As the gaming industry continues to become more cinematic, voice actors are subsequently continuing to become a pivotal part of what makes or breaks a game. What was once seen as an unnecessary expense is now a fundamental part of many AAA games today, that often feature huge casts of talented voice actors. Even the Legend of Zelda series used voice acting in its latest game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a rarity in the series.
The increased relevancy of acting goes hand in hand with the importance of narrative in gaming today. The Xbox 360 and PS3 era saw narrative-driven games fire straight to the top of the gaming industry, led by games that had intricate, fleshed-out, and incredibly well-written stories like The Last of Us, Mass Effect 2, and Alan Wake. It isn't just that writing that made these games special though, as the actors brought the characters to life.
Sony's PlayStation has been a pioneer in implementing voice acting into their games, and recognizing some of gaming's unsung heroes is always a worthwhile venture.
10 Camilla Luddington (Performance Capture) — Lara Croft In Tomb Raider
Lara Croft is one of gaming's most recognizable characters - so when the Tomb Raider series was rebooted in 2013, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics needed to ensure that they got their recruitment right when hiring the protagonist's actor.
They made a great choice with Camilla Luddington, as she has been fantastic in the trilogy of rebooted games. Camilla's other notable roles include Claudette in True Blood and Zatanna in Justice League Dark.
9 Troy Baker (Performance Capture) - Joel in The Last Of Us 1 & 2
As mentioned before, The Last of Us was a pioneer in the increased implementation of complex stories in AAA games, so it was only a matter of time before one of its characters made it onto this list.
Troy Baker has numerous other video game roles on his resume including the part of Simon Krieger in Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Booker DeWitt from Bioshock Infinite, and Bruce Banner in the recent Marvel's Avengers game.
8 Christopher Judge (Voice) - Kratos in God of War (2018)
The eighth God of War game saw a drastic shift in playstyle for the series. The self-titled God of War ditched the series' strict linearity for a more open adventure with more focus being placed on its narrative than ever before, led by Christopher Judge's performance as Kratos.
Aside from Kratos, Christopher Judge is best known for his role as Tecal'c in Stargate SG-1 and Stargate: Continuum.Â
7 Nolan North (Performance Capture) - Nathan Drake In Uncharted
The Indiana Jones inspired Nathan Drake has become one of PlayStation's many unofficial mascots since he first hit screens in 2007 with Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. The charismatic Nathan Drake is an obvious choice for this list and Tom Holland will be hard-pressed to put in a better performance than Nolan North in the upcoming Uncharted movie.
Nolan North's other notable roles include Jerry Lansing in Con Man and Peter Hastings from Pretty Little Liars.
6 Armin Shimerman (Voice) — Andrew Ryan in BioShock
"I chose the impossible. I chose...Rapture!"
Those words from Armin Shimerman's Andrew Ryan set the tone for BioShock and each of his subsequent appearances in the game were an absolute delight. Armin's performance is also note-worthy along with Greg Baldwin's as Frank Fontaine for making gamers around the world skeptical of anyone who uses the phrase "would you kindly?"
Andrew Ryan isn't Armin Shimerman's only video game performance, as the American actor has also played the role of Dr. Nefarious from the Ratchet and Clank series, and The Elder in Death Stranding.
5 Ellen McLain (Voice) - GLaDOS in Portal 1 & 2
Along with the Joker, Bowser, and Dr. Robotnik, GLaDOS is near the top of the list of villains who gamers love to hate. Ellen McLain was deservedly rewarded for her performance as GLaDOS with the Best Female Vocal Performance In A Video Game award at the 2011 BTVA Voice Acting Awards. The Office co-creator Stephen Merchant also deserves a mention for his performance as Wheatley in Portal 2.
Portal 1 and Portal 2 aren't Ellen McLain's only performances in Valve games, as she also voices Left For Dead 2's Witch and the Combine Overwatch in Half-Life 2. Ellen McLain is also known for her career in opera singing.
4 Roger Clark (Performance Capture) - Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2
Creating an anti-hero as beloved as Red Dead Redemption's John Marston was never going to be easy, but Rockstar managed it by hiring Roger Clark to play the part of Arthur Morgan. Ellen McLain isn't the only award winner on this list, as Roger Clark won the Best Performance award at the 2018 Game Awards.
Roger Clark also appeared in the game Shellshock 2: Blood Trails as Sgt. Jack Griffin.
3 Ashley Johnson (Performance Capture) - Ellie in The Last of Us 1 & 2
Out of context, two entries from the same game may seem excessive, though there aren't many who would deny that both Joel and Ellie from The Last of Us deserve a spot on this list. Ashley Johnson is currently battling it out with co-star Laura Bailey (Abby) for the Best Performance award at the 2020 Game Awards.
Ashely Johnson is also known for her roles in Blindspot and Fast Food Nation where she plays Patterson and Amber respectively.
2 Michael Mando (Performance) - Vaas Montenegro in Far Cry 3
"Did I ever tell you the definition of insanity?"
That was just one of many iconic lines from Michael Mando whose performance as Vaas Montenegro saw the character shoot to the top tier of gaming villains, despite the character only making a handful of appearances in Far Cry 3.
Michael Mando's career has skyrocketed since his role as Vaas, as the French Canadian actor is currently starring in the Breaking Bad spin-off series Better Call Saul as Nacho Varga.
1 David Hayter (Voice) - Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid
David Hayter set an incredibly high standard in 1998 for voice acting in gaming with his performance as Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid. His performance paved the way for voice acting to become more prevalent in the industry, and David continued to put in stellar performance after stellar performance in classic games like Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty, and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
Voice acting isn't David Hayter's only skill, as David won the 2001 Saturn Award for writing the screenplay for X-Men (2000).