Eldar Scrolls: Patrick Stewart as the Emperor

Alex Moon · Post by **Alex Moon** » 2005-09-30 08:28pm

http://elderscrolls.com/news/press_093005.htm

BETHESDA GAME STUDIOS TAPS TOP INTERNATIONAL HOLLYWOOD TALENT TO VOICE THE UPCOMING
THE ELDER SCROLLS® IV: OBLIVION™ VIDEO GAME

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion to Feature Voice Performances by Patrick Stewart, Sean Bean, and Terence Stamp

September 30, 2005 (Rockville, MD) - To create the perfect tone and timbre for its upcoming epic role playing game, The Elder Scrolls® IV: Oblivion™, Bethesda Game Studios announced today an all-star voice cast of British stage and screen legends. Developed for both the Xbox 360™ videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft and PC platforms, Oblivion is one of the year's most highly-anticipated games and sequel to the best-selling role playing game of 2002, Morrowind®.

Leading the lineup is Patrick Stewart, playing the role of the Emperor. Stewart is best known among genre fans as Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation and as Professor Charles Xavier from the X-Men feature films.

Providing the voice for the Emperor's lost son and heir to the throne is Sean Bean. Bean skyrocketed to the public's attention as Lord Boromir in the Academy Award-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy. While Oblivion will be his first video game role, Bean is well known for starring in a variety of films, including memorable roles in National Treasure, Goldeneye, and Patriot Games.

"Oblivion is something unique, an epic entertainment experience unlike anything I had seen before," said Bean. "I decided this was a project I really wanted to work on creatively and I hope fans of the game enjoy the results."

Terence Stamp will lend his talents to the game's heavy plot, a sinister force bent on the destruction of Tamriel, the game's geographical setting. Stamp starred in Star Wars: Phantom Menace as Supreme Chancellor Valorum and as General Zod in the legendary Superman films. Oblivion is Stamp's first foray into voice work for a video game.

"Having never done voice work for a video game before, I really had no notion of what to expect," said Stamp. "Bethesda did a great job in providing the tone and theme for the character and it was fun to give life to the villain in the story, who is a very thoughtful man from a different line of kings who seeks to realize his own vision for the empire."

Bethesda had previously announced that Lynda Carter would also be lending her voice talents to the game. Best known for her starring role as the crime-fighting superhero, "Wonder Woman," in the hit television series, Carter has appeared in more than 50 television shows and films, including this summer's hits, Sky High and Dukes of Hazzard.

"We wanted to work with voice talent that really captured the emotion and drama of the game's story," said Todd Howard, executive producer for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. "Quite honestly, we wrote the parts with these individual actors in mind. It's an honor to have them lend their talents to the project."

As the next chapter in the highly acclaimed and best-selling Elder Scrolls series, Oblivion is a single-player game that takes place in Tamriel's capital province, Cyrodiil. Gamers are given the task of finding the hidden heir to a throne that sits empty, the previous emperor having been killed by an unknown assassin. With no true Emperor, the gates to Oblivion (the equivalent of hell in the world of Tamriel) open, and demons begin to invade Cyrodiil and attack its people and towns. It's up to the player to find the lost heir and unravel the sinister plot that threatens to destroy all of Tamriel.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

Well, this certainly is cool.

Sharpshooter · Post by **Sharpshooter** » 2005-09-30 08:34pm

Well, there's one more excuse to start counting my pennies for a new GPU and power source, if my brother decides not to spring for the 360 (which might be, from the sounds of it).

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2005-09-30 09:01pm

Hopefully the rest of the development is funded just as well as the voice acting is. And hopefully the lines given to the voice actors doesnt suck.

Sharpshooter · Post by **Sharpshooter** » 2005-09-30 09:56pm

I wonder if they'll have the option to have full voice acting for every line? You could go with the old-school greeting and reaction clips, but simply text wwhen talking, or you could install an additional gig or two that has clips for every single line of dialogue in the game. Maybe a bonus for those who fully register their products, or something of that nature.

Brother-Captain Gaius · Post by **Brother-Captain Gaius** » 2005-09-30 10:12pm

Sharpshooter wrote:I wonder if they'll have the option to have full voice acting for every line? You could go with the old-school greeting and reaction clips, but simply text wwhen talking, or you could install an additional gig or two that has clips for every single line of dialogue in the game. Maybe a bonus for those who fully register their products, or something of that nature.

Every line of dialogue in Oblivion is fully voiced, last I checked.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2005-09-30 11:49pm

ggs wrote:Hopefully the rest of the development is funded just as well as the voice acting is. And hopefully the lines given to the voice actors doesnt suck.

You've never played a game by Bethesda before, have you?

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2005-10-01 04:22am

Kneel before Zod!
This is all old news except for Zod doing his first video game part.

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2005-10-01 04:28am

DPDarkPrimus wrote:
ggs wrote:Hopefully the rest of the development is funded just as well as the voice acting is. And hopefully the lines given to the voice actors doesnt suck.
You've never played a game by Bethesda before, have you?

DaggerFall comes to mind....

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2005-10-01 04:33am

Holy shit holy shit! This is going to rock.

Post by **Dalton** » 2005-10-01 10:46am

Man, I'd love for him to do a voice with Andreas Katsulas too. Woo.

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2005-10-01 11:52am

ggs wrote:
DPDarkPrimus wrote:
ggs wrote:Hopefully the rest of the development is funded just as well as the voice acting is. And hopefully the lines given to the voice actors doesnt suck.
You've never played a game by Bethesda before, have you?
DaggerFall comes to mind....

You are breaking the First commandment of G&C

"Thou shallt not mock BETHESDA"

The Grim Squeaker · Post by **The Grim Squeaker** » 2005-10-01 12:08pm

Faram wrote: You are breaking the First commandment of G&C

"Thou shallt not mock BETHESDA"

I thought it was" Though shalt not speak the name of Black isle, Fallout or Kotor in vain"

Arrow · Post by **Arrow** » 2005-10-01 03:39pm

I think Bethesda has learned a lot from there previous games. I serious doubt that Oblivion is going to suck (and I already like most of the items on the list of changes vs. Morrowind). The only way I can see Bethesda screwing up is if a blackhole of stupidity somehow formed in their office.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2005-10-01 05:21pm

Unlike most, I found Morrowind to be lifeless and boring. I saw that there was a vast world out there, and was suitably impressed by that, but I didn't feel any real pressing need to go out and explore it, and without an in-your-face main quest that I could follow, I got bored after the first hour or so and never played it again. Daggerfall, on the other hand, I thought was great fun and played for dozens of hours. What's the difference between the two? No idea, but Daggerfall had something that Morrowind didn't, in my mind. I'm cautiously hopeful that Oblivion will engage me like Daggerfall did, but I'm not expecting much.

Xon · Post by **Xon** » 2005-10-01 05:33pm

Morrowind has a very vast world and it forced you to walk everywere. So you end up with a lot of nothing in between stuff. Sure, it is graphically eye candy nothing, but walking for any length of time in hidiously similar terrain with little or no actual landmarks that you can actually see due to clipping gets boring unless you are following some quest or something.

At least in DagerFall you could do a "go this way" world travelling thing and cover a few months of travelling by foot in a matter of minutes. And the option todo it manuelly!

Brother-Captain Gaius · Post by **Brother-Captain Gaius** » 2005-10-01 06:28pm

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:Unlike most, I found Morrowind to be lifeless and boring. I saw that there was a vast world out there, and was suitably impressed by that, but I didn't feel any real pressing need to go out and explore it, and without an in-your-face main quest that I could follow, I got bored after the first hour or so and never played it again. Daggerfall, on the other hand, I thought was great fun and played for dozens of hours. What's the difference between the two? No idea, but Daggerfall had something that Morrowind didn't, in my mind. I'm cautiously hopeful that Oblivion will engage me like Daggerfall did, but I'm not expecting much.

Supposedly Oblivion will remedy exactly that, actually, in that it goads (but not forces) the player to get along with the main quest. It'll also have a compass/map/journal "FOLLOW THE BIG FLASHING ARROW" type of system for the majority of important quests (but not ones that might require you to find something on your own).

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2005-10-01 07:48pm

That sounds excellent. I would probably love to explore the vast world if I just had some kind of guided introduction to it via the main quest. Everything the devs have been saying about Oblivion make it sound as though I'll like it, and won't have the same complaints I did with Morrowind, but I've stopped trusting in the accuracy of developer statements after the Deus Ex: Invisible War fiasco. I'm taking a wait and see approach.

Comosicus · Post by **Comosicus** » 2005-10-02 05:02pm

This is definately good news. I can't wait for this game to be launched.

This is also a chance for some imaginary ST vs. SW, as cpt. Picard faces Chancellor Valorum

The Grim Squeaker · Post by **The Grim Squeaker** » 2005-10-02 05:10pm

I just want them to finish it so that they'll make Fallout 3 with that engine

Comosicus · Post by **Comosicus** » 2005-10-04 12:34am

DEATH wrote:I just want them to finish it so that they'll make Fallout 3 with that engine

It's like you have read my deepest desires