Voice acting is one of the hardest things to nail when making anything from a great animated movie to a memorable video game. The fact is that a single bad voice can take people out of an experience, which can make immersion pretty challenging indeed. So, it becomes as important as possible to nail down great voice talent that can truly make scenes come to life in the most spectacular fashion possible.
However, there are games that take this message too seriously and only put all the big bucks into voice acting while not really putting too much thought into anything else. This is a downright shame since it's clear that the voice actors still put a great deal of passion into their performances despite the shortcomings of the game.
10 Saints Row (2022)
Expectations for the Saints Row reboot were pretty high, given the great track record of Volition regarding this series. However, the game turned out to be a bland open-world title with unlikable characters and dated gameplay.
For what it's worth, the voice acting in the game was solid as always. However, the poor presentation and uninspired gameplay really take this game down a peg.
9 Beyond: Two Souls
David Cage and Quantic Dream have developed several stellar projects, but Beyond: Two Souls was arguably a dud. The story's non-linear structure ended up being more confusing than innovative, leading to many people not really understanding the story until they put some hours into the game.
The voice acting and motion capture performances were stellar, as is to be expected from a Quantic Dream game. However, the rest of the package is nowhere near as enjoyable, leading to many people considering Beyond: Two Souls to be a pretty poor title.
8 Gotham Knights
Gotham Knights could've been something truly great, allowing players to step into the shoes of some of Gotham's other beloved superheroes. However, a half-baked progression system coupled with grindy gameplay led to the title being received poorly at launch.
The story definitely showed a ton of promise, especially with the voice performances being so powerful. However, it took so long to get to the good parts of Gotham Knights that the entire experience just left a sour taste in the mouths of many fans.
7 The Last Of Us Part 2
The Last of Us is one of the greatest video games of all time, and expectations were high for the sequel. From a technical standpoint, The Last of Us Part 2 certainly delivered, with the performances of the main cast being quite impressive indeed.
However, many found the game itself to be torrid and miserable to play through. It didn't execute its core message well at all and dragged on for so long that a lot of players simply didn't have it in themselves to appreciate the game's strengths after a point.
6 Mafia 3
The first two Mafia games were great adventures in their own right, having a fresh take on the open-world concept while letting players fulfill their fantasies of being a mobster. With that in mind, fans expected the third game to be more of the same.
The presentation of the story and the performances of the characters in Mafia 3 are truly sublime. However, boring gameplay coupled with open-world activities that force people to do repetitious tasks over and over again results in Mafia 3 being a largely forgettable title.
5 Yakuza: Dead Souls
The Yakuza series is an easy mention when people need to talk about games with great stories and voice acting. In fact, pretty much every game in the Yakuza series is beloved in its own right; barring one game, that is.
Yakuza: Dead Souls is infamous for being the most boring game in the Yakuza series, with the third-person shooting being awfully uninspired. Sure, the beloved characters and their energetic voice performances were here for all to see but even that couldn't stop Yakuza: Dead Souls from being a largely forgettable experience.
4 Mass Effect: Andromeda
The Mass Effect series has been graced with several amazing titles, but the latest one received a ton of ire from the fanbase. Andromeda was downright broken upon launch, and even the fixes that were released didn't stop this title from being one of the worst games that BioWare has ever released.
As is to be expected from any BioWare game, Andromeda features great voice acting across the board. However, these performances aren't enough to save the title from being largely forgettable.
3 The Order: 1886
The Order: 1886 looked gorgeous, with its setting being quite unique indeed. However, upon release, the game's short length and basic gameplay led to many people being disappointed by a title that should've been one of the PS4's biggest hits.
The voice acting and graphics of this title are still a cut above the rest and are worth checking out for players who don't mind experiencing a short action-packed adventure. It might not be the most memorable title around, but The Order: 1886 deserves a second chance simply for its production values alone.
2 Twelve Minutes
Twelve Minutes was poised to be a great and intriguing puzzle game that messed around with the idea of a Groundhog Day-style time loop. While this concept was interesting, the game absolutely failed in its execution.
The talented voice cast of James McAvoy, Daisy Ridley, and Willem Dafoe is absolutely wasted on a mystery that concludes on a pretty unsatisfying note. It doesn't help that the looping gameplay of Twelve Minutes ends up being more frustrating than interesting after a point.
1 The Callisto Protocol
Early previews of The Callisto Protocol were quite promising, with the game's visuals and gameplay being very impressive indeed. It helped that the game had some notable actors along with a talented voice cast to fuel the hype.
However, level design and gameplay were two areas where The Callisto Protocol fell short. Trying to fight more than one enemy was akin to a death sentence, with players being mobbed by attacks before dying over and over again in some of the game's more frustrating levels.