Voice Acting

Note that this post contains a large number of videos, as it is hard to discuss voice acting without listening to some. If you have a slow connection, or tend to have trouble with videos, you may wish to scroll down and start each one and immediatly pause it. This will let them all buffer while you do your reading. At the same time, most of the videos are rather short, under two minutes.

Giving the characters in a game an actual prerecorded voice has been standard for some time now. Even arcade games often had them, but the problem used to lie in poor quality speakers and sound processing. Now, we can reliably produce high quality sound, so that barrier is removed. Even still, having high quality sound isn't enough. If you want good voices on your characters, the voice actor who reads the lines must also be good. The line doesn't quite stop there though. Even the best voice actor in the world is powerless if you give him terrible lines to read.

Before we go further, it is important to make a distinction between bad voice acting and bad writing. Someone has to write all that dialogue in the game. The person, or persons, doing this writing are important. If they write crummy dialogue, then it's over. Character One, "It's over." Character Two, "It has only begun." Not exactly screenwriters guild material. Then, the other side is the voice actors. They should sound into it, not like they're just reading lines off a sheet of paper. Most of the same qualities you would expect from an actor in a feature film apply here. The writing can be great, but if the voice actor is dull and dry, then it can shoot the writing in the foot. Both sides have to step up, because they will ruin each other if they don't. Bad writing and/or voice acting can taint an otherwise excellent game. Chances are it won't outright slaughter it, because as we have discussed in the past gameplay is the focus, but the player's experience will be lowered. At least they can always turn off the sound, but you don't want to drive your players to that end.

Let's start with some bad writing. I don't think the voice acting is terrible on this, though it's certainly not great. This is from the X-Men Arcade Game. Here the player briefly encounters Magneto, the main villan of the game, who kindly... welcomes them....



In case you can't make it out, he says, "X-Men, welcome to Die." Apparently, Die is a new vacation spot in the Marvel universe.

Next, not to pick on Magneto too much, we have the final fight with him. Again, I don't really hold anything against the actor personally, I think he did pretty well considering what he was given to work with.



Some of the lines, are actually pretty amusing to me. I find the "X-Chicken" actually fairly clever, though "I kill you. You are DEAD. HAHAHA!" is barely even proper english. The poster of that video suggests that there are several prerecorded snippets that the programmers set up to be strung together, making that bit read as, "I. Kill you. You are. DEAD. HAHAHA!" Rewatch that bit, and you can pick out a disconnect that would indicate that this is the case. If this is true, then do we blame the writers or the programmers?

Next, another example of bad writing. This scene of from the unequivocally awful game Alone in the Dark for the Xbox 360, not to be confused with the original of the same name. The voice acting is again okay, though "her" voice is going through a filter so it's hard to truly decide, but I've seen many people complain about the writing in this short tidbit, and thus the game as a whole. Personally, I find it compelling, because this is probably exactly what I would say and do if I was in his position.

WARNING: Contains a blatant F-Bomb!


No discussion of bad writing would be complete without mentioning the Resident Evil games. Resident Evil is known for it's shoddy writing and, unintentionally, hilarious dialouge. Take for example this scene in RE4 between the protagonist and Salazar, the midget Napoleon(yes, a midget even for Napoleon).

 

Now, for a second stab at the RE series. Someone has taken voice clips from the first game and rearranged them in an... interesting manner. The sounds from getting chomped on by zombies are particularily well placed.

Meant for an 18+ audience only!


Enough smashing bad writing for now. Time for a couple bad voice acting examples. Up first is a classic, the end scene from the first Devil May Cry game. Dante, the cocky badass protagonist, dwells over the fallen body of the woman who was leading him into a trap all game, only to betray her employer at the end to save Dante and thus the world. While this game is generally considered to have good voice acting, this scene is the exception. It often sounds like he is preparing himself, "This is my sad line. This is my inspirational line." So, some of the lines sound a little disjointed to me. However, the "classic" line is the one he starts at about 37 seconds. I'm not sure what his script said, but his delivery is... enthusiastic.



The LLLIIIGGGHHHTTT bit has spawned many knock offs, where other people and situations have the key word replaced by LLLIIIGGGHHHTTT. The most interesting one to me was the one for, "This is Sparta." where the word Sparta was replaced. I found that interesting due to the number of knockoffs on that line.

Rather than try and cop together several more examples, I'll just borrow from someone who already has. Here is dirtFilledCoffin's list of "Top 50 worst videogame voice acting". My personal favorites in order are: #1, all I have to say is "fffffff".   #46, you think you know how it goes, but stick it out you'll be surprised. And my absolute favorite:  #11. It makes me laugh everytime I hear it. I think it's the unconcerned "okay" at the end that makes it so great to me.



I have to, as a diehard fan, take a moment here and defend (sort of) #25. If you looked closely you may have noticed it was a Legend of Zelda game. You may also realize that no LoZ game has voices. What gives? This is the obscure LoZ game: Wand of Gamelon. There is a good reason for it being obscure, it is terrible. It was also not made by Nintendo. They licensed it to a Russian developer; something I think they'd rather die than do again. However, Wand of Gamelon provides another opportunity to attack voice acting and writing and remind ourselves to make our own games.

Here is the opening scene from the game. Yes, this is the game, not a TV show.


There is another game I must mention here, only because I have to. The game is called Chaos Wars and made an appearance in the Top 50 list. I have to mention it because it is absolutly the worst voice acting (and rather bad writing as well) that I have ever heard. I adivse you skip this (seriously), but in case you have a desperate need to make your ears cry and to lose your hearing about ten years earlier than you would have, then take a listen. No, I won't blame you if you wimp out part way through.



As I have heard, and Wikipedia agrees, the CEO of the developer got his kids to do the voice acting instead of hiring professionals. Would explain that mess somewhat.

Time to wrap this up. Everyone loves a good finish, so I will close with an example of good voice acting and writing. I absolutly love Lezard from Valkyrie Profile 2, a game which was called "The best game of 2006 that no one played". His lines are interesting, and his voice acting is great. His voice actor is Liam O'Brien, who also voices a character in the popular animae Naruto. I want him to voice characters in my game. Here's his quotes from when you fight him as the final boss.



Lezard begins as a playable character, who betrays the party to become the final boss later. So there are many quotes of his avaliable, but none stand out to me as much as his Soul Crush quotes. Soul Crushes are the epic attacks, the limit breaks, or just plain massive damage attacks that characters in this game use. I finish with a movie that runs through each of his quotes for these attacks. If nothing else though, watch the end from 1:25 to the end. It includes two of my favorite lines of his and his death scream. I wish I could scream like that.

Lezard cannot believe how bad you sound.

Lezard also wants to know if you have any of your own favorite voice actors.

Don't anger the Lezard!

Using Other's Work Part 3 of 3: Ripping Off the Gameplay

At last we come to the heart of the matter: the gameplay. As discussed many times, the gameplay is the most important thing in a game. So what happens when a game is a wild success? What happens in any industry? People try to copy it, with varying degrees of shame.

Before we wade too far into this, let me remind of something as it will help make an important distinction in the games I discuss here. Remember in part 1 of this series I mention archtype VS cliche? That will come back in this discussion. We must remember that just because a game falls into the same genre (archtype) as another, does not mean it is a copy (cliche). Every first person shooter is not automatically a ripoff of Doom.

I bring this up after the release of Dante's Inferno. It is considered a rip off of God of War. I mentioned the archtype bit, because some defend Dante's Inferno as being only game in the same genre. However, as I understand it, there is literally no difference between the games. The story is a laughable "adaptation" of Dante's original work, and the characters all look different. The terms have been changed, but in terms of gameplay, there seems to be absolutely no difference. Dante's Inferno is one among many bearing the "rip off" label for God of War lately, with Darksiders having come out just before it.

Darksiders also appears to have copied GoW quite rashly, but also comes under a bit of fire for its "liberal" use of things from the Legend of Zelda games. Now, here's a concept that could work just fine. Take the hack and slash gameplay from GoW(ignoring the ripping off for the moment), and throw in a boomerang that can hit multiple enemies. LoZ by no means has a patent, copyright, or any sort of stranglehold on the idea of a multi targeting boomerang. But then add in a grapple hook that can latch onto walls (hookshot/clawshot) and a mirrored light beam themed dungeon (Spirit Temple and Stone Tower), then the term homage fails to hold up anymore. Note also that the last dungeon reportedly grants an item that appears in no LoZ game to date: a gun which opens blue and orange portals.

Then, we hit an interesting idea: Ripping off your prequel. I've spoken many times about how a sequel should try and add something to the existing game, but too often the sequel is only a copy and paste of the previous game. The only thing that changes are some of the names, the story a little, and the scenery might be changed. Other than that, it is the same game. This is the crime we are pointing at and calling a rip off by other developers. Why should it be different if a developer rips itself off? I don't think it should.

The "proper" way to use other's gameplay in your own game is similar to the proper way to do this for references (see part 1). That is, small bits from multiple sources, not too many too close together, and only one or two from any one of the games. Old ideas that worked well can be fun when presented in new and interesting scenarios, but make sure that's what you are actually doing. And, of course, make sure you have some original (and as always, good) gameplay idea thrown in. My own personal bias is that every game should attempt to add something new to gaming as a whole. I havn't heard players clamoring for this, but I have heard people complain about games that clearly don't add any specific new ideas. They're not a particular rip off of any one game, but have clearly just frankensteined several good/well tested ideas together. Case in that I have heard this about, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

This concludes my first, and last, series of posts. If this post seems a little short or underthought, it's because it has been rotting in the back on my mind for three weeks. I have been over the excitment of this topic for some time now. I found just today a topic that I would much rather have spent the last half hour writing about. So, the moral of the story is that I do not recommend this idea to any of you who may run your own blog.

And next week, since I'm excited about it now, should be: Voice Acting.

Dante battles with Lust.

I can understand this as I am lusting too... for an original game.

Using Other's Work Part 2 of 3: Borrowing the Story

This time, my idea was partly inspired by another blog on story writing by Nathan Bransford, http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2010/03/archetype-vs-cliche.html

Bransford's post is about Archetype vs Cliche. He speaks about writing a story that is like another, within the same archetype. It seems similar because it is the same type of story. Cliche on the other hand, IS the same overused story. The story is your generic "Your princess is in another castle" story of the knight who goes out to save the princess trapped by a dragon (or a fire breathing turtle in this case).

I recently spoke about video game plots with my old high school english teacher and advisor. While the majority of our talk was centered on topics I covered in my Interactive Storytelling post, I noticed a Joseph Campbell book on his desk. I mentioned that Campbell states that there are only seven stories we can tell anyway. Every story is a reiteration of one of the seven with different names. The seven are the archetypes.

So, how does all this relate to video games? Well, almost every game has a story. Even those that appear to have no story at least have some sort of premise. The original Super Smash Brothers was about a bunch of Nintendo toys in Master Hand's room duking it out (I think that's it). SSB is an example of a game that doesn't really need a story, the fighting game genre doesn't really spend time on story. I can't think of any fighting games I've played where the story seemed important.

But then we have the other genres, which give the story more priority. The story is never top priority, that (should) always go to the gameplay. The gameplay, what the player is actually doing, is what makes the game a game. Great gameplay can, and will, save a lame story. A pulitzer prize quality story will never save a shatty game. This is why the plot is second to the gameplay. But, a good story does often define the line bewteen a good and a great game.

As I see it, there are three types of stories within the games universe: Originals that compare to other stories via the archetypes, stories that sound a lot alike via cliche, and those that are shameless copy pasted from other (usually better) games.

With the first group, as I have already noted there are only so many stories we can write. The Legend of Zelda games have you save the world. So does the Fable games. I can't think of how many games have this as a basic plot element. Both Twilight Princess and Fable II start off with simple time wasting quests in an idyllic set up. Then, both have something go horribly wrong. Then, both have you reverse the villains hard work. Then, you defeat said villain and save the world. Despite this, I would hardly call the games copies. They are within the same archtype, perhaps cliched but not copies.

The second group is the stories we drop after ten minutes saying, "I've heard this all before". The game's plot ceases to surprise you. You predict the "twists" hours before they occur. When this happens, you stop caring about the characters and when this happens in a game, unlike regular writing, you can mercilessly slay (or let die in horrible ways) the characters you no longer like. Most likely, unless the gameplay isn't cliched as well, the game gets dropped at this point.

The last group is the worst. Reiterating the exact same story as another game. Some sequels do this. Resident Evil 5 opened the exact same way as RE4 except with you killing blacks instead of spanish peasants. I've heard, since I've never played either, that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 contains three nuke scenes to try and recreate the shock and awe of the nuke scene from COD 4. But, then it just loses the effect entirely.

A final point of note, as it often comes up in literature and movies and relates to the last group, is parody. This is when you copy another story to either mock or make a comment on the original. It is possible through the Fair Play laws (Hey kids, I took an Intellectual Property class!). Parody is quite popular in movies, but rare in games. I can't think of any games that are direct full scale parodies of other games. Games that do this are small time indepent flash games that you would find on Newgrounds. However, small self parody does run through some games. Fable II makes several joking references to the first Fable. A book you can find that gives a quick summary of the first Fable states, "The guildmaster was then slain by the Hero. It is rumored that the words 'Do you have any potions?' was carved into his forehead." For those of you who don't know, whenever your health got low you would hear the guildmaster's voice, "Your health is low. Do you have any potions?" For more parody of computers and general amusement check the first three minutes or so of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKqGKW2kQ-4.

Zexion will teach you to steal his story.

Using Other's Work Part 1 of 3: References and Homages

Before I get into the body of this post, I wanted to share a recent gaming achievement with those of you who havn't heard about it yet. I think this shows how gamers stick together and help each other out, and serious potential in games to expand their player base to include those we usually just leave out. I guess we're closer than my Dad and I specualted. http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/playback/playback-106/1392129

Now, on to the good stuff. Making references to other games is nothing new. It's not even a new idea that came with games, it has been done in movies for a long time as well. There's frequently a line thrown in that only makes sense if you've seen movie X or Y. I personally do this in many of my own games that I make: I use friend's names for characters, I named a spell "Call of Cthulu", and have named various other items and characters after games I really enjoyed. What I am trying to do, and believe I am succeeding in doing, is paying homage to something/someone that I want to recognize as having a positive effect on me. Be it a great person, or epic game, they deserve recognition in my opinion. You can get away with this when the number is few and the spacing between them is large. The player will be probably be amused to find that their store owner is named Gomez Addams, but if the next town store owner is named Morticia Addams, the effect is lost.

Brevity is what makes homages work. When employed properly, it is a polite nod to the creators of whatever you are refering to. When overused, players begin to wonder if you can come up with any ideas of your own. References can also be a means of standing out, as it can draw attention to your game. Example   " 'Splosion Man". This game on the Xbox Live Arcade was an indie game. It takes some effort to stand out in the indie market, and we can appreciate that, but 'Splosion Man might be trying a bit too hard. It is set in a futuristic laboratory, fine. It is about a guy who can cause himself to explode and immediatly reform, groovy pants. Then you find a cake.... Um, ok. Portal reference probably. Then, you find another, and another on every level. Remember Still Alive, the song at the end of Portal? 'Splosion Man has three such songs.

But, 'Splosion Man has nothing on the game that inspired this post, Vanguard Saga of Heroes. Regardless of the obscene number of bugs in it at lanuch and still three years later, VG had some of it's own merit. But the developers, decided to try some good ol' references to help define it a bit. Take the word "some" from that sentence with a wheelbarrow of salt. Here's a list of the references I can think of off the top of my head, and keep in mind these are the ones I caught and there could be countless more I missed:

A play on Fox McCloud from the Starfox games. Fox has on his team a one Falco Lombardi and Slippy Toad. Notice the name of the harpy standing next to the fox man, and the frog I have targeted. (He is camera shy and hid in the bush)

A quest called Living on a Prayer. [Bon Jovi song of the same name]

A quest called Snakes on the Plain. [Movie of nearly the same name]

A quest: Storming the Castle. Not suspicious until...

A drop for that quest: This Gate Key [Princess Bride]

Note the name of the quest in yellow on the right. Guess what the Hobgoblins are throwing into the river? [Use your American History]

A quest called someting like: Beyond the Glass. [Has you go through some motions that I am told is exactly like Through the Looking Glass, which I've never read]

I can't remember any others at the moment, except one I'm saving for a second, but if I went around I would rediscover a truly alarming number of them.

Part of the problem with this crazy number of references is that player's start to lose the ability to distinguish between references and coincidence. Take this last picture as an example of this problem.

Bamf is a term that was coined by comedian Dane Cook. It stands for Bad Ass Mother... I'll let you fill in the last word. And yes, I am riding Randolph the Reindeer.

Is this intentional? Or did some designer realize he needed a name for the big monster stomping around and happen to hit get Bamf when he hit his keyboard? His Lordship is indeed a Bamf as the reference would imply. He is much stronger than other foes in this area. The snakes he is walking past are only level 33, and only ranked at 3 dots of difficulty which is a challenging solo mob. Bamf is level 40 and 4 dot rated, meaning he requires a group to take on. What this did was create expectations. When I learned that he does not drop a Dane Cook album, I was actually disappointed. This is where overuse of references fails, or using them improperly. If he had been named anything else, that wasn't itself a reference, I would not have been so disappointed with what he did drop. You shouldn't name your big nasty wandering bosses Lord Pushover, but names do make a difference in what your player will expect. Linking names through references only increases this problem.


Next week we'll take references one step further: borrowing stories.

What is wrong with the people in charge of naming enemies in Vanguard? Why isn't the level EIGHTY drake named King Bamf? Punk one shotted me off Randolph at fifty yards. Why do we even have an 80 mob in a game where we can only level to 55? Or... is this a reference to Everquest 2, World of Warcraft, and Age of Conan which are all games where you can level to 80?