During Gamescom, Konami released some new footage for the HD version of Silent Hill 2. Normally this would be awesome news. After all, Silent Hill 2 is easily one of the best Survival Horror games ever made. What could possibly go wrong, right?
Apparently, Konami didn’t feel like paying the original voice actors for their work and decided to recast all the characters instead. This could have actually been a good thing since the voice acting in Silent Hill 2 was pretty bad. It had a certain charm to it, though, and that’s why it actually worked.
To say that the new voices broke my heart would be an understatement. Watch the video for yourself and you’ll understand why.
There are so many things wrong with the new voices, I don’t even know where to begin. Let’s start with Eddie. His character in the original Silent Hill 2 sounded absolutely insane. There was always a feeling of disgust in every scene he was in. I don’t even know how to describe the new Eddie. Just listen to him. It sounds like he has a throat infection or something. This new performance doesn’t even come close to evoking the same emotions as before. It still makes you cringe, but for all the wrong reasons.
The voice of Mary/Maria in the original Silent Hill 2 was actually really good. It was certainly the most believable of the bunch. The new Maria has too deep of a voice and is trying way too hard to be seductive. James doesn’t actually sound that bad, surprisingly enough. It’s not like he says much, though, so it’s kind of difficult to tell.
Konami somehow found a way to ruin Silent Hill 2. How is that even possible? Check out the voice actor comparison video to get a better idea of just how bad it truly is.
Source: YouTube
online4ntagonist
well that’s gonna save some money for the Metal Gear HD collection. Just don’t tell me Snake now has the voice of Ben Affleck.
bunimomike
I will say this (in light of watching the comparison video)… that’s truly shocking voice acting with both sets. Christ, that’s bad!
ULTROS
Time to lighten things up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8vyYASGFCI
Delriach
lmao. That was amazing.
Lymmusic
Nice… Whoever did that needs a job at konami
aerobes
Genuinely lol’d at that. “All I want from you is an answerrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!” :D
MaD dOctoR 79
I don’t see the point or the need for it but…
the only one that didn’t really work was the first clip of Mary, the new voice over by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn doesn’t fit that scene as well as the original as the original voice actor had a younger sounding tone which fit the scene and the character, however the new voice for Maria fits a tiny bit better.
Eddie’s original voice was never that good anyway, and the new one does fit the character’s visual appearance more than the old voice actor.
I do think that both versions of James are both fine nothing special about either.
Mary (Original voice)
Eddie (New Voice)
Maria/Mary (New Voice)
James (Either)
also we need to take into account that these snippets might not be final versions with all the added effects that would normally be done…(I’m looking at the old video footage scene of Mary)
but it’s not horrific, it’s just unneeded
darioX
Thank you
Shakugan
Shiiiit on you Konami! Well at least it’s not too bad, but bearable.
darioX
Grow up its not that bad
darioX
Its actually really good. What the hell is wrong with the new voice overs. I think they sound legitimate and convincing.