Alert! First blood. Double kill. Triple Kill. Mega Kill. Overkill. …Executed. Game over. They might set the tone of the game, they might always remember to direct you to the objective, heck, they might even feed your ego by lauding every minor triumph you have while playing a multiplayer game, but man, announcers — those disembodied voices you hear while playing something — don’t get enough credit.
Can you imagine, say, Team Fortress 2 without it’s announcer?
Or Halo without its announcer?
Or Unreal Tournament without its announcer?
What about Mortal Kombat without its announcer?
No! None of these franchises would be the same; announcers are so integral to our experience that not only would it probably feel strange to play these games without the announcers, but I’m guessing that you also read at least some of the intro to this post in an announcer’s voice. Unreal Tournament’s announcer is so good, just listening to him is as evocative, if not more evocative, than playing most shooters. Now that’s an accomplishment.
OK, yes, the concept of having someone watch your every move and blurt out orders to you is kind of weird. And granted, while announcers can make a huge difference in the way a game feels, not every game has the benefit of having an iconic announcer. Some announcers are bad (or they can get out of hand), and some games make the mistake of trying to copy the way an announcer in another game sounds. Beyond that, some announcers are interchangeable: DOTA 2 does a curious thing where it lets you purchase items that give you a custom announcer. It may be a purely cosmetic change, but still, it’s an awesome one. You can, for instance, play the game with Bastion’s narrator as an announcer if you’d like.
Holy fanservice alert, batman.
Personally, my favourite announcer would have to be the administrator from Team Fortress.
Sure, her voice is memorable, but she also has the benefit of being a character with a mysterious backstory. She apparently controls both the RED and BLU corporations! That, and it’s fun to think that Ellen McLain voices the Administrator, GLaDOS and the Overwatch voice.
What about you, do you have a favourite announcer? Or might you be the type of person who dislikes announcers?
Videos: Brady Ericksen, shadders1, TheGamerHebbe, Itachi2099, DotaCinema, PoonkerTV
The Multiplayer is a weekly column that looks at how people crash into each other while playing games.
Comments
14 responses to “Announcers Rule. We Don’t Appreciate Them Enough.”
<3 announcers. That said, I always used female announcer for UT heh.
There was a female announcer?
UT2004. Not sure if UT3 had it. She was super suggestive which made the kills all the more funny heh.
No; that’s the “Sexy” announcer
The Administrator is awesome. Except if the server glitches so you just keep hearing “Overtime” for five minutes straight…
That wasn’t the only glitch with the announcer! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHO92z4qulM
More NBA Jam! Looking forward to some Murray walker in f1 2013 as well.
Administrator, GLaDOS and the Overwatch = 3!?
Half Life 3 confirmed!
There are a few fighting games that let you do this as well, either through unlocking them or purchasing them. Especially the Arc System Works games.
Whenever possible, I turn off announcers. I think it’s childish and annoying, especially when they put on those stupid growly voices. If it was a more natural announcement, I could deal with it more. But as it stands, things like the announcer in a game like Halo goes completely against the tone of the rest of the game and its setting.
These EPIC KILL BRO announcers are surely one facet in the overall stereotype of games being for children and immature idiots.
Given the reports on what’s being spent on custom DOTA2 packs, the Bastion narrator must be raking in a pretty damn tidy sum.
Hm. How to get me into someadat sweet, sweet VO work… Talking? For money? I talk anyway!
You fool, you’ve been giving it away for free all this time.
Hm. I’ve been performing a lot of services for free, now that I think about it.
(Giggity.)
I always had a soft spot for Street Fighter Alpha 3’s announcer. “It all depends on your skill…triumph or die!”
For all the DLC Capcom has released for the various versions of Street Fighter IV, I’d buy the hell out of an Alpha 3 announcer pack.