Fanaticism over movie stars is a cultural touchstone that’s generally applicable to everyone. Some may deny any slavish devotion to the stars dotting Hollywood, but deep down, they still envy their chiseled faces. It’s a phenomenon that has run rampant in the television space, where they still worship any movie star willing to debase themselves to some miniseries or guest spot in a show.
A similar sentiment may be creeping into video games. Providing likenesses or voices isn’t anything new of course; terrible representations of actors in movie tie-in games is just as much a part of the ’90s as grunge, Power Rangers or pretending the decade didn’t exist.
I mostly bring up the conversation in light of the release of Quantic Dream’s “Beyond: Two Souls.” Spanning 15 years of a woman’s life who’s simultaneously inhabited by a spirit, the game follows in the cinematic tradition of director David Cage’s previous titles, “Heavy Rain” and “Indigo Prophecy”. Advertisements have blatantly plastered Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe’s names across the screen in true movie trailer fashion.
Page plays the main character, Jodie, and the trailer certainly makes her out to seem like a step up from the faux-American accents throughout “Heavy Rain.” Whether there should be any fantasies of using movie stars as a marketing ploy for video games is another matter entirely. Cage would like to bill this entire experience as an extension of filmmaking, but his actual plots have always seemed too convoluted and generic to ever service as more than an amateur tale.
I retain that his work is important though, if only because his offerings fall into a genre of their own that could easily be imitated. It never will though, not in the AAA space at least, so we’re stuck judging the merits of acting-focused games with limited gameplay interactions on Cage’s work. Realistic acting plays a role a major role in the presentation, something recent advances in motion capture work have made more accessible to stars.
The hullabaloo around garnering someone like Page for such an involved role seems a tad overblown and desperate, it still sounds like a medium striving for recognition. Television’s the same way—groveling like Wayne and Garth over Alice Cooper. It’s debasing and unnecessary. I’m hoping both Page and Dafoe knock it out of the park, but I’ve seen enough other amazing performances by industry standards to know Cage could have just as easily found a suitable substitute.
Some of my angst may stem from a ludicrous interview I still remember Gary Oldman doing on Conan after “Call of Duty: Black Ops.” I love Oldman as much as the next guy, but his discussions about the voiceover session made it seem like a ridiculous scene from a B movie. Movie stars are great when they’re invested in what they’re doing, but part of that entails understanding the medium you’re entering.
Shifting towards mo-cap has paid huge dividends for the Indiana Jones-inspired “Uncharted” series and terminally overlooked “Enslaved.” Part of the dynamic between the characters in both games comes from the charisma and relationships formed when actors can actually interact with one another. Does this shift make the transition easier for movie actors? Probably. Should we care? Nope.
Acting in games has never been all that great, although recent years have spawned some memorable performances. Much of it stems from the direction honestly. Context is everything in a voice-oriented job, so I doubt J.K. Simmons could’ve made Cave Johnson as endearing in “Portal 2” without Valve’s talented directors informing him of the situation surrounding each random line.
Basically I’m trying to say that we shouldn’t get all worked up over big time actors wanting to take part in games. It’s another step towards faux-relevancy that’s not really necessary, but idolizing anyone willing to come down from the Hollywood hills and take part in our modest industry is ridiculous. We’ll see whether marketing a notable star pays off at all for “Beyond: Two Souls,” but I don’t see that as much of a selling point. In the meantime, I’ll settle for industry vets Troy Baker and Jennifer Hale playing every character in existence.
Are you already crushing on Ellen Page’s video game rendition? Send all fan fic to Adam at arparis@wisc.edu.
