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Poor Ethan Philips....

mirrorterranmirrorterran Member Posts: 423 Arc User
I haven't been through the entire delta quadrant episodes so there may be more egregious examples but I have to say....

What did you guys tell Ethan Philips when you asked him to say 150 words within 45 seconds? Because I'm pretty sure how that went and it obviously didn't go well.

I loved Neelix (those that don't just have to watch the first voyager episode to know you weren't really supposed to).

Next time you have the opportunity to have a AAA quality actor voice act for you use it appropriately and in a story worth his time.
Post edited by mirrorterran on
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  • blevokblevok Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I liked how nelix read his parts. He often talked fast when he was worked up, and this made it feel more real to me.

    Tuvok did a pretty good job, an Worf too if i recall correctly. The EMH parts were slow and maybe a bit over-acted. Most voice parts across the whole game are way too slow. Tasha's parts are painfully slow.

    Slow talking makes it seem like bad acting to me, but i'm sure it's actually just bad coaching. Probably another one of those ridiculous "it's best like this because it's an mmo" things.

    I fully support realistic conversational velocity.
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  • ussinterceptussintercept Member Posts: 627 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I havent gotten to Harry Kim yet but so far Neelix was actually fun to interact with.

    Tuvok, Seven and the only run in with the Doctor has been subpar. All three read their lines with little to no emotion. Granted Seven and Tuvok are supposed to be stoic. But both of them had their moments where they were irritated or angered on Voyager and it showed. When Seven was reflecting on how she had actually released the Vaadwuur onto the Delta Quadrant. It was hard to imagine she felt guilty. Her voiceover was that flat.

    When the Doctor,actually the Undine, talks about how youre not going anywhere and hes going to do some tests. It was barely noticeable that he meant to be menacing. At least with Neelix. There was some emotion in there. Anxiety and excitement.
  • daqheghdaqhegh Member Posts: 1,490 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    What did you guys tell Ethan Philips when you asked him to say 150 words within 45 seconds?

    They didn't SAY anything--they handed him a check for an insane amount of money for the amount of voicework he actually did. Sorry, but I don't like the idea of real Star Trek actors in a game that has NOTHING to do with Star Trek.
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  • senatorvreenaksenatorvreenak Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    daqhegh wrote: »
    They didn't SAY anything--they handed him a check for an insane amount of money for the amount of voicework he actually did. Sorry, but I don't like the idea of real Star Trek actors in a game that has NOTHING to do with Star Trek.

    Thats funny.

    Star Trek Locations: Check
    Star Trek Aliens: Check
    Star Trek Lore: Check
    Star Trek Ships: Check
    Star Trek Characters: Check
    Star Trek Technology: Check
    Star Trek etc...


    Seems like the game has EVERYTHING to do with Star Trek. :rolleyes:
  • emarosa26emarosa26 Member Posts: 125 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have had a problem, considering they were paying him. He's a grown man, so I imagine he understands there's much worse things you could be asked to do for money.

    Also, he's the only voice actor that didn't phone their performance in. He managed to keep Neelix appropriately annoying.
  • leviathan99#2867 leviathan99 Member Posts: 7,747 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I havent gotten to Harry Kim yet but so far Neelix was actually fun to interact with.

    Tuvok, Seven and the only run in with the Doctor has been subpar. All three read their lines with little to no emotion. Granted Seven and Tuvok are supposed to be stoic. But both of them had their moments where they were irritated or angered on Voyager and it showed. When Seven was reflecting on how she had actually released the Vaadwuur onto the Delta Quadrant. It was hard to imagine she felt guilty. Her voiceover was that flat.

    When the Doctor,actually the Undine, talks about how youre not going anywhere and hes going to do some tests. It was barely noticeable that he meant to be menacing. At least with Neelix. There was some emotion in there. Anxiety and excitement.

    Try getting on their bad side.

    I just killed a bunch of innocent people after Seven warned me it was unnecessary to see how she'd react and she all but threatened to turn me and have me court-martialed.

    Also, Neelix has a great moment later.

    I think they're mostly quite true to the show.

    Kim is a LOT more self-assured but it's nice that he treats you as his senior officer (although maybe a bit sad that he does considering we're less than a year out of the academy). Kim really steals the show when it comes to acting.

    The Doctor is, so far for me, the most disappointing. Picardo's voice has changed a bit but that can't be helped, I guess. We don't really see any moments where he is justified in any kind of righteous indignation or he really gets to stand on principal. He does show some emotion when it comes to Neelix but, in general, all we get is the narcissistic, adventure-loving version. He almost comes off a bit more like Bashir to me here. I think he might just be a casualty of time and focus but aside from a new subroutine he's developed, I don't get any sense of growth with him.

    Tuvok and Kim have both assumed command and are, well, suits here but you get Kim's annoyance, eagerness, and impatience here. Seven has allied with the Borg Cooperative and does voice opinion if subtly (she's got a lot of guilt over the Vaudwaar and she can be provoked to anger). Neelix has friends and a family and a purpose as a guide again. The Doctor feels the most tacked on to me. He's just THERE. I'm glad he's there and I am eager to get some ground combat so I can trigger my EMH.

    In general, though, you have to utilize or even provoke these characters to get the really strong acting out of them.

    So far, I like the leader of the villains quite well. This villain reminds me a lot of Dukat, Khan (both versions), Nero, and Ru'afo. Especially Dukat and Khan. This villain puts every villain in the game so far to shame. I'm not sure who does the character's voice here but the actor really nails the acting in a few places. It really comes down to the subvocals. Grunts, pauses, laughs, spins on words. There's a point where the actor just opens up the line with a slow building chuckle and it's just... It's like having Dukat right there. The laugh isn't indicated in the text. The actor just laughs and it was like hearing "Bonnie Kins" for the first time.

    I'm not through with the missions so I don't know how much future the villain has but I'd take more villains like that. It really gives me the feeling like I've got something to work against. A couple of times, I was half tempted to charge into large groups of enemies to see if I could find the villain and shoot them.

    (Trying to avoid spoilers.)
  • ussinterceptussintercept Member Posts: 627 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Try getting on their bad side.

    I just killed a bunch of innocent people after Seven warned me it was unnecessary to see how she'd react and she all but threatened to turn me and have me court-martialed.

    Also, Neelix has a great moment later.

    I think they're mostly quite true to the show.

    Kim is a LOT more self-assured but it's nice that he treats you as his senior officer (although maybe a bit sad that he does considering we're less than a year out of the academy). Kim really steals the show when it comes to acting.

    The Doctor is, so far for me, the most disappointing. Picardo's voice has changed a bit but that can't be helped, I guess. We don't really see any moments where he is justified in any kind of righteous indignation or he really gets to stand on principal. He does show some emotion when it comes to Neelix but, in general, all we get is the narcissistic, adventure-loving version. He almost comes off a bit more like Bashir to me here. I think he might just be a casualty of time and focus but aside from a new subroutine he's developed, I don't get any sense of growth with him.

    Tuvok and Kim have both assumed command and are, well, suits here but you get Kim's annoyance, eagerness, and impatience here. Seven has allied with the Borg Cooperative and does voice opinion if subtly (she's got a lot of guilt over the Vaudwaar and she can be provoked to anger). Neelix has friends and a family and a purpose as a guide again. The Doctor feels the most tacked on to me. He's just THERE. I'm glad he's there and I am eager to get some ground combat so I can trigger my EMH.

    In general, though, you have to utilize or even provoke these characters to get the really strong acting out of them.

    So far, I like the leader of the villains quite well. This villain reminds me a lot of Dukat, Khan (both versions), Nero, and Ru'afo. Especially Dukat and Khan. This villain puts every villain in the game so far to shame. I'm not sure who does the character's voice here but the actor really nails the acting in a few places. It really comes down to the subvocals. Grunts, pauses, laughs, spins on words. There's a point where the actor just opens up the line with a slow building chuckle and it's just... It's like having Dukat right there. The laugh isn't indicated in the text. The actor just laughs and it was like hearing "Bonnie Kins" for the first time.

    I'm not through with the missions so I don't know how much future the villain has but I'd take more villains like that. It really gives me the feeling like I've got something to work against. A couple of times, I was half tempted to charge into large groups of enemies to see if I could find the villain and shoot them.

    (Trying to avoid spoilers.)

    Granted I havent done anything to provoke any of the voiceover characters. I didnt even know you could. But for me. That doesnt change the disappointment I have for their voiceovers. I think its great that all of these Actors have taken their time out of their busy schedules to give little ole us some attention. Especially Tim Russ. Hes put in by far the most time. Its just that when I run into these characters. I dont feel the sort of enthusiasm they displayed during the shows.

    After what you said about Kim though. I am looking forward to his performance.
  • reginamala78reginamala78 Member Posts: 4,593 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Ethan Phillips I thought did the best job of the veteran Trek actors so far. He had the little nuances that really got the personality and 'body language' across, like a professional voice actor rather than an actor doing a voice over. I'm honestly surprised to look him up on IMDB and not see a list of other video games and animation. I'm not a fan of Voyager in general, but I will certainly credit the guy for playing his role well.
  • cosmicsunwindcosmicsunwind Member Posts: 78 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I thought Neelix was the best VO by far, followed by Kim, then Tuvok, 7of9 was totally phoned in.. no emotion at all, skipped most of those conversations once I read the text.
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  • svindal777svindal777 Member Posts: 856 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    blevok wrote: »
    Tasha's parts are painfully slow.

    Slow talking makes it seem like bad acting to me, but i'm sure it's actually just bad coaching. Probably another one of those ridiculous "it's best like this because it's an mmo" things.

    I fully support realistic conversational velocity.
    The intro she did for that 1 sector, Tau Dewa? I think, it's been a while. She sounded like she was reading to a child. Very annoying.
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  • hravikhravik Member Posts: 1,203 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    [personal opinion] I have to agree. I winced through a lot of the dialog so far. Not their best work by any means. [/personal opinion]
  • ashkrik23ashkrik23 Member Posts: 10,809 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I haven't been through the entire delta quadrant episodes so there may be more egregious examples but I have to say....

    What did you guys tell Ethan Philips when you asked him to say 150 words within 45 seconds? Because I'm pretty sure how that went and it obviously didn't go well.

    I loved Neelix (those that don't just have to watch the first voyager episode to know you weren't really supposed to).

    Next time you have the opportunity to have a AAA quality actor voice act for you use it appropriately and in a story worth his time.

    What are you talking about? He sounds the best out of all of them.
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  • moonshadowdarkmoonshadowdark Member Posts: 1,899 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    daqhegh wrote: »
    They didn't SAY anything--they handed him a check for an insane amount of money for the amount of voicework he actually did. Sorry, but I don't like the idea of real Star Trek actors in a game that has NOTHING to do with Star Trek.

    Since when were you the reincarnation of Mr. Roddenberry?
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  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,236 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I thought it was great. Neelix often did that in the show. So it felt perfectly normal for that character.
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  • moonshadowdarkmoonshadowdark Member Posts: 1,899 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I thought it was great. Neelix often did that in the show. So it felt perfectly normal for that character.

    The only real immersion breaking moment with Neelix?

    He didn't hug Tuvok as soon as he saw him.
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  • markhawkmanmarkhawkman Member Posts: 35,236 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    The only real immersion breaking moment with Neelix?

    He didn't hug Tuvok as soon as he saw him.
    Does the game even have a hug animation?

    But yeah, now that you mention it, I was half expecting him to hug ME!!
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  • moonshadowdarkmoonshadowdark Member Posts: 1,899 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Does the game even have a hug animation?

    But yeah, now that you mention it, I was half expecting him to hug ME!!

    It's a cutscene. If they can make Cooper's head inflate like a blow-pop, Neelix can give us a squeeze!
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  • czertik123czertik123 Member Posts: 1,122 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    maby filips is good actor, but nelix was so annoing charakter...that i sometimes think that some battkles voyager fought because of him :).
    And well, in annoinance only wesley crusher seconded him.
    But well, i take that characters were suped to be comic relief.
  • anazondaanazonda Member Posts: 8,399 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I think Ethan Phillips was a better Neelix in First Contact, than he was in DR... And he didn even PLAY neelix in FC.

    Somehow, cryptic seems to be unable to motivate former ST cast to do a good job... Perhaps they made them grind the lines?
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  • tenkaritenkari Member Posts: 2,906 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Ethan Phillips I thought did the best job of the veteran Trek actors so far. He had the little nuances that really got the personality and 'body language' across, like a professional voice actor rather than an actor doing a voice over. I'm honestly surprised to look him up on IMDB and not see a list of other video games and animation. I'm not a fan of Voyager in general, but I will certainly credit the guy for playing his role well.

    you must not have been paying much attention.

    He did voices in a couple other video games.

    Syphon filter: The omega Strain.
    Star Wars: Knights of the old Republic
    Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
    Star Wars: Force Commander
    Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force


    As for Animation, he did a few shows for Nickelodeon.
  • xaramanxaraman Member Posts: 291 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I'm not sure who does the character's voice here but the actor really nails the acting in a few places.
    I'm not sure who has done what, but if you check the credits of the game, you will see all the special voice talent used for the game (other contributors are further down). Anyone know what part Zachary Quinto did?

    Cheers!
  • sinn74sinn74 Member Posts: 1,149 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I haven't been through the entire delta quadrant episodes so there may be more egregious examples but I have to say....

    What did you guys tell Ethan Philips when you asked him to say 150 words within 45 seconds? Because I'm pretty sure how that went and it obviously didn't go well.

    I loved Neelix (those that don't just have to watch the first voyager episode to know you weren't really supposed to).

    Next time you have the opportunity to have a AAA quality actor voice act for you use it appropriately and in a story worth his time.

    Oddly, I hate Neelix the character, but thought the voice acting was very good.
  • mirrorterranmirrorterran Member Posts: 423 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    anazonda wrote: »
    I think Ethan Phillips was a better Neelix in First Contact, than he was in DR... And he didn even PLAY neelix in FC.

    Somehow, cryptic seems to be unable to motivate former ST cast to do a good job... Perhaps they made them grind the lines?

    Just for clarification i'm not slamming any of the voice acting work....I just get the feeling that Ethan Philips/Neelix was told that he needs to read these extremely long and complicated pieces of dialogue as fast as he possibly can and it didn't work out well.
  • dalolorndalolorn Member Posts: 3,655 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Ethan Phillips I thought did the best job of the veteran Trek actors so far. He had the little nuances that really got the personality and 'body language' across, like a professional voice actor rather than an actor doing a voice over.

    I fully agree with this.

    Next, I would probably place Tim Russ (pre-DR Tuvok more than the DR one). After that... well, I'm not quite sure in which order I'd put the others. Kim was well done, but... I don't know, something felt off.

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  • jslynjslyn Member Posts: 1,788 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I thought that Mr. Phillips did a great job. He slipped right back in to that character as if he had been playing him just last week.

    xaraman wrote: »
    Anyone know what part Zachary Quinto did?



    Mr. Quinto plays the EMH. At least he did. I haven't made a new Federation character in ages. But he was the new model EMH who ran the tutorial mission.
  • walligigwalligig Member Posts: 308 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    I think Ethan Phillips voice acting is the best of any of the returning Star Trek Cast we have had so far. One thing I have noticed is that the volume on all the returning actors is much lower then some of the other characters like Jarok, Koren, Shon, ect.. Heck last year I had to turn the music off to even be able to hear Sela and Worf. I wonder why that is?
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  • xaramanxaraman Member Posts: 291 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Yeah,

    I think the new voice work is decent (from what I've encountered so far). My favourite is Ethan Phillips, he managed to capture the character quite well and translate it to VO without many visual queues for the audience to rely on. However, I do agree that I would have expected a bit more exuberance from him when Tuvok appeared. You have to remember what those went through together in Voyager. There should have been more from Neelix at this point in the story.

    After that, I love Robert Picardos monologue in the cinematic trailer/opening sequence. He has a lovely dulcet tone that makes him excellent for VO work (you can spot a classically trained voice a mile away). I haven't come across his missions yet, so I can't comment on how he plays his role of The Doctor.

    Tim Russ is playing a Vulcan, so there's not much you can do voice wise except that dead pan, unemotional tone. However, he does it quite well considering the lack of audience visual queues.

    Garrett Wang is great and seems to have done a lot of work to be an important part of the Kobali arc. You still get the enthusiastic curiosity from him that we had in Voyager and I do really like the fact that he recognises rank and behaves appropriately. However, there are still elements in the story that treat him like the "new boy". This is a guy who would be in his 60's with massive amounts of experience. Some of the other SF officers still behave like he's a wet around the ears ensign :).

    Jeri Ryan would be my least favourite so far, but maybe I haven't gotten far enough into the story to become more engaged with her character. I don't know. Her delivery just seems a little flat to me.

    I'd really like to know who is doing the voice talent for other important characters in game. Dr. Cooper, other important villains (sub bosses/bosses) etc. Come on cryptic, give us a cast list with the roles they play (the current credits don't tell us who does what). These people also need credit where it's due.

    Cheers!
  • xaramanxaraman Member Posts: 291 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Mr. Quinto plays the EMH. At least he did.
    Thank you for that info. I haven't played Fed much, so I wouldn't have come across him there.

    Cheers!
  • gofasternowgofasternow Member Posts: 1,390 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    jslyn wrote: »
    Mr. Quinto plays the EMH. At least he did. I haven't made a new Federation character in ages. But he was the new model EMH who ran the tutorial mission.

    Zachary Quinto played the EMH of the Khitomer with the old tutorial, but with the tutorial revamp, his role is significantly reduced.
  • walshicuswalshicus Member Posts: 1,314 Arc User
    edited October 2014
    Just for clarification i'm not slamming any of the voice acting work....I just get the feeling that Ethan Philips/Neelix was told that he needs to read these extremely long and complicated pieces of dialogue as fast as he possibly can and it didn't work out well.

    Disagree. I think most of the new voice acting in delta rising had been good, Nelix in particular. That said, the Vaudwaar leader is my favourite so far...
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