As the gaming industry continues to become more cinematic, voice actors are subsequently continuing to become a pivotal part of what makes or breaks a game. What was once seen as an unnecessary expense is now a fundamental part of many AAA games today, that often feature huge casts of talented voice actors. Even theLegend of Zeldaseriesused voice acting in its latest gameThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,a rarity in the series.
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The increased relevancy of acting goes hand in hand with the importance of narrative in gaming today. The Xbox 360 and PS3 era saw narrative-driven games fire straight to the top of the gaming industry, led by games that had intricate, fleshed-out, andincredibly well-written stories likeThe Last of Us,Mass Effect 2,andAlan Wake.It isn’t just that writing that made these games special though, as the actors brought the characters to life.
Sony’sPlayStationhas been a pioneer in implementing voice acting into their games, and recognizing some of gaming’s unsung heroes is always a worthwhile venture.
10Camilla Luddington (Performance Capture) — Lara Croft In Tomb Raider
Lara Croft is one of gaming’s most recognizable characters- so when theTomb Raiderseries was rebooted in 2013, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics needed to ensure that they got their recruitment right when hiring the protagonist’s actor.
They made a great choice with Camilla Luddington, as she has been fantastic in the trilogy of rebooted games. Camilla’s other notable roles include Claudette in True Blood and Zatanna in Justice League Dark.
9Troy Baker (Performance Capture) - Joel in The Last Of Us 1 & 2
As mentioned before,The Last of Uswas a pioneer in the increased implementation of complex stories in AAA games, so it was only a matter of time before one of its characters made it onto this list.
Troy Baker has numerous other video game roles on his resume including the part of Simon KriegerinSpider-Man: Miles Morales, Booker DeWitt fromBioshock Infinite,and Bruce Banner in the recentMarvel’s Avengersgame.
8Christopher Judge (Voice) - Kratos in God of War (2018)
The eighthGod of Wargame saw adrastic shift in playstyle for the series. The self-titledGod of Warditched the series' strict linearity fora more open adventurewith more focus being placed on its narrative than ever before, led by Christopher Judge’s performance as Kratos.
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Aside from Kratos, Christopher Judge is best known for his role as Tecal’c inStargate SG-1andStargate: Continuum.
7Nolan North (Performance Capture) - Nathan Drake In Uncharted
The Indiana Jones inspired Nathan Drake has become one of PlayStation’s many unofficial mascots since he first hit screens in 2007 withUncharted: Drake’s Fortune. The charismatic Nathan Drake is an obvious choice for this list and Tom Holland will be hard-pressed to put in a better performance than Nolan North in the upcomingUnchartedmovie.
Nolan North’s other notable roles include Jerry Lansing inCon Manand Peter Hastings fromPretty Little Liars.
6Armin Shimerman (Voice) — Andrew Ryan in BioShock
“I chose the impossible. I chose…Rapture!”
Those words from Armin Shimerman’s Andrew Ryanset the tone forBioShockand each of his subsequent appearances in the game were an absolute delight. Armin’s performance is also note-worthy along with Greg Baldwin’s as Frank Fontaine for making gamers around the world skeptical of anyone who uses the phrase “would you kindly?”
Andrew Ryan isn’t Armin Shimerman’s only video game performance, as the American actor has also played the role of Dr. Nefarious from theRatchet and Clankseries, and The Elder inDeath Stranding.
5Ellen McLain (Voice) - GLaDOS in Portal 1 & 2
Along with the Joker, Bowser, and Dr. Robotnik, GLaDOS is near the top of the list of villains who gamers love to hate. Ellen McLain was deservedly rewarded for her performance as GLaDOS with theBest Female Vocal Performance In A Video Game award at the 2011 BTVA Voice Acting Awards.The Officeco-creator Stephen Merchant also deserves a mention for his performance as Wheatley inPortal 2.
Portal1 andPortal 2aren’t Ellen McLain’s only performances in Valve games, as she also voicesLeft For Dead 2’s Witch and the Combine Overwatch inHalf-Life2. Ellen McLain is also known for her career in opera singing.
Creating an anti-hero as beloved asRed Dead Redemption’s John Marston was never going to be easy, but Rockstar managed it by hiring Roger Clark to play the part of Arthur Morgan. Ellen McLain isn’t the only award winner on this list, asRoger Clark won the Best Performance award at the 2018 Game Awards.
Roger Clark also appeared in the gameShellshock 2: Blood Trailsas Sgt. Jack Griffin.
3Ashley Johnson (Performance Capture) - Ellie in The Last of Us 1 & 2
Out of context, two entries from the same game may seem excessive, though there aren’t many who would deny that both Joel and Ellie fromThe Last of Usdeserve a spot on this list. Ashley Johnson iscurrently battling it out with co-star Laura Bailey (Abby) for the Best Performance award at the 2020 Game Awards.
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Ashely Johnson is also known for her roles inBlindspotandFast Food Nationwhere she plays Patterson and Amber respectively.
2Michael Mando (Performance) - Vaas Montenegro in Far Cry 3
“Did I ever tell you the definition of insanity?”
That was just one of many iconic lines from Michael Mando whose performance as Vaas Montenegro saw the character shoot to the top tier of gaming villains, despite the character only making a handful of appearances inFar Cry 3.
Michael Mando’s career has skyrocketed since his role as Vaas, as the French Canadian actor is currently starring in theBreaking Badspin-off seriesBetter Call Saulas Nacho Varga.
1David Hayter (Voice) - Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid
David Hayter set an incredibly high standard in 1998 for voice acting in gaming with his performance as Solid Snake inMetal Gear Solid.His performance paved the way for voice acting to become more prevalent in the industry, and David continued to put in stellar performance after stellar performance in classic games likeMetal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty,andMetal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
Voice acting isn’t David Hayter’s only skill, as David won the2001 Saturn Award for writing the screenplay forX-Men(2000).
