The Talking voice in Civ5, IS HE 'GANDALF'!?

[havuoksa]

Has anyone seriously not been thinking about this?! The voice who speaks practically all in Civ5, actually maybe Civ4, sounds totally like Sir Ian McKellen who played Gandalf The Grey in LOTR-trilogy. Can this be true / CANNOT this be true?

Pretty tough question, so big points to some Civ-Maestro on this one!

At least, please tell your experiences, does he sound like Sir Ian McKellen or not, what do you guys think?

 

[Option]

No, it's not Ian McKellen. The actor portraying the narrator (and the father in the intro video) is William Morgan Sheppard, who doesn't really sound a lot like McKellen.

Edit: With that statement I'm going by McKellen's normal voice, not his Gandalf voice, which has a similar raspiness to it as Sheppard's narration in Civ 5.

 

[gunslinger6792]

It does indead sound like Sir Ian Mckellen but its actually someone called Morgan Shepard. http://www.civilization5.com/#/community/feature_technology_quotes

 

[headcase]

Civ 4 - Leonard Nimoy
Civ 5 - Morgan Sheppard

 

[havuoksa]

Thanx all,

Haven't heard that much of Ian McKellen's 'normal-speech', but again I have to say, it sounds so much like Gandalf that it's almost scary Now that I know he's not McKellen.

Impressed on your quick knowledge, thought this was a difficult question

 

[hudders]

Some of the words he pronounces are ridiculous. It's like he's trying to do five accents at once. I much prefer Leonard Nimoy.

 

[sizesixteens]

Some of the words he pronounces are ridiculous. It's like he's trying to do five accents at once. I much prefer Leonard Nimoy.

Leonard Nimoy made me feel like the Enterprise was hovering over my young planet and watching me.

The Civ5 guy sounds like he could be from any era, but that's probably because I haven't heard him in anything else. And it probably helps that humans have been in every era. Which he is.

 

[Verbosity]

Myself, while I love Nemoy's voice (kind of reminds me of my father - both in looks in his old age and the tone and pacing of his voice) I do love Morgan Sheppard's voice also. However, I have a strong bias... he is one of those in between bit character actor and star who has popped up in some of my favorite things. I saw his picture on IMDB and said "oh, I know this guy... but from what?" Reading the list I recognized quite a few, such as Max Headroom (maybe Civ players will be of the right age to remember that one). Still, the one that really got me was his role as the Soul Hunter from Babylon 5. One of my favorite "villians" from my favorite TV show - no wonder I liked the voice, it queues up good memories much in the way Nemoy's voice does.

Really, take a look at this guys IMDB credits - he probably has been in a tv show, movie, or video game that you liked and most likely voiced a character in a manner you though well done.

However, for those who don't like his voice acting, surely replacing the audio files for Civ V can't be that hard of a mod... why not find someone with a voice you like and get them to do the recordings? Just replace the files in Steam\steamapps\common\sid meier's civilization v\assets\Sounds\Speech\English\Tech

 

[Nyanko]

One of the things I disliked about the Civ4 expansions was that new techs were not in Nimoy's voice. That really took out the immersion for me. I dont mind Sheppard, he does a good voice; and it seems like Firaxis have him on contract.

 

[hudders]

However, for those who don't like his voice acting, surely replacing the audio files for Civ V can't be that hard of a mod... why not find someone with a voice you like and get them to do the recordings? Just replace the files in Steam\steamapps\common\sid meier's civilization v\assets\Sounds\Speech\English\Tech

I think there would be a few too many to do a re-record. Although I would be interested in somebody ridiculous doing them - Mr T, maybe.

 

[Hollow Man]

I always thought he had a bit of a Liam Neeson in his voice. But yes, the Soul Hunter was a great character. Also looks like a recent role was Lane Price's father in Mad Men. Awesome.

-HM

 

[CivRulez07]

I'm a fan of both...there's something about Sheppard that I think I like a little better.

What we need for Civ VI is for Morgan Freeman to be the voice

 

[hudders]

I think with the addition of DLC, the days of more famous folk doing the narration are probably over. As Nyanko points out, they probably have William Sheppard on a contract that they couldn't hope to get someone like Morgan Freeman on.

So we're probably going to get a *relative* unknown for Civ 6. One of the actors in Game of Thrones, possibly.

 

[BlackMoon450]

They should have kept Leonard Nimoy...

 

[Kwami]

No way! Sheppard did a much better job than did Nimoy.

 

[Nelson Minar]

Sheppard's an awesome actor with a bunch of fun small roles on TV and movies. I always think of him as Blank Reg from Max Headroom.

 

[Hammer Rabbi]

I always thought he had a bit of a Liam Neeson in his voice. But yes, the Soul Hunter was a great character. Also looks like a recent role was Lane Price's father in Mad Men. Awesome.

-HM

I also thought it was like Liam Neeson.

 

[Himmurabi]

I don't think Sheppard is bad, not at all, but I liked Nimoy's reading of the more clever quotes whenever I discovered a tech. For some reason when I first played Civ 4 I thought it was David Carradine.

 

[Kwami]

The problem with Leonard Nimoy is that he sounds like Leonard Nimoy. It's not that I don't like his voice; I do. But how can I not hear Spock?

Sheppard has that kind of voice that's distinguished but vague. He doesn't sound like any specific character, but he sounds familiar. It's perfect.

 

[hudders]

Does anyone else think that the G&K quotes are less... I dunno, profound than the vanilla ones? For example, the Leaning Tower of Pisa one about not clapping too hard. It just seems like the quotes are all a bit dumber. Maybe it's my imagination.