Beowulf – the game – gets celebrity voice acting

Ubisoft partnered with Paramount pictures to provide a dual launch for the upcoming Beowulf motion picture, coupled with a Beowulf videogame title of their own. As we get closer to the November 16 premiere, Ubisoft just signed the original movie actors to supplement the in-game voice talent. You can expect to hear Anthony Hopkins and Ray Winstone to feature for the first time as voice actors in a video game. Brendan Gleeson and Sebastien Roche also lent their voices to Ubisoft for greater character authenticity. One question remains though, why didn’t Angelina Jolie join them, since she plays a definite role in the storyline as Grendel’s mother?

Let’s pretend for a moment that you’ve seen the movie and it’s a fast paced, exhilarating part of a grand destiny like Beowulf’s. While seeing our troll friend Grendel stomp humans for hours sounds like fun, the game would have been a severe disappointment hadn’t Ubisoft expanded the story into Beowulf’s 30 year reign. The day is saved ladies and gentlemen, because game trailers, screenshots and stories reveal a bloody and power hungry Beowulf which will put to the sword hordes of beasts and men alike.

In the tradition of northern warriors, Beowulf was berserker himself, overcame by apathy in real life, until the climax of battle was high. It was then his terrible power would be unleashed, thrown into a savage fury to strike foe after foe, relentless, unappeased. The game implements this in the form of carnal rage, a state attained by the use of certain mushrooms which bring the delusion of invulnerability. In fact, the game has already been rated M for Mature, due to the use of intense violence, blood and certain sexual themes.

The game lets you build up a small army of heroes, up to 12 of Beowulf’s trusted thanes being freed as you delve deeper into the plot and defeat powerful creatures like trolls. I felt slightly nostalgic when I saw the trailer, because gameplay reminded me of Rune, with the major 2007 head’s up. You can order troops to operate massive and complex mechanisms like rolling over a stone block which before a cave entrance or even rowing on a drakhar (the Viking ship). Graphics look exceptionally good and Ubisoft used Tom Clancy’s Advanced Warfighter engine. Thus you can climb structures and hold on to ropes, giving room to the classic gameplay tactics of adventure and role playing games.

The multiplatform release pretty much comes on premiere day so mark November 16 on your gaming calendar. Meanwhile, the game can be preordered directly from the official site for roughly US 55$.

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