Metal Gear Solid 5's Kiefer Sutherland Raising the Bar for Snake's Voice Acting

"The new voice of the legendary Snake is pushing the character to new extremes."

[Sephiroushin]

The face and lip sync might be better but Kiefer is not putting enough effort in the voice acting department, the character lack emotions, !

[CrossingEden]

The character lacking emotion is due to the story, Kojima explained months ago that the events of ground zeros will change big boss's personality and make him have a different outlook on life like being cold and jaded. Hence the new nickname, "Punished Snake." Pay attention next time.

[-Foxtrot]

I'm pretty sure in MGS3 the story changed his personality and even then the voice acting was top notch.

Don't give them an excuse, Kiefers voice acting is horrible in this and no effort has put into it. He's turned Snake into another generic soldier grunt character

[CrossingEden]

@foxtrot, so you've played the full game and heard every line huh? Also, you know how much effort he put into this? Didn't know you were there during the recording sessions. Must have been nice. -_- Try playing the full game or at least ground zeros next time, we've heard literally less than five minutes of the new voice.

[chaos-lockheart]

besides hes not snake so they shouldn't sound the same

[-Foxtrot]

I dont need to play the full game, I can hear him now.

Considering they've posted recording session video's with him....you could say I was there during recordings.

With all the videos going round theres enough footage to judge him on...more then "five minutes"

[Lord_Sloth]

I'm gonna agree with Sephiroushin because he was a very mediocre Raistlin too...

[wtopez]

It's Keifer for Big Boss and Hayter for Solid Snake. The timeline in the games has reached the point where both characters can meet. Imagine if that happened and both were voiced by the same guy. Big Boss is already 49 years old and Hayter's voice wouldn't have been a good match. I'm pretty sure that Hayter will be back voicing young Snake in a future Metal Gear (that hopefully won't take 6-7 years to make).

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[itspeaks]

Enough said: http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[curtis92]

You mean Kiefer's using a normal voice where as hayter had to severely strain his voice? I'll take the normal voice. And this is coming from a MGS 1 PSX fan.

[Joe913]

IMO they did a great job getting someone else I was getting tired of Hayters voice in MGS3 and in portable ops the voice seemed forced and seemed like a robot at times the convo Snake had with Eva or whenever he spoke to a female and they was kinda flirting he made snake sound so awkward and no emotion.

[ritsuka666]

Not bad. Kiefer will probably do a really good job in this game.

[Evil_Abed]

Keifer > other guy...I kid Hayter fans, Keifer > Hayter

[Pillsbury1]

I'm guessing you meant kiefer < hayter. Remember less than= left.

[Evil_Abed]

No...I meant that Keifer is better than David. The only thing I was kidding about was calling him other guy.

[GTgamer]

You need to look up Kiefer's history he was in a butt load of crappy movies and his acting was also bad his breakout role was 24 so dont act like this guy is some high class actor :/ because he's far from it.

[Cloudberry]

.
I reserve my judgement until I hear him as Snake / Big Boss first in the full game though.

[-Foxtrot]

....why?

His voice isnt going to change, we can hear it right now....there's been plenty of footage to form an opinion now

[Cloudberry]

Not to me.

Anyone / everyone could form their own opinions, but I'll wait for the full version.

It's like...

Reviewing it now, based only from current short videos, rather than watching & playing the final game.

Then I could say whether he's better / not than Hayter.

[Whitefox789]

That statement should apply more for the gameplay then the voice acting.

We've come to a point where you have to make a good first impression when it comes to voice acting (Even if it is dialog that doesn't make it in the final cut). So far the consensus has been people do not like how Kiefer sounds as Big Boss, and people also do not like the English version of Skullface.

Granted enough this issue would not of come to light if they got Richard Doyle to do the voice of Big Boss (since that would somewhat make sense). However they get Kiefer Sutherland where the first image that comes into peoples minds is Jack Bauer; so people are going to attach that mentality within his performance.

[Cloudberry]

I actually never minded about the Jack Bauer tone in his Big Boss version.

It's him himself (Keifer as Jack) in the first place.

What I mind is, how Keifer's voice acting performance compared to Hayter in previous MGS games.

Hayter provided a recognize-able tone in Snake all these years, ever since the first game for PS1, with either serious, joking conversation, or to even forced gruff voice of an Old Snake (MGS4).

And yes, I admit, Hayter has ups and downs as Snake / Big Boss.

But in my opinion, Keifer doesn't need to imitate Hayter's voice style of Snake.

It's just, would his performance could be better than Hayter in a Kojima storytelling style kind of game.

I'm myself have memories of playing previous MGS games with Hayter in it, and I can't just throw it away after hearing his voice and personality poured in Snake's character, when Keifer suddenly replace him.

And that's why I'm telling to wait until the full version.

If it's better, then it's better.

If it's average, then it's average.

If it's bad / awkward (which I have little doubt)...

Then it's such a waste.

[DarKnightDave]

I absolutely love the MGS franchise, and it won't be the same without Hayter. But to be honest, I always found his voice to be a lil idk....annoying/over dramatized. I think Keifer will do a fine job, he was awesome as Jack Bauer on 24. But like Cloudberry said above, I'll reserve my judgement till I hear him as Snake/ Big Boss

[Soldierone]

From what I've heard in trailers, he is trying too hard to replicate Hayters voice and can't hit the ranged notes in the voice. Especially longer sentences.

[rdgneoz3]

Watch the interview that's linked in the article. Keifer keeps saying "this character" "this character", not Snake or Big Boss. Makes it look like he only cares about the lines, not source material or the characters themselves. The lines sound a lot better when the person saying the lines actually cares, and not just about the paycheck.

[GirlOnFire]

Kiefer is a cry baby...

[Einhert]

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

If anything he lowers it significantly

[JackVagina]

Kiefer sounds good in this clip imo

[Imalwaysright]

He does sound good and imo his voice suits a character like Snake better than Hayter.

[Cogentleman]

I love the franchise and everything about it and will miss Hayter a bunch, but aside from his awful, awful "keptyouwaitinghuh", Keifer seems to be doing an excellent job in the other footage that's been shown.

[-Foxtrot]

No....just no

[BIGBOSS08]

gotta give this guy a chance but changing voice for one of the most iconic characters is a dumb move by kojima i think. they could of atleast let hayter know but they didnt even get into contact with him at all! plus from what i've heard, it sounds like a downgrade.

[Hekticboss44]

I can't wait for this game don't no about the voice but it's done now and we will all have to wait and see unless I kidnap kojima and do some funky shit to him !!

[WitWolfy]

I dunno if its just me but it keeps on sounding like Keifer is saying "keptyouwaitinghaaaaah&qu ot; no "huh" but "haaaaah"

[badboy776]

MGS4 was the end of The MGS4 franchise. Kojima and Konima are going in a new direction and are aiming for a new audience.

[jay2]

No, peoples voices don't change like that, David's the ONLY snake.

[Chapter11]

Yes, because as we all know, David Hayter does not have a face.

[sephiroth420]

you know from watching 24 that this guy is seriously going to deliver on this.

[MonChiChi]

I will wait for the demo but have to say this is by far the first MGS I am not really head over heels for, but will see how it plays out first before getting any deeper.

[darren_poolies]

This game has more pressing problems than the lead voice actor.

[cyphertech]

I'm so sick of people ruining franchises just to reach a new audience. How about just making a NEW game instead of ruining currently existing ones?

[Edito]

There is no bar to rise he better do his own thing cause we all know we can't compare him do David...

[Inception]

15 years with David voices as Snake isn't a short journey. So don't expect MGS fans will say "Ah come on, Keifer will do his job as good as David. If not better". In my mind and heart, David still the one and only Snake.

[ZombieGamerMan]

The people who say Kiefer is doing a bad job are just like the people who bitched about DmC's Dante design. Kiefer Sutherland is good stop bullshitting yourselves, he is doing a good job as Snake you're all butthurt that it's not Hayter voicing him.

Quality voice acting is the last thing on your minds.

[Sephiroushin]

I'm still waiting for a trailer that can show me that voice acting quality!...

Oh wait we got them... from Akio Otsuka though so I guess I'm importing !

[ZombieGamerMan]

First off why are you importing when the game has the Japanese audio in it? Secondly go right ahead but trust me its you people who think Kiefer as Snake is anything less than good. He is doing a good job as Snake and I have heard as much as I can from the new voice to know he is doing a good Snake.

Its you people who got use to Hayter that have gone deft to good voice acting.

[Sephiroushin]

Because I haven't read that?! Because US won't get retail on PS4 and the Konami Style Limited Edition and also because I really don't care about the english voices, unlike english, I can read and speak fluent Japanese... I'm taking the safest way, wouldn't like to hear at last min "the JP voices couldn't be included", "dlc is not working" or w/e!

It's true that most of the time I just hold on importing games coming to the US in around 1 year after the Japanese release, that if its not an RPG; But I played MGS3 in japanese and it was good so rather than having the game day one, and until now a numb main character, I'll wait 2 days (March 20 for JP release) and import!

I've been waiting for good trailers and stuff w/ Kiefer's voice but it voice acting has yet to convince me, oh well at least they'll take my money (in fact more money, because the Konami Style Limited Edition is expensive) ...

"Its you people who got use to Hayter that have gone deft to good voice acting."
No, just no; acting is not the same as voice acting; actors do not have to give life to a character made by polygons / art!

[Inception]

Wow, this is the 1st time i saw a person that prefer japanese voices for MGS. Well, i can understand because Akio Otsuka is a very good seiyuu with tons of experiences. His one of my fav seiyuu and i really like his voices as Batou in Ghost in the Shell and Kalinin in FMP ^^

And i agreed with you. Acting & voice acting are different. So far, Keifer can't convince me as Snake / BB.

[RPG1201]

Richard Doyle was an amazing voice for Big Boss, why change that?

[Kyosuke_Sanada]

Still doesn't explain why Japan has the same voice actor.....wait let me guess because Akio looks so much like Big Boss right?.....

http://statici.behindthevoi...

[_FantasmA_]

I could care less about the voice. Its just a voice guys. Sure it was a good voice but I hated it in MGS4. Yes I know he was supposed be old, but his voice should have softer, not harsher. It just sounds so forced and fake. Not a as bad Christian Bale's Batman, but pretty close.