With the recent reveal of Far Cry 6 there’s no doubt we are hyped to see Giancarlo Esposito debut his role as the dictator. This is not the first time Hollywood actors made us hype for a game but does it add any value?
ONIMUSHA 3
The year is 2004 and I’m thumbing through the pages of a gaming magazine as my breath halts. I see some screens for Onimusha 3 with an actor I loved in the 1999 Godzilla movie. It is Jean Reno a famous French actor and he somehow found his way into a Japanese video game. This was my very first encounter with this phenomenon and the fact that I still remember this is proof it worked. The reason the developers did this was to make the game more appealing to Western audiences.
The game sold 1.5 million copies and did better than the second opus in the Western market. Even though I never played the game itself it is my first memory of such use of Hollywood power.
CALL OF DUTY
Call of Duty is another game series I grew up with and it has a great number of actors portraying small and even leading roles throughout the series. There are a lot but here are some of the most noteworthy in our opinion;
Jason Statham is giving you orders in the very first COD and you probably never even noticed! While the polygon-faced blob on his neck doesn’t really portray the beloved Transporter, his voice doesn’t leave any doubt! His accent gives it away immediately.
The Zombie Special Modes were also filled with celebrities like Heather Graham, Ice Cube, or even Jeff Goldblum! The Jurassic GrandMaster himself lent his persona to Call of Duty like many others and it has become a legendary performance to watch before shooting some limbs off of the undead.
The biggest roles were for Kit Harington and Kevin Spacey, however. Both portraying villains in the franchise. Kevin Spacey was in the White House at the time as an established actor and was at that time perfect for his role as a military contractor. Despite what happened, Kevin as an actor on the screen really shines and his acting is flawless.
Kit Harington on the other hand has never been able to play a “villain” so as a fan of the series he was stoked to play the bad guy this time around! Letting Kit play such a role in an already well selling game was a smart move as he was very popular in 2016 as Jon Snow in Game of Thrones.
There are countless more in the COD series but it’s hard pinpointing Hollywood selling power when you are already one of the largest grossing game series in the world…
Ghost Recon
With a rise to fame as the Punisher in both Netflix series, it is not hard to see why Jon Bernthal is a perfect match for his role as Walker in the DLC for this Tom Clancy installment, He already rocked the hairdo and gritty voice. Add some swearing to the trailer and this free DLC will get as many hits as he fired bullets in the canned Netflix Punisher!
Cyberpunk 2077
Now the prime example of how to get people hyped for an already promising game… Keanu Reaves! The all-time good guy was the major surprise at E3 2019 where he unknowingly won E3 by himself at the Xbox stage with the well known “NO, You’re breathtaking!” quote! This is a prime example of good Hollywood power put to use to entice more potential buyers. And let’s be honest, the in-game Keanu looks amazing and is almost life-like!
Brütal Legend
And now for something completely different… Brütal Legend was probably the most Meta-Aware game of its generation. With Heavy Metal hitters such as Ozzy, Dio, and Kyle Gass and let’s not forget the main character portrayed by Jack Black himself!
Jack has done all kinds of stuff but this game breathes Tenacious D humor! It is so self-aware at the same time and the best part is that this game was actually good!
Halo
Halo 3 had a diverse cast of characters and he always had a heart for space as the great series Firefly. He plays Sarge Reynolds in Halo 3 and voice acts Edward Buck in Halo Reach. Nathan also admitted to play Halo since his acting distances himself from his buddies and through gaming he can just hang out among them without compromise.
Death Stranding
With the heavy cast not unlike an Avengers movie, Death Stranding is one of those games where actors are the game itself. Guillermo del Toro, Conan O’Brien, Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, … The list goes on and on. It’s a strong narrative driven by great actors and it shows that Hollywood actors can really impact a game.
GTA IV
Yes, I’m aware that there are a lot of characters in the entire GTA series voiced or portrayed by huge actors but one of them was a complete surprise and furthermore he just plays himself… Ricky Gervais! GTA IV had many activities to kill time and most of the time you’re ghosting Roman for stalking you but instead of going bowling or getting drunk why not go to the local theatre to see some stand-up comedy?
I remember seeing Ricky Gervais in GTA IV and that’s how I got into his oeuvre as I started to look at his other work. He is genuinely a great guy and has no filter whatsoever but that’s what comedy is all about! It was by far a comedian I least expected to see in a GTA game so that’s why I’ve chosen to mention him instead of the other great portrayals that were more fitting in the series.
With the upcoming games and other game reveals coming very soon, which actors would you like to see in-game and which ones did we miss today?
