Voice actors/live actors would you suggest for Generals 2, why, and for what roles?

[Alex06 39]

What kind of actors (be it for live action or voice acting, as it has not been decided which way would be done) would you like to see, and what roles do you potentially see them do, and why? Keep in mind this is for a Generals game, which we have not yet seen much live-action for. I'd personally think more realistic performances are a must. No cheesy Red Alert or Tiberium characters.

 

Here are my suggestions. Those in green would be for voice acting only, those in orange would be for both voice and live action and those in red would be for live acting only.

 

Robert Clotworthy (Great, unique voice, very capable of getting into character, very professional, Raynor's voice in StarCraft. Good for playing honest, down-to-earth characters.) - US Official

Glenn Morshower (Played military characters in Battlefield 3, Transformers 3 and X-Men: FC. Perfectly fitting.) - US General

Lance Henriksen (Has an amazing commanding stature and voice) - US General

Glenn Close (Great actress who knows how to play serious roles) - US General/Chief of Staff of the Army

Jennifer Hale (Great voice actress. She's the voice of female Shepard in the Mass Effect trilogy.) - US General?

 

Jason Statham (Need I say more?) - EU General or EU Special Forces (Perhaps the EU hero character)

Daniel Craig (James Bond. Fitting for the type) - EU General

Alan Tudyk (Amazing performance in many movies and TV series. Loved his German accent in TF3. Could play a German General.) - EU General

Rose Byrne Great actress. Gets into character very well. Very good with body and facial expression and with making viewers establish emotional connection to her characters, even when they are serious or military roles. Does a great British accent. Could play a British character.) - EU General or EU Lieutenant (Advisor to the player, or perhaps the EU "hero")

Jeremy Irons (Terrific british actor. Very good at getting into character, too) - British Official?

John Noble (Great actor that can play some very serious and even dark roles pretty well) - Perhaps some kind of Chief of Staff or a Secretary of Defense.

 

Avery Brooks (Very intelligent, very professional actor and greatly capable of getting into character. I've yet to see a cheesy performance for him, meaning I expect he'll play well once again if chosen.) - GLA Warlord

 

Kenneth Tsang (The NK General from Die Another Day, quite fitting) - Chinese General

 

Other actors who could fit but aren't at the top of my suggestions list:

Nestor Carbonell - Spanish character

Michael Emerson - British character

Morgan Freeman - Some higher-up character, could also play a General. There's no need to hide the fact everyone likes his narrator voice. I agree, he does a good narrator.

Yvonne Strahovski - British character

Carl Lumbly (He was just far too amazing as Marcion in Kane's Wrath)

[Luk3us 63]

I'd be quite happy with a bunch of no namers than have EA 'spend' resources on big names for the game, when they should be focused on the gameplay and mandatory multiplayer experience. Generals doesn't have a very good reputation for its singeplayer content which is something they should continue with in my opinion.

 

Also that list you made is cool, but I think you're overestimating just how much money EA has... There are some big names in there after all.

[Alex06 39]

I'd be quite happy with a bunch of no namers than have EA 'spend' resources on big names for the game, when they should be focused on the gameplay and mandatory multiplayer experience. Generals doesn't have a very good reputation for its singeplayer content which is something they should continue with in my opinion.

 

Also that list you made is cool, but I think you're overestimating just how much money EA has... There are some big names in there after all.

Keep in mind this is a BioWare brand game, an AAA title (which is apparently not how it was with past C&C games). They have said in interviews so far that they plan on making the story more emotional and engaging and add character development to make the single-player experience worthy of the BioWare name, but that they didn't settle whether they'd go for live action or in-game with voice acting. This time, with the statements they've made, I doubt they want to relegate the single-player experience to a corner. They also don't have to sacrifice single-player for multiplayer. That happened with Generals 1 merely because it was built as a game from scratch, and they never really had the chance to properly make up their mind nor enough budget left to make a proper storyline. Since this is a sequel, and an AAA title, it's much more likely that since the base of the Generals universe already exists and the engine isn't built from the ground up for the first time for this game, they will be able to pay enough staff to create a proper single-player experience.

 

But of course, I don't expect them to hire Jason Statham, Glenn Close, John Noble and Daniel Craig at the same time. Probably 1 or 2 big names, with mostly average names and unknowns (or names that aren't very widely known).

 

I'll add to that that the writing and directing is what makes a story good, not just the acting. Good actors help, but make a terrible script, and the actors still can't save it. Of course, chemistry between actors, professionalism and not treating this like a lower-end acting performance because it's a game is also important on the actors' part.

[PurpleGaga27 39]

I would like to see Julian Stone come back in Generals 2. He previously acted as a reporter as James Seabury in C&C Generals: Zero Hour and a scientist in C&C3 Tiberium Wars. Joe Kucan....... I would like to see him come back as a random character other than Kane.

[Nmenth 290]

I doubt they will go for much live action with their fancy new engine.

 

Also, "AAA title" seems to be the latest buzzword around here that can now go away for the next 50 years. If I've learned anything from C&C, it's expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised rather than expect the best and be disappointed (that being said, I do expect G2 to be pretty good).

 

If they do go for live action, I also want no names. Budget concerns aside, I don't want James Bond giving me a mission briefing.

[Luk3us 63]

AAA title does sound more like marketing nonsense than anything of particular value. To say that previous C&C games weren't 'AAA' games seems wrong, RA3 and TW got a lot of marketing attention and the 'glossy' touch. Whilst TT was just, well ****. Heck TW got the whole E-Sports treatment remember how they got it involved in the World Cyber Games? If that isn't AAA attention I don't know what is.

[Malevolence 6]

This time round, EA could utilize the state-of-the-art Frostbite 2 engine to cover the FMV sequences. I'm open for any voice actors (even the cheaper ones or hiring random homeless dudes) as long as they can pronounce properly and stay authentic to the accents for various nations. The last thing I need is some random highly paid actor struggling so hard to fake an accent, for example, hiring Arnold Schwarzenegger to do a Chinese voice-over?!

[Sonic 294]

I don't think we will see live action FMV for Generals 2. The Frostbite 2 Engine can do some really cool looking stuff. Just take a look at this video someone made using Battlefield 3.

 

[Gben 20]

I think I would prefer CGI over Live Action FMV's for this outing... I don't expect it but it would be nice to customise your character ala Shepherd from Mass Effect - and have you integrated into the cut scenes. But I don't expect it.

 

I would normally say we need no-names for the acting scenes, but very few TT experience was pretty poor.

But I should I blame the script of the actors???

[Alex06 39]

I think I would prefer CGI over Live Action FMV's for this outing... I don't expect it but it would be nice to customise your character ala Shepherd from Mass Effect - and have you integrated into the cut scenes. But I don't expect it.

 

I would normally say we need no-names for the acting scenes, but very few TT experience was pretty poor.

But I should I blame the script of the actors???

Because if the script is terrible and the characters aren't fleshed-out, then the actors have a hard time getting into character and taking the game's storyline seriously.

And why are unknowns better than known actors? Known actors aren't all terrible. They didn't make it where they did because they had money. Quite the contrary, they have the money because they got there by having skill, being unique, and being at the right place at the right time. But usually, skill matters. If you're terrible, you won't get known. Or if you do, you're VERY, VERY lucky.

 

I don't understand why people seem to think only unknown actors can be good...They have no experience or if they do, they never get hired for quality films because they are bad. C&C4 shows both this and the fact that script writing is also important to making a good movie/game.

 

As for Sonic's comment, well, I can understand that viewpoint, and I assumed that live-action would not happen, but EA_CIRE has mentioned in an interview that the team hasn't made up its mind yet, and that both are absolutely possible. And while you can see that Frostbite 2 is very realistic, it's still a game engine, and it's obvious. In 10 years, it won't seem so realistic anymore. It's the same thing as how in 2006, PS3 games seemed so real, yet now, not as much.

[Nmenth 290]

You are mistaken, nobody here thinks unknowns are more skillful than knowns; they are cheaper.

 

A bit of frustration developed here back when EA was dumping money into big name actors and ignoring CGI cinematic due to the required funding.

 

The first games in the series had fine acting by nobodies, so we expect they can repeat that if they actually tried.

 

As I said, this issue came from the previous games. Since Generals 2 appears to have some pretty good graphics, that old argument may not be entirely valid anymore, but I suspect a bitter taste yet lingers.

 

That is why I mentioned budget concerns when I voiced my opinion above.

[Masked Shah 5]

I think they should hire me for all the voice acting.

 

You all want this, I know.

[Inferno 22]

I think they should hire me for all the voice acting.

 

You all want this, I know.

Except, it might not be acting.

[Alex06 39]

You are mistaken, nobody here thinks unknowns are more skillful than knowns; they are cheaper.

 

A bit of frustration developed here back when EA was dumping money into big name actors and ignoring CGI cinematic due to the required funding.

 

The first games in the series had fine acting by nobodies, so we expect they can repeat that if they actually tried.

 

As I said, this issue came from the previous games. Since Generals 2 appears to have some pretty good graphics, that old argument may not be entirely valid anymore, but I suspect a bitter taste yet lingers.

 

That is why I mentioned budget concerns when I voiced my opinion above.

Well, considering the game has a really big budget (AAA), I think they can do it this time well. And Tiberian Sun, in its day, had quite good CGI, yet still had quite a few known or average actors. It's really RA3 that went overboard with the actors. Almost none of the actors were unknowns (and there were loads of characters), whereas usually they have 2-3 known actors (Sci-fi cult celebrities, Hollywood stars), 3-4 lesser known ones (TV shows, people under the radar), and the rest are all unknowns. Both TW and RA3 also had very good CGI.

 

And considering, like you've said, that Frostbite 2 graphics can look just like CGI, and how Generals 1 had most of its battle cutscenes done in-game, I don't see why most CGI scenes, such as those in TW and RA3, couldn't be instead made in-game. It's also very reasonable, in my opinion, to think that the campaign won't be nearly as large as C&C3's (35 missions) but closer to StarCraft II's (28 missions). C&C3 had little talking head cinematics and a large FMV for every mission...And it also had CGI. And it was developed in less time than Generals 2. And it had a smaller budget. So I'm pretty optimistic that it's possible to get live action and get a cast like with C&C3 and KW, or partially like in RA3.

 

Act of War: Direct Action, an RTS developed by a barely known company, with a non-AAA budget (I've looked it up, it's not just a buzzword; the issue as to why it might feel like that is because they can't go into details on the budget more than that), was also a game with great live action and decent gameplay. It was practically like they included a movie with that game.

[Nmenth 290]

Both TW and RA3 also had very good CGI.

What little they had of it, but the games before them had much more.

 

Actually, I think the CGI alien scenes in TW looked pretty bad, but that's just my opinion.

[Alex06 39]

What little they had of it, but the games before them had much more.

 

Actually, I think the CGI alien scenes in TW looked pretty bad, but that's just my opinion.

Well, to modern standards, I'd say they do. But back then, I thought they looked pretty good.

 

There are some pretty obvious green screens and in TW, though. (Most notably when people look at skies) And you can see from the C&C4 ending that budget was an issue. (Last scene was filmed in LA, with 2009 cars! And the portal scenes lacked CGI and/or a set)

[Nmenth 290]

Well, to modern standards, I'd say they do. But back then, I thought they looked pretty good.

I'm going by my impression from the first time I played the game.

[Guest Stevie_K]

I don't have any demands for the voice acting, other than to keep the humor like tone for the units. I enjoyed the cheesy unit responses from Generals.

[Renamon 0]

John Cena for Col. Burton!

[Guest Rabbit]

Oh dear god. If John Cena gets involved, the acting is sure to be terrible all around.

[Luk3us 63]

He might be alright when he's 'wrestling' but I've seen one of his movies, the Marine. And that was JUST CRINGE WORTHY....

[Guest Rabbit]

Yeah, that was pure unadulterated horror.

[Generals2tv 0]

I dont want any real person cut scenes, it will "cut"(hehe ) into the budget which will then be taken away from the more important things

 

Trust me i love the tradition of cnc of the cut scenes being acted, but id rather have gameplay that i love then cut scenes that i love, because you can love the gameplay more.

 

Minda like that girl you had a filng with compared a long relationship

[Traymen 6]

I propose Reb Brown as some western General... the way he yell...

 

P.S. After RA2 there were no good custcenes in C&C... sad but true...

Edited June 15, 2012 by Traymen