Having had an amazing build up since 2013, Bungie opened the flood gates just a little for a select few to enter Destiny’s alpha test phase starting June 12th 2014 to June 16th 2014. Almost universally lauded, Destiny was on the right track…until Tyrion Lannister made his presence known.
Alright, so it’s more Peter Dinklage than his Game of Thrones alter ego but had he brought some of the gravitas and charm he had imbued the Imp with for his Ghost character in Destiny, fans would have been less confused and antagonistic over his voice work.
For an actor of immense talent, his voice work was flatter than flat bread. Dinklage sounded bored, unenthusiastic and lifeless – which for a computer A.I, is quite the feat.
Fortunately, Bungie has heard what fans have said and issued a surprising statement in their FAQ;
“Hey, we read the same forums, my fictional, question formulating friend! In fact, the Ghost dialog has already been updated for Beta. It will be updated again for launch on September 9th, as well. Funny thing about Alpha builds…they’re not done. Please pardon our Moon dust!”
It’s interesting that even after updating the Ghost dialogue for beta, Bungie will be updating it again for launch which, thankfully, is still on track for a September 9th release. What this second update means though, remains to be seen (heard).
Interestingly, at no point did Bungie mention Dinklage by name.
Could this imply that Dinklage was replaced by someone with a less distinctive voice? Or perhaps they’ll tweak his voice to make it sound more robotic through digital wizardry?
Either way, given the lack of dialogue in the game, the voice work for the Ghost is particularly important. It is the one thing you’re likely to hear the majority of the time so it is crucial for the actor to not bore you and take you out of the game when he talks.
Then again, Bungie said dialogue, not voice, so interpret that however you like.
Hopefully though, come beta time, the voice work and dialogue will show significant improvement, freeing Bungie up to focus their efforts on other parts of Destiny in preparation for its 9th September 2014 release on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and Xbox 360.
