Game News “He has a Marseille accent!” : 7 video game dubs to lose your hearing
As you know, in a video game – especially focused on the story – the voiceovers are of paramount importance! Because yes, imagine The Last of Us or God of War with duck voices, or worse, interpretations completely off the mark. Unthinkable, you say? Well take a look at this article, where headlines push the boundaries of bad taste. Come on, let’s go!
In the category of absurd dubbing, we start with a classic. It is certain, you know Metal Gear Solid, famous action-infiltration license held by Konami – and still recently directed by Hideo Kojima… Here, we are talking about the episode released in 1999 (Europe) on PS1, which will give the series its letters of nobility. The main character, Solid Snake, must then infiltrate a base to save hostages. Cake for an overtrained soldier? Well, it was without counting on protagonists at the sharp nib. In Metal Gear Solid, we can thus hear “your eyes are blue, bluer than the sky”; or even a whole tirade about the “Eskimo-Indian Olympics”, which culminates in the cult “do you want us to pull our ears out?”. Not only is the writing nice, but the French dubbing adds a good layer of it.
- Find the dubbing of Metam Gear Solid from 1min40 in the auto-play video.
Binary Domain (2012 – PC, PS3, 360)
We move on to another candidate who will not disappoint you. So here come Binary Domain, released in 2012 on PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio (Yakuza)! A very serious software, at least in appearance. Here, the story revolves around robot-humans who have infiltrated the ranks of a futuristic Tokyo. Of course, a team is in charge of investigating the problem. The governments of the world get involved, as does the right arm of the President of the USA. A character who obviously comes to us from Marseille ! Yes, in a meeting about an actively wanted fugitive, his singsong accent evokes “Yoji Amada, a recognized genius in the field of AI and founder of the Amada company”. After all, why not have studied in the south of France to land in the United States and then, icing on the cake, in Japan.
- Find Binary Domain’s dubbing from 6min15 in the auto-play video.
Haven: Call of the King (2002 – PS2, Xbox, Gamecube)
As long as we’re talking about accents that seem out of step with the world of a video game, we continue with Haven: Call of the King – developed by Traveller’s Tales. But yes, you know, the studio that develops all the Lego adaptations today (Star Wars, Marvel, Indiana Jones, etc.)! Long before its great passion for bricks, the team offers here an adventure-platform game where the main character, Haven, must save his people from slavery. It’s original, there are a lot of genres that are mixed, like puzzle, shoot’em up, racing. But this melting pot goes further, with a speaking hero French with an English accent. And we are not talking about a beautiful accent à la George Stobbart – in the Chevalier de Baphomet – but about a kind of yogurt that is not pleasant to listen to and neither well interpreted. On this point, the other heroes are not left out.
- Find the dubbing of Haven from 4min00 in the auto-play video.
Dynasty Warriors 3 (2002 – PS2, Xbox)
We are now entering a dangerous zone, that of the worst French dubbing. And here comes a serious representative, Dynasty Warriors 3. You necessarily know the principle of these action games developed by the Omega Force team. It’s very simple, you have to rout as many enemies as possible with big weapons. We are here in ancient China, at the time of the Three Kingdoms. The fall of the Han family then led to an uprising against the Empire, led by a certain Zhang Jiao… Regardless of the kingdom concerned, it therefore takes soldiers gifted in combat to achieve victory. Skilled in combat, perhaps, but clearly not in dubbing! We really need hear it to believe it, to such an extent that it is – there are no other words – badly played. So yes, you will please your ears with nearly 10 minutes of cut-scenes, thank you Omega Force.
- Find the dubbing of Dynasty Warriors from 10min55 on the video in auto-play.
Gabriel Knight 2 (1995 – PC)
Come on, yet another for the road, still in the disastrous acting category. Sure, you probably don’t know Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within – second episode of the eponymous FMV (full motion video) series. Basically, it’s a point’n’click investigation game but filmed with real actors. So, “real actors” on screen in VO, perhaps, but in VF, it’s quite simply a disaster. Our test of the time speaks for itself. “On two or three occasions, you will hear the voice actor claim that he forgot the end of his line and that he cannot read himself again – without it having been cut in the editing. The quality of the dubbing is itself quite questionable, especially since you have to deal with caricatural German accents”! Want to see this for yourself? Well there is only one thing left to do. Good listening !
- Find the dubbing of Dynasty Warriors from 5min05 on the video in auto-play.
Two Worlds 2 (2010 – PC, PS3, 360)
You know Two Worlds ? It’s a rather popular role-playing game that made the happy days – or not, it depends on the case – of the PC and the Xbox 360 in 2017. Its sequel arrived three years later (with a PS3 version in addition) it is this that interests us today. You will understand, level dubbing, it does not go at all. The video offered in auto-play shows you – for example – a lunar scene where a guard, clearly alarmed by an imminent danger, goes to report it to his master, who unfortunately also plays like a foot. Suddenly, complicated to realize the stakes, to invest emotionally in an adventure which nevertheless sees things in a big way. Because yes, even if it does not have quite the build, Two Worlds was boxing at the time in the same category as Oblivion and Gothic. We will say that his poor French dubbing did not help him.
- Find the dubbing of Two Worlds 2 from 9min45 on the video in auto-play.
Chaos Wars (2006 – PS2)
Do you want more ? So another candidate, Chaos Wars. It is a tactical role-playing game that comes as a cross between several video games and role-playing games (Shadow Hearts, Blazing Souls and Growlanser Spectral Souls Resurrection of the Ethereal Empires). In short, all the cards in hand to create a good game? On paper, yes, but in practice, not really. On the sidelines of the fact that Chaos Wars gets a 64 (about 13/20) from Metacritic, the dubbing is simply off the mark, in English! But for once, there is an explanation. According to Kotaku, the CEO of O3 Entertainment – the company behind this role-playing game – a certain Chris Jelinek, has hired some family members to embody characters! Inevitably, even with all the goodwill in the world, when you don’t know how to act, or don’t know how to act!
“He has a Marseille accent!” : 7 video game dubs to lose your hearing