-2009, 02:54 AM

It's a little known fact that Chronomancer did all the voices in Champions. He's quite versatile!

/wink

-S

Please hire me. I am an aspiring voice actor. I'll do it for free.

Archived Post

11-17-2009, 06:24 AM

my favorite voice acting in the game is actually Rakshasa in the Canda Crisis.

This. First time I heard it I thought: Vincent Price.

I also like Mechaniste's French-Canadian (if that's what it's supposed to be) accent.

Least favorite: Ravenspeaker.

Archived Post

11-17-2009, 07:22 AM

Please hire me. I am an aspiring voice actor. I'll do it for free.

Kewl, but you have to audition. Post a voice clip of your many voices and will vote. :D

You got to put your money where your mouth is. No Pun intended LOL

But no matter what, we still luv you Maglama :)

Archived Post

11-17-2009, 09:09 AM

my favorite voice acting in the game is actually Rakshasa in the Canda Crisis.

I can do a 99% imitation of Rakshasa's voice actor. All the SG Mates love it. I love it. Jesus loves it.

It's that good.

Archived Post

11-17-2009, 09:47 AM

hehe, I like all voices. Except Foxbat. Sounds like a choked up Mickey Mouse.
I thought he was suppose to be a charmer?

Archived Post

11-17-2009, 03:40 PM

I think the voice over for Ripper is wicked.

Archived Post

11-17-2009, 05:22 PM

This. First time I heard it I thought: Vincent Price.

I also like Mechaniste's French-Canadian (if that's what it's supposed to be) accent.

Least favorite: Ravenspeaker.

I started cracking up when he said "DARK, DEMONIC MAGIC." This man has bits of the scenery stuck in his teeth perpetually.

Archived Post

11-17-2009, 07:08 PM

This. First time I heard it I thought: Vincent Price.

I also like Mechaniste's French-Canadian (if that's what it's supposed to be) accent.

Least favorite: Ravenspeaker.

Ahhhh yup, precisely, Vincent Price. It is such a dead on overly dramatic Price like voice, classic. I love it.
Feel like I'm watching Pit and the Pendulum

Machaniste is good too. Great yukon like accent.

I can do a 99% imitation of Rakshasa's voice actor. All the SG Mates love it. I love it. Jesus loves it.

It's that good.

LoL I do the exact same thing with my friends. I do a Rakshasa as well, although mine's a purposely over the top done parody.

I do a routine where Rakshasa is an annoyingly creepy hotel conceirge calling Kigatilik with a wake up call.

It's priceless.

Archived Post

11-17-2009, 07:46 PM

I'm another fan of the "so cheesy it hurts the lactose intolerant" style of V/O in the game. If this was Dark Champions I might not be so keen, but CO is pretty much Superhero Lite, and it seems to fit.

Archived Post

11-18-2009, 12:13 AM

Lynx also had good deliveries and timing with her lines.

Lynx is a ******** furry and needs to be put down.

WHAAAAAAT? CANADA IS A chest beam.

And Robert Kaufman is the best voiced in the game, hands down.

Archived Post

11-18-2009, 07:53 AM

She is kinda annoying isn't she? Felt good not having to kill her though. :D

Archived Post

11-18-2009, 09:19 AM

LoL I do the exact same thing with my friends. I do a Rakshasa as well, although mine's a purposely over the top done parody.

I do a routine where Rakshasa is an annoyingly creepy hotel conceirge calling Kigatilik with a wake up call.

It's priceless.

We must team in the future. I think you'll fit in with the War Council mentality. It's like you are reading pages of transcripts that are available at a low cost, after the nights playsession.

Seriously.

Archived Post

11-18-2009, 04:24 PM

We must team in the future. I think you'll fit in with the War Council mentality. It's like you are reading pages of transcripts that are available at a low cost, after the nights playsession.

Seriously.

lol awesome

In my routine Kigatilik is just my normal voice, and he's just blandly annoyed with Rakshasa's obsession with how naughty he's been for having overslept.

I usually pick which Crisis area I finish dependent on what fits the character, but, when it's kind of a nuetral choice, I always choose Rakshasa just because of that voice over.
Gigaton on the other hand, he has one of the worst acted voices in this game. Seriously, Cryptic, hire me, I'll do it for cheap, just replace that lol.
That dude does not sound like some brooding epic villian that's been Destroyer's right hand man for years....he sounds like some overly whiney disgruntled twerp....or well......your average forums troller :D lol

Archived Post

11-18-2009, 04:31 PM

Canada and Monster Island voiceovers are egregious. Monster Island particuarly so.

The critter and boss dialogue is fine.

Archived Post

11-19-2009, 02:11 AM

Foxbat SHOULD sound like a gameshow host IMO

Archived Post

11-19-2009, 04:05 PM

Foxbat is definitely one that deserves some more loving work on the voice acting. I mean, Foxbat's already working out to be a nice fun character for champs.
I believe the voice is holding it back. It needs something that pushes the character, not holds it back.

Right now he's way too over the top super loser geek sounding. Foxbat doesn't deserve that. The voice makes you dismiss him. It needs something that draws you into the character. Right now he's only a charicature of what people think geeks are. He's like a characters in a bugs bunny cartoon. He may be silly, but I think there's some interesting characterisation you could do with our beloved Foxbat, he just needs a better voice now is all.

Archived Post

11-19-2009, 04:28 PM

I like that rakashla guy in canada. I think his voice is funny and entertaining.

"waaaake up kigatilk!!!" kinda reminds me of an old ass vincent price movie!

oh! and that one mind chick you fight that spawns the two psi forms of herself that you fight in millennium city (forget her name) shes all like "ill **** your mind and give you a frontal lobotamy!" that chic is hot! sounds like a dominatrix.

Archived Post

11-20-2009, 02:31 AM

Roper needs a better french voice, moreou's voice is so over the top, it should be toned down a bit on the rolled 'R's and given a more sinister tone.

"you might have some difficulty controlling your ra-ag!"

Archived Post

11-21-2009, 01:41 AM

Archived Post

11-28-2009, 06:34 AM

What puts me off about the voice acting is really mostly the often-time lack thereof.

Seriously, they couldn't be bothered to have a nemesis have more than grunts/hysterical laughter/blah for that inintial nemesis mission? I mean, the personal nemesis really comes off as real important if he/she/iit can't even speak a straight sentence.

The devs quoted on this somewhere and stated that they felt that the players would probably have their own ideas about how their nem sounded and they didn't want to break those ideas by putting a voice onto the character, so they left it a speech bubbles and you then you can 'hear' the nemesis speak in your head with the voice/tone accent that you want.

Archived Post

11-30-2009, 06:08 AM

Defender really comes into his own when

*NEMESIS SPOILERS*

When you get your Nemesis arrested and he pulls the whole "You're gonna be behind bars for a lonnnnng time" schtick straight out of an 80's cartoon.

The only voices I don't like are the intros to the Tutorial and the Desert Crisis. Even to this day when we need to see a cop I'll say "Let's go see POLICECHIEFSURHOFFF" and we all laugh.

Archived Post

12-01-2009, 04:14 PM

Haha, the voices are terrible. Witchcraft's voice annoys the crap out of me... But I just listen to it for some reason... Who knows?

Defender's voice is too cheesey!!

And that one Foxbat mission makes me laugh, when the hostage is all, "... You can't do this to me! I'm kinda Important Darnit!!"

Overall... I think the voices fit the game.

Archived Post

12-02-2009, 12:33 PM

...
Best Defender voice over, MC introduction.

I think it needs a tweaking...he says "again" in one sentence, and then says "again" in the next which gives a jarring repetitive feel...should be "once more" or the like the second time to give some dramatic breathing room. Give it a ponder the next time you hear it.

The repetition would be more suited for something more like Foxbat's feel, I think.

Archived Post

12-17-2009, 02:54 AM

Most of the voice acting is rotten - but Medusa and Mind Slayer are wonderfully evil sounding, IMO.

Archived Post

12-17-2009, 06:08 AM

Perhaps the voiceacting is a bit too much like in Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich. That was one awesome game, but took superheroes a little less serious as opposed to Champions. I don't mind though, because a rather neutral style would make it boring, and a more grim style wouldn't fit at all.

Archived Post

12-17-2009, 08:22 AM

The Beacons!!!!

I have no issue with the voice acting. Just when they say the same thing over and over and over and over and I cant see them charging a blast or something!

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12-17-2009, 10:47 AM

I can't say I'm a big fan of the voice acting. There are some good one liners, but their could be a lot more.

Archived Post

12-17-2009, 04:16 PM

I can't say I'm a big fan of the voice acting. There are some good one liners, but their could be a lot more.

My favorite line is from the VIPER guy in Project Awakening. "Whoa heh, I better turn off these turrets before someone importan gets hurt" The delivery was just great.

Archived Post

12-18-2009, 09:15 AM

Voice acting is a mixed bag.

Kigatilik's voice is TERRIBLE.
Mentons voice is TERRIBLE.

The VA's dont seem to have heard of the word context. Some are great though!

I love Foxbat! "Lets head to Leo's for an ice cold lemonade!" and "I'm the villaaaaiiiiiin right?"

He's awesome.

Medusa is the best though. She gives me chills.

Archived Post

12-18-2009, 12:50 PM

I think the voice acting is... well, bad, but in a good way. It's a bit over the top, like the old superhero cartoons are. I can't complain about that.

What I can complain about, though, are sound bites. Mainly, characters with voices don't have enough. It's annoying to hear them repeat the same lines over and over, especially sometimes when they do it right on top of something they're already saying. In other words, haven't we reveled in the glory of battle enough already?

Archived Post

12-24-2009, 03:31 PM

Over here, we don't have much time!
.....

Over here, we don't have much time!
.....

Over here, we don't have much time!

Archived Post

12-24-2009, 04:43 PM

We need to shut down ALL these bacons! They're broadcasting a
THE bacons are down! *breathless gasp* Let's launch Ironclad, and hope that
THIS door leads to the Defense Control Room.

In all seriousness, I'm enjoying the voice acting. 'cept Kaufman's 'Iridiates'. That kinda irks me for some reason. Prolly 'cause of the pause right after that. I can see Kaufman waggling his bushy white eyebrows suggestively in a 'didja get the joke?' kinda way in my head when that line comes up.

I can't really tell if I have a decent voice or not... I'm good at delivering lines (because I've been a compulsive talker most of my life) but I don't really ask people to judge my delivery or my tone. Meh... eventually I'll probably make some stupid fan-video or something and let you all figure out for yourselves.

Or I'll make a fan-MUSIC-video. Bwahahaha*cough*erk*hack*BEACONS! *dead*

(For those who don't want to try to figure out the bacon thing, see above post.)

(Edit 2: Yes, I know my humor sucks. Have some savory beacon instead.)

Archived Post

12-24-2009, 05:55 PM

I agree the nemisis sound fxs like the monkey laugh for savages should be optional,bit overall i love the voice overs.

Archived Post

12-27-2009, 01:10 PM

We need to shut down ALL these bacons! They're broadcasting a
THE bacons are down! *breathless gasp* Let's launch Ironclad, and hope that
THIS door leads to the Defense Control Room.

I tried that joke with my SG and they didn't realise I had typed bacon and started telling me what to do. Bad humour is dead.

Though apart from that bacon related mishap the voices are great. It's like 80% of the superheroes went to the Brian Blessed school of hammy acting.

Archived Post

12-30-2009, 09:16 PM

I'd put my vote for the best on...

"Bah! Ripper not care if Anti-Draysha gas make Ripper weak... Ripper... still... THE STRONGEST OF ALL!!"

:)

Archived Post

01-05-2010, 07:50 PM

Favorite Voices and Lines:

Mayor Calvin Biselle
"Rarely is the question asked... IS our children learning"
"My friends... We have nothing to fear, but fear iself. Well that and.... RAM-PAGING SUPERVILLAINS." <--(My Nominee for 2nd Best Line ever)
"My measure of success is victory... and success."

and amzingly enough

Clarence the Mecha-Teddy
"My name is Clarence... AND, I... DON'T... LIKE YOU... VERY MUCH!!!" <-- (Beat out Ram-Paging Supervillains)
"Will you be my friend?"
"Hugs are fun... But Smashing's better!"

Grond
"Grond will hammer you into the Grond... wait, that not what Grond mean... why you confuse me hero."

Foxbat
"You can be my sidekick... Kidddd Foxbat..."
"Quick, some call a GM and port me to a safer instance"

The Rarely Heard
Black Harlequin
"How can I take you seriously.... when you won't even smile."

And then we have my least favorite... Mr. Depressing himself...

Ironclad
"If we fail here, the city will fall"
"If we lose today, tomorrow the world"
"Defend the Cannon, Defend it if with your lives" (WTF, this is the Tutroial, my life is already in jeopardy? I'm from Texas, and even I don't expect the Alamo in my first major battle of an MMO)

A no where near close at all second is of course
Defender

"You'll have to defeat Black Talon on your own." (Okay, yes, cool, defeat the big baddie yourself, but it should be, "Wow! You defeated Black Talon on your own, he'd knocked me out with his first shot." like when a kid doesn't know daddy has stopped pushing an their riding a bike on your own, it is less scary and way cooler to find out you were doing it yourself after the fact.)

"Disable ALL the beacons" (No... I just want to disable the one that you already blasted all the Destroyoids off before I could even hurt them, so I don't get credit... Thanks Defender... that's 2 more I have to grind to get 5000, bad enough you blasted most of the ones in the room I found you in before I could touch them... JERK!!! And why can't you disable them... How about I blast the Destroyoids and YOU disable all the Beacons)

Archived Post

01-06-2010, 07:15 AM

Best voice acting is Ironclad. I love that guy. "THE GLORY OF BATTLE!"

I picture them reusing that line in Star Trek for the Klingons. First time I heard it in this game, I thought of Worf.

Archived Post

01-06-2010, 09:18 AM

I love the chessy quality of the voice acting. Works so well here.

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01-07-2010, 01:29 PM

Camps not so bad.. I like Ripper especially after i kick hm into the sea.. soliloquies do you really hear them all out before you judge or you have to defend against the villain trying to server you?

Well yes. Klingon its not a cadence that rolls off the average tongue.. careful not to mispronounce better to have a translator you can trust as its more offencive to poorly do a language like the TV Advert where a well meaning young sales person insults his Chinese client with a horrid phonetic attempt at Cantonese w a mandarin acent./. or the same line in earlier seasons with the Job interview with Mr. Du' Mas [spelt dumass] and pronounced such by the idiot in the hot seat.

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01-07-2010, 04:21 PM

Voice is better than no voice...ever.

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01-07-2010, 04:27 PM

I think the lines are often funny, but the delivery lets them down - most of the actors just aren't doing "camp" very well, it's more like "camp by numbers".

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01-07-2010, 07:09 PM

Oh I dunno, I saved the Producer from Foxbat recently, and they had some funny lines. The voice overs weren't that bad. Some of them definatly get annoying after a while, (Defender, Ironclad), but its better than 90% of the voice acting in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (everyone except Patrick Stewart). Its certainly no Dragon Age Origins where voice overs are concerned, but its OK for a cheesy Saturday morning cartoon approach.

Archived Post

01-08-2010, 02:20 PM

I love the voice acting. Who really didn't like "Hugs a fun, but smashing is better" the first time they heard it? I'm not talking about 100th time, but the 1st. And Kigitilik in Canada, Foxbat, the rhino guy, the voice acting is fun in CO.

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01-29-2010, 11:42 AM

I think the voice acting is meant to be bad, there is nothing wrong with it. And I like it. Anyone remember R.A.D.? Voice acting was bad, somewhat cheesy, and at best comparable to a B movie. This was done on purpose. And it was awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnRX94tkQRw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59EgkOU0aAo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv8uTePIEXs

Archived Post

01-30-2010, 02:08 AM

I think the lines are often funny, but the delivery lets them down - most of the actors just aren't doing "camp" very well, it's more like "camp by numbers".

Yea, what he said.

Archived Post

01-30-2010, 05:40 AM

The new Nemesis Lairs leading up to the End Battle with Mon Nemie are sharp.. Having the same voice for every female one ok. A bit more Archetype dif for the three would be nice update to our experience.
Cant all afford the purr of a tribble..

We want to SAve FoxBat for the Destroyer Works and see him do back flips and break dance of gratitude..
and pay off his IOU.

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01-31-2010, 04:03 AM

Some of the voice acting is terrible and some of it is pretty good.
It always bugged me how Menton is a small skinny guy with a big deep voice while the burly henchman he speaks to has a whiny snivelly voice. Seems to me they should have been the other way around.

Archived Post

01-31-2010, 04:32 AM

The voice acting is horrendous? You mean when it actually works it is horrendous, most times I have to read the chat bubbles. The voiceover sound rarley works for me. Im not sure if this is a curse or a blessing....but I have probably missed a few diamonds in the rough soundbites along the way.

Archived Post

01-31-2010, 08:20 AM

We have to destroy all those beacons! They emit the high frequency signal that causes the Qularr to attack!

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02-01-2010, 07:22 AM

The Snake Gulch welcome robot voice is adorable and always makes me smile whenever I hear it.

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02-06-2010, 06:37 PM

Menton was hilarious. Right after the cutscene the following appeared in my team's chat boxes:

The Peacemaker@Astrosimi: James Earl Jones?
The Peacemaker@Astrosimi: or Sammy L. Jackson?

While Foxbat's VA is good, technically speaking, I am personally annoyed as heck by it. Heck, his entire concept annoys me, but that's a rather persoonal issue, and something I should expect from a game like this (I have dry humor).

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02-10-2010, 08:34 AM

Too bad they toned down Rakasha! Now he is less excited about the waking up, and more excited about bringing cataclysm.

Defender: "to threaten this great city again...again."

Mechaniste: "a nosy punk like you!"

I like Witchcraft's desert voice over, it is a bit less campy and higher quality than most.

I think Chat and Ripper should go on a date...

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02-17-2010, 05:58 PM

Mind Slayer's line about "I know what you're thinking, and gentlemen don't think that way" or something to that effect was awesome in that confrontation - given what she's wearing, its rather apropos.

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07-13-2010, 11:00 AM

this game has by far some of the worst voice acting i've ever heard in anything: video game, tv, film, radio, anything. my god.

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07-13-2010, 11:53 AM

this game has by far some of the worst voice acting i've ever heard in anything: video game, tv, film, radio, anything. my god.

And awesome because of it!

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07-13-2010, 01:49 PM

And awesome because of it!

And we need more of it! For the nemeses and the Supreme Serpent and the rest. More voiceovers!

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07-13-2010, 02:41 PM

And we need more of it! For the nemeses and the Supreme Serpent and the rest. More voiceovers!

(In the style of Black Fang)

YESH, *SKRONK* WE MUSHT HAFF DEM NOWWW

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07-13-2010, 06:58 PM

Defender sounds like he had something in his mouth when he tells you to launch the Ironclad Defense. Like he started munching on a sandwich when he started to say that. Or he had his mouth clenched while saying it. :o

If you do listen carefully some of the voice acting is cheesy like the intro one but overall I like them.

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07-14-2010, 08:06 AM

Honestly, I can't say it's the worst (the 'voice pack' for Wing Commander I and II takes that prize imo); but I agree a lot of it is really OVERLY cheesey.

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07-14-2010, 08:14 AM

Post deleted by KenpoJuJitsu3

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07-14-2010, 08:50 AM

Hyena-Swine in Monster Island Crisis has the worst voice acting in the game...

Honestly? I think he's tied with Black Fang for that title. I AM DA GOVENATOR! *SNNNARLLFFF*

I like Shadow Destroyer's VOs, though. I also like the ones for Therakeal, the Baron (he has one of the BEST speeches in the ENTIRE game, he's so freaking cool) and Valerian's, although I think some of her lines could have been framed a bit better. Teleios's lines are hokey, but I think his voice has potential, if he was a bit more arrogant and a little less narcissistic he'd be alot cooler.

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07-14-2010, 08:55 AM

Post deleted by KenpoJuJitsu3

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07-14-2010, 01:09 PM

In Monster Island Crisis there is a cutscene where several animals are arguing with Dr. Moreau. Hyena-Swine has a text box that comes up whenever he's supposed to speak (which is several times) but no voice. He does this every time.

That has to be the worse voice acting I've ever not heard. :)

Or he's a mime or sneaky Telepath? I never hear Sapphire's Sweet Voice..

Champion of day Tumberboy for his Monty Python Opening credit style ref. Larry the Llamerian would be proud.

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07-14-2010, 01:20 PM

Or he's a mime or sneaky Telepath? I never hear Sapphire's Sweet Voice..

Champion of day Tumberboy for his Monty Python Opening credit style ref. Larry the Llamerian would be proud.

Actually... THAT'S IT!!

We need a TUMERBOY villain running around the world! Who can ::tacopalm:: as we foil his nefarious plots!

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07-14-2010, 02:10 PM

You know who we should get for more voice acting!

Tommy Wiseau

/e youaretearingmeapart

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07-14-2010, 09:17 PM

Hey, Cryptic, I will do voice acting for you for free... seriously, I don't want anything in return for it. You tell me who to give voice to and I will do it.

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07-14-2010, 09:23 PM

Actually... THAT'S IT!!

We need a TUMERBOY villain running around the world! Who can ::tacopalm:: as we foil his nefarious plots!

How do you know there isn't one already :)

I don't know if Tumerboy has done one, but I know there are a few people around the office who've lent thier voices to the game.

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07-14-2010, 09:52 PM

I personally enjoy the voice acting. In fact, I wish there was more.

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07-15-2010, 04:23 AM

I tend to think of CO's voice acting as Narm Charm (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NarmCharm). It's campy, over the top, would be laughably bad in the vast majority of contexts...

... but the context is CO, which resembles more light hearted comicbooks, saturday morning cartoons, and general whackiness; so rather than feel out of place it's kind of right at home.

Ironclad especially - his lines are patently absurd - "These Qularr would not last one round in the interstellar gladiator arena!" - but manage to fit the tone; especially with his goofy voice... so I at least ended up liking him <,<

But that's me.

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07-15-2010, 04:46 AM

Post deleted by KenpoJuJitsu3

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07-15-2010, 05:26 AM

I think the Voice acting is good, The lipsynching on the other hand... could use some work... in the first Nemesis mission (the Museum holdup) that cowboy-character with the glowing eyes finishes what he has to say and his mouth continues moving as if he's eating a sandwich "I've got a bad feeling about this... but my heart says its gonna be all right...*nom nom nom*"

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07-15-2010, 05:49 AM

I don't mind the voice acting itself, even when it's bad it actually fits the mood of the game.

What I don't like is when they say something that doesn't fit with the subtitles, or when their dialogue is actually someone else's.
(Yeah)

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07-15-2010, 06:26 AM

Please hire me. I am an aspiring voice actor. I'll do it for free.

Fantastic !!!, start a project and thread on the Fan-art sections of the forums and ask for some creative writing help. I'm sure some of you guys would like to write an intro for The MoonZone, Shamballah, Well of The Worlds, Atlantis or any of the other places in the Champions Universe. Maglama and any other interested parties could post their voice-talent work - sounds like the makings of a really nice community project !. :)

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07-15-2010, 06:50 AM

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07-15-2010, 01:00 PM

One question. Why do NPCs look like they're chewing on taffy whenever they talk?

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07-15-2010, 06:15 PM

One question. Why do NPCs look like they're chewing on taffy whenever they talk?

I blame Justice Fruit Pies...

"NERF THOSE PIES!!!!"

"Not now Bill"...

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07-15-2010, 06:57 PM

Haha... a genuine LOL is so rare on the internets :D

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07-16-2010, 06:00 AM

Well i pie in the right place could shut down a beacon?
Like bacon and shreddi cheeses and sour cream o na Baked stuffed potato effects heart valves i suppose?

One capture done then re skinned for different toons could be the reason..
Shipping /DEV schedule causing place keeping dialog to remain and not get changed.

The AD has a nice office not a cubicle.. Standard Dual monitors Dev for Environs
Over dubs run like VA on an anime..
Which is still superior quality due to hardware over the average rigged PC fan dub.
Home studios being what they are for sound control provide nice demos or provisional concept works
Like going from Monaural to Multi Tracking.

Tap Mr Roper on the Shoulder and ask for that MP3 Diablo II Sound Mix Preview.. for Music. 3D audio was just coming into the equation done with proper positional effects..Epiphany!

Diff between a Avr headset sound mic and a good Studio one?
Hundreds or thousands of Marks Dinero Euros Krona Francs..
-----------------------------------------
Get into that Sound Recorder on your MS and watch that modulation..

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07-17-2010, 05:07 AM

Cheese is expected.

The only gripe that I would have is that a lot of the voice over stuff sounds like it comes right out of a studio. There are no ambient sounds and that detracts from the presentation.

HSB

Ambient sounds appearing every time a character talks would sound awful, the voice is supposed to clean and clear. What needs to be done is that they need to adjust the levels a bit so that it doesn't overpower the other game sounds.

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07-17-2010, 06:32 AM

In Monster Island Crisis there is a cutscene where several manimals are arguing with Dr. Moreau. Hyena-Swine has a text box that comes up whenver he's supposed to speak (which is several tims) but no voice. He does this every time.

That has to be the worse voice acting I've ever not heard. :)

Ah, my bad, I was thinking of the Elk guy in the MI crisis for some reason. His VOs are pretty terrible too.

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07-23-2010, 11:07 AM

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07-24-2010, 01:17 AM

That would be a great alarm clock.

Wake up! You've been asleep for tooo long....
Wake up! You've been asleep for tooo long....
Wake up! You've been asleep for tooo long....
Wake up! You've been asleep for tooo long....

If you do a lot of characters, you might notice also that there's 2 distinct voice tracks with the Raksasha voice actor that get alternated. They say the same things but have different inflections.

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07-24-2010, 07:16 AM

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07-31-2010, 04:17 PM

I really expected the voice acting to be cheesier (mmmm, more cheese) and was surprised that it wasn't 'way' over the top, which in my opinion would have been a good thing.

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08-02-2010, 01:56 AM

You need to shut down ALL those beacons!

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08-02-2010, 03:13 AM

The voice acting is dripping with delicious cheese that is driving the Qularr insane!

Really, I like most of the VAing in CO. It's hammy, of course. But that fits.

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08-02-2010, 10:23 AM

No one has mentioned Dr. Moreau. Oy! Just like something outta Marine Boy or the Banana Splits Show. Gotta love it.

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08-02-2010, 05:38 PM

I em Muhlrow's glllrrrrrEATest cllreation!

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08-04-2010, 07:03 PM

What you say Partner..?

I ran into Black Adder again on the Nemesis Draysha shut down of the stockpile..
I think he nailed the sneaky bit just fine..

[i miss tutorial and FOXBAT.. Hey somebody had some fun with that favourite Respawn point ]

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08-05-2010, 05:21 AM

Talking gorilla has no voice over.

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08-05-2010, 08:10 PM

I logged on to make a thread about this after playing bunker buster. I'm so fed up with the voice acting and I think that the voice acting director needs to be replaced. Many of the actors need to go as well, like the guy who always sounds like he's talking with his nose plugged. But it doesn't end there, the writing is so bad that even if you had professional actors reading some of these lines, it would still be unbelievably cheesy and unbarable to listen to.

Sorry if I come accross as one of those "EVERYTHING SUCKS" guys, but this has ben frustrating me since I played that god awful "anchorman parody" mission. It wasn't funny, it totaly ruined that movie for me.

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08-06-2010, 03:30 AM

this has ben frustrating me since I played that god awful "anchorman parody" mission. It wasn't funny, it totaly ruined that movie for me.

Well... yes. Everything about WCOJ is just plain awful. It's a bad, flavorless sendup of a movie that was mediocre except for a few awesome scenes (most notably not the ones where Will Farrel or Steve Carell were doing schtick). That's the absolute nadir of the game, though.

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08-06-2010, 07:48 AM

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08-06-2010, 08:43 PM

The voice acting in this game is fine. It's campy which fits the world.

If people are so annoyed by it that they feel the need to complain about it, mute the volume, create your own voices and everything will work out great.

Or play Resident Evil for the PS1. Or Evil Zone.

I don't think that bad voice acting is suited to anything. It's totally immersion breaking, and when it's really bad, sometimes it can ruing a great game. (for me anyhow)

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08-06-2010, 09:03 PM

I dunno.

I actually like the voice acting sounding a little cheesy and B-grade film-ish. It suits the overall aura of CO very well, I think.

I mean, I understand how some people would like to imagine their toon to be situated in a realistic, dark, distopian world right out of the pages of some <Civil War> cross-over title, but the overall aura of CO is undeniably 70's~80's-ish, when things were a bit lighter, the stories weren't as dark and frightening, and heroes were more brightly colored and garbed, and villains and villain organizations more stupid and comical than the trends of 90's~turn of the century.

Now, if it was CoX, and you see Lord Recluse reciting those pompous, melodramatic lines Destroyer spews in CO, that would be inadequate and plain silly. If it was Statesman sounding like Defender, than that would be funny. If you'd see the Arachnos leaders giving those crazy speeches you hear at the MI Crisis, that'd be funny. This is because the overall aura, mythos of CoX is more modern, darker, realistic and serious than compared to CO.

Villains like Sirrocco are very complex, heroes like Synapse has a terrifying background, and the tragic love story of Wretch and Ghost Widow are very different from the Witchcraft-Defender love story. Arachnos feel more evil and relentless, whereas Viper feels more akin to the classic 'idiot' villains you'd see in saturday morning cartoons.

If we use the periodic distinction used by some comic book historians, CoX would be the "modern age of comic books", whereas CO feels definately more like "silver" or "bronze age".

And in this setting, the cheesy dialogues actually do fit better with CO, than every character sounding like something out of Frank Miller's <Dark Knight>. :)

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08-07-2010, 08:37 PM

to me, CO has a very campy feel to it; and more often than not, the voicing in it totally brings me back to the saturday morning cartoons i grew up watching.

the only time i get a bit put off by it is during a Nemesis mission. that's beyond campy and into a whole 'nother realm of just plain wrong.

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08-08-2010, 12:38 PM

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08-08-2010, 03:08 PM

Still say I love the voice acting over all. In fact, the BIGGEST thing to hurt Serpent Lantern was the lack of any voice overs or Boss Dialog.

Viborba Bay Spoiler ahoy:

Highlight to read:
I thought from the creepy vibe the news reporter was giving out when interviewing Celine Di... I mean Sapphire that HE was the stalker.

Spoiler over.

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08-09-2010, 12:55 AM

I really like the voices in CO. I remember meeting Defender for the first time, and his whole dialog just got me amped up and ready to beat the crap outta Black Talon... and those beacons. Especially those beacons!

And I love the way Foxbat keeps talking about his Foxbattleplan. That just cracks me up. :D
And the way Mayor Biselle wants to know if our children is learning.

And lets not foget about ROB MAHOGANY, Millenium City's most beloved newscaster!

And... I could keep going, butI think it's suffice to say that the voices really work in this game. At least, that's how I see (or should that be 'hear') it. :)

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08-09-2010, 01:36 AM

I can't even fathom that some people are okay with the voice acting in this game. There's a difference between cheesy, and just downright awful. My friend and I have a theory that they just had the dev. team do the VO to save a few bucks.

It's called preference. :)

We prefer the current 'downright awful' voice acting, to something that sounds like a dialogue between the Joker and the Batman from Chris Nolan's <Dark Knight>.. :D

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08-09-2010, 10:53 PM

I can't even fathom that some people are okay with the voice acting in this game. There's a difference between cheesy, and just downright awful. My friend and I have a theory that they just had the dev. team do the VO to save a few bucks.

THAAAAANKYOU!

*edit*

It's called preference. :)

We prefer the current 'downright awful' voice acting, to something that sounds like a dialogue between the Joker and the Batman from Chris Nolan's <Dark Knight>.. :D

I guess it's of to DC universe online for me. Say what you will, Mark Hamill makes for an excellent joker.

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08-12-2010, 03:55 AM

I guess it's of to DC universe online for me. Say what you will, Mark Hamill makes for an excellent joker.

Yes, because a good voice is all it takes to make a great game. :rolleyes:

Now I won't disagree about Mark Hamill. I can't imagine Joker with any other voice. But you have to be realistic.

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08-13-2010, 12:20 PM

Parroting that the voice acting fits because of how hammy and overdone it is. I'm genuinely upset that the serpent lantern has no voice acting (yet?) because I was really looking forward to see if Viperia sounded like a stereotypical Jamaican.

to me, CO has a very campy feel to it; and more often than not, the voicing in it totally brings me back to the saturday morning cartoons i grew up watching.

Pretty much exactly this. I've always felt that City of heroes/villains has a little more of a mature and somewhat grim feel, while Champs feels a lot more like a saturday morning super hero cartoon than a serious comic setting.

Actually improving the voice acting would frankly just ruin it.

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08-13-2010, 01:29 PM

I love this game, but am starting to realize I'm just about ready to move on. This game lacks depth, and the voice acting is a big part of that. Yes, I could turn down the volume to avoid the silly voices, but why would I do that when there are other games out there doing it right?

I spent five years with WoW, and enjoyed the immersion of a huge interactive world with variety in the mood and settings. Sound was a huge part of that. Hearing the deep, booming voice echoing forth from a villianous dragon, or the Scottish brogue of a dwarven king rallying his men for a final attack, was guaranteed to pull me into the story.

Comparatively, CO is flat, and even though I'm only level 38 with my highest toon, I just feel like the epic experience just isn't coming. The aural experience definitely takes some of the blame for that.

Everytime Valerian Scarlet speaks I need to /facepalm. She starts off her sentances bored, then snarky, then attempting to sound dangerous. But embarrasment is the basic undertone of all of her words, like she can't believe she's saying this silly superhero dialogue to make a living. Which destroys any feeling of tension, and makes me realize that if even the NPCs don't take this seriously, why should I?

If the Foxbat in the TV station were an exception to the quality of the voice acting I could forget it and move on. But every single male villian I've faced since is just Foxbat with an outraaaageous foreign accent. :mad:

I'm glad some people like the campy quality, more power to them. But personally I was never a fan of the Adam West Batman, because it went against the dark quality of the Neal Adam's illustrated version of a serious detective. I feel the same way with this game. Some humour in CO is appreciated, but just once I want to face the Big Bad and not roll my eyes when he opens his mouth... :(

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08-15-2010, 05:00 AM

I hope they keep adding them to all the missions.
It would be nice if they had multitracks so a player could customize 'how' the enemies in game would sound.

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08-15-2010, 06:46 AM

its a remote and lonely place....

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08-15-2010, 06:39 PM

I spent five years with WoW, and enjoyed the immersion of a huge interactive world with variety in the mood and settings. Sound was a huge part of that. Hearing the deep, booming voice echoing forth from a villianous dragon, or the Scottish brogue of a dwarven king rallying his men for a final attack, was guaranteed to pull me into the story.This is pretty funny.
Almost all bosses and many world leaders and other significant characters (a.k.a the ones you hear speak) are all done by one guy. It's the same voice over and over and over.

That said, I always have music playing so I'm not too bothered by game sounds. :p

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09-05-2010, 09:31 AM

The only voice acting I could not stand in game was Witchcrafts. All the others were fine.

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10-12-2010, 06:47 AM

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10-12-2010, 07:46 AM

I'd take the cheezy voice acting we got at launch back when big missions like Stronghold had it than the empty silence we've gotten in the last two Adventure Packs.

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10-12-2010, 09:29 AM

Witchcraft sounds fine, the timing is just totally off. speaks<silence> speaks different tone<silence> Speaks again in different tone< Huge silence> speaks.

its feels a bit like they recorded that line by line and then made it fit the movie much later by cut& paste.

That's the way most VO recording is done these days. It's the ADR standard. You stand in a booth; and say your line after the 4th beep, which is longer. ie:

Beep....beep...beep...Beeeeeeeeep (and you go and say the line)

The director usually asks for multiple renditions of the same line (with different emontional emphasis); and it's all assembled in post production.

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10-12-2010, 11:36 AM

IDK if there is a thread on this already or not, but the title sums it all up.

I agree, it's truly horrendous. Mostly it's not even "so bad it's good", not even kitsch bad - it's just BAD.

There are a few who are ok - Foxbat is good sometimes, and a few others.

But most of the time it's just really, really, really REALLY bad.

The thing about good kitsch acting - they aren't being ironic about it. They deliver the dorky lines with sincerity and energy, and THAT'S what makes it Saturday-morning kitsch.

In the CO voice acting (as I say, barring a few decent exceptions) there's too much self-conscious "aren't we being funny?" irony in most of the delivery. And too much ... pausing in ... odd ... pla ... ces, with odd acCEN ...... tuations.

Just f*****g amateur most of it.

It's so bad that when I first fired up Champions to be confronted with the crisis cop talking, my heart sank, my b***s shrivelled and my a** twitched for embarrassment, and I immediately felt I'd thrown money down the drain.

Fortunately (based on trust in Cryptic based on CoX) I stuck with it, and the game is a zillion times better than the voice acting represents - but it represents BADLY.

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10-12-2010, 04:53 PM

What always struck me as odd was how some of the voice overs seemed like they were done in 1 take and no one really listed to make sure it was any good. The Lemurian Crisis come to mind - the voice for Capt Jandebeur (or w/e his name is) is just off. It's a French sounding name, but the guy sounds like he has a half Boston/Half Jersey accent, and it just doesn't fit. I also thought it odd that the Witchcraft voice over for Burning Sands had her sounding, well, so airhead like. I'd expect a more serious tone, or at least not as flighty/bubbly.

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10-14-2010, 01:14 AM

This game have the most awful dialogues AND voice acting i've ever seen and heard in a professionnal creation.
It striked me most during demonflame... The overall atmosphere was great but the dialogues were just... Badly written. And i'm not even talking about Dr destroyer and his speach during the last Nemesis scene... Come on, villains laughing every two words, we're not in the 60's anymore !