It's Amazing How Horror Game Voice Acting Changed From Cringe to Actually Amazing

Anyone else notice how much better voice acting got in horror games?

Back in the day, horror games had some pretty cheesy dialogue and voice work. Don’t get me wrong, those old lines were memorable, but they weren’t exactly Oscar worthy performances. Some of those voices actually made the scary stories feel less serious than they should have been.

It’s pretty wild how things changed though. Even games like the first RE4 started showing improvement, and other titles around that time were getting better too. But nowadays? The voice acting in horror games is legitimately some of the best stuff you’ll hear in any video game.

The Silent Hill 2 remake really showed me how far we’ve come. Luke Roberts did such an incredible job as James. The way his voice matched up with those facial expressions was just perfect. You could actually feel James struggling inside just from listening to him talk. The combination of great voice work and those detailed character faces made everything feel so much more real and emotional.

Then I saw some footage from Resident Evil Requiem recently. Grace’s voice actress is doing phenomenal work there. Honestly, when I first heard about Grace as a character, she seemed pretty boring and I didn’t think I’d care about her. But after hearing her voice and seeing the animation quality, she’s already starting to win me over.

The old cheesy voice acting had its own charm though. Yeah, it was terrible, but that became part of the experience. When I replay the original Silent Hill now, those awkward line deliveries almost feel intentional. But you’re right about modern stuff being way better. The RE2 remake blew me away - Leon and Claire sounded incredible compared to the originals.

Those old RE1 door opening loading screens gave me more time to laugh at the voice acting than actually be scared.

Dead Space remake absolutely nailed this. Isaac’s voice actor really made you feel his mental breakdown as everything spiraled. Compare that to older horror games where characters would deliver the most dramatic lines in completely flat, monotone voices.