Human advancement is amazing. Not so long ago, the common citizen endured primitive medical practices, polio, stagecoaches, and bad video game voice acting. Nowadays, we have the iPad 2, stem cell research, electric sports cars, and Martin Sheen in Mass Effect 2. How did we get this far? Well, it all stems from the human desire to not suck at things. In the modern console era, we rarely have to deal with “Jill Sandwich”-level performances in games; once the medium proved itself, the performative status quo is longer laughable.
In 2010, gamers were lucky enough to experience a flock of legit voice acting performances across multiple genres. Although there were indeed a few half-baked script readings here and there, overall the contender pool was a crowded, splashing mess of awesome—even more so than last year’s inaugural awards would lead us to believe. We don’t take these awards lightly, and neither should you. Because nothing takes you out of the gaming experience like crappy voice acting. So pop you some popcorn and put down that Dualshock, it's time for the Throaties!
By Ryan Woo
Human advancement is amazing. Not so long ago, the common citizen endured primitive medical practices, polio, stagecoaches, and bad video game voice acting. Nowadays, we have the iPad 2, stem cell research, electric sports cars, and Martin Sheen in Mass Effect 2. How did we get this far? Well, it all stems from the human desire to not suck at things. In the modern console era, we rarely have to deal with “Jill Sandwich”-level performances in games; once the medium proved itself, the performative status quo is longer laughable.
In 2010, gamers were lucky enough to experience a flock of legit voice acting performances across multiple genres. Although there were indeed a few half-baked script readings here and there, overall the contender pool was a crowded, splashing mess of awesome—even more so than last year’s inaugural awards would lead us to believe. We don’t take these awards lightly, and neither should you. Because nothing takes you out of the gaming experience like crappy voice acting. So pop you some popcorn and put down that Dualshock, it's time for the Throaties!
By Ryan Woo
Most Subtly Menacing Performance
Best Subversion Of Gender And Sexuality
Sexiest Performance
And The Award Goes To: Rachel Robinson as Oerba Yun Fang in Final Fantasy XIII
Complex Says: Props to Square Enix for this casting choice. Post-9/11 (lolz overused term) sexuality is less overt, and we’re cool with that. While we don’t mind the LOL TEE HEE stripper sexuality sometimes, Rachel Robinson’s performance made Fang into wifey material.
The "Man, This Performance Should Have Been So Much Better" Award
And The Award Goes To: Mark Meer as Commander Shepard in Mass Effect 2
Complex Says: After Mass Effect, we were hoping that Mark would inject a little more character into Man Shepard’s voice inflections, but even his Renegade responses sounded like a lecture from a dead chemistry teacher. Maybe by the time he comes to save Earth next year he'll have taken some acting lessons on The Citadel.
Best New Voice of an Old-Ass Franchise
Best Non-Human Performance...By A Human
Best Non-Human Performance...By A Human
And The Award Goes To: Matthew Porretta as Alan Wake in Alan Wake
Complex Says: Not enough people played this creepy-ass game to appreciate Matthew’s performance. Oh, and dude was in Robin Hood: Men in Tights. If you’re too young to remember that flick, go ditch your stupid cynicism and enjoy a classic—and Dave Chappelle!
Best Ensemble Performance
And The Award Goes To: The cast of Mass Effect 2
Complex Says: No other game even came close in 2010. Yeah, Red Dead and Fable III had great vocal ensembles, but the Mass Effect 2 cast was the ’95-’96 Bulls. We can’t remember the last time a video game had such a dominant cast (well, except for Man Shepard, who was the equivalent of Dennis Rodman in a wedding dress). Seth Green. Tricia Helfer. Yvonne Strahovski. Miranda’s Butt. Carrie Ann Moss. Keith David. Even the lesser-known actors killed it.
Worst Ensemble Performance
And The Award Goes To: The cast of Two Worlds II
Complex Says: To be fair, TWII’s voice acting wasn’t THAT bad compared to the standard fare we were getting in the early- to mid-’90s. And overall, this year’s entries were pretty dope. But the bar’s been raised since then. Hell, even Sasha Grey can sort of act in a real movie nowadays, so there’s no excuses here.
The "Holy Shit STFU Already" Award
And The Award Goes To: Georgia Van Cuylenburgh as Vanille in Final Fantasy XIII
Complex Says: We know it's not all Georgia's fault that Vanille is so annoying. She had crappy dialogue to work with, and the voice director probably kept telling her "Let's try it again, but this time try to sound more like a ditzy Japanese schoolgirl that moved to Australia and was adopted by idiot parents who left her at home by herself to play with dingoes and rubber cement.”
Best Performance (Male)
And The Award Goes To: Robert Costanzo as Joe Barbaro in Mafia II
Complex Says: Mafia II also had a strong overall cast, but as we said back in December, Robert’s performance vaulted the game into that fabled “movie” stratosphere. Not the easiest decision given all the good performances in multiple games, but it’s one that we can sleep easy with at night.
Best Performance (Female)
And The Award Goes To: Lindsey Shaw as Trip in Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Complex Says: It should be noted that the extensive mo-cap work coupled with Enslaved's sick facial motion tech made Lindsey’s performance that much more significant—she literally had to bring Trip to life, and not just from a voice acting standpoint. Her every nuanced gesture and movement was ported into Enslaved’s cut-scenes, and it shows.
