BioWare details Mass Effect 2 voice cast

By Tom Bramwell Published 11 December, 2009

Barlett! Worf! Tigh! Trin! Jayne!

BioWare has revealed that a colourful and storied collection of veteran sci-fi actors have joined the voice cast for Mass Effect 2.

In Mass Effect 2, Commander Shepard gets caught up with the shady Cerberus organisation as he tries to work out why human colonies are disappearing. We already knew that Cerberus would be headed up by the Illusive Man, played by President Bartlett from the West Wing (occasionally also known as Martin Sheen), and now we know one of his top operatives, named Miranda Lawson, is played by Yvonne Strahovski from TV series Chuck.

Strahovski's character has been "genetically engineered for superior mental and physical traits", apparently. Strahovski's not the only Chuck alum, either. Adam Baldwin also makes the transition, taking on the role of Kal 'Reegar and proving that you really, really can't stop the signal.

Elsewhere Michael Dorn - yes, Worf! - joins up as Gatatog Uvenk; Tricia Helfer will be hoping to improve on her limp outing in Halo 3: ODST by playing the voice of the new Normandy, EDI; Saul Tigh aka Michael Hogan from Battlestar Galactica is Captain Bailey; Shohreh Aghdashloo (House of Saddam) is Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay; and Carrie-Anne Moss from The Matrix is Aria T'Loak, the crime lord who rules the planet Omega. Good to see her getting work.

Plus of course Seth Green will reprise his role as Joker, and Keith David is back as Admiral Anderson. Oddly there's no mention of the two people you can expect to hear most often, but IMDB confirms that, obviously, Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale return to voice the male and female versions of Commander Shepard respectively. (Mind you, IMDB also reckons Aria T'Loak is played by Jessica Anne Bogart, so what do they know?)

BioWare's Dr. Ray Muzyka said the cast would contribute to the game's "emotionally engaging narrative". "Credible, powerful personalities are vital to delivering a compelling story experience in BioWare's games, and we have assembled an amazing ensemble cast that surpasses the very high bar set in the original Mass Effect!" he added.

Mass Effect 2 is due out for PC and Xbox 360 on 29th January. Check out the gamepage for tons of hands-on impressions, videos and screenshots.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (25) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • 52pickup #1 2 years ago

    Tricia Helfer, sexy no. 6!

  • Moribundman #2 2 years ago

    This is an absolutely fucking awesome cast. It even outdoes ODST for pure geek and pathos (although the Firefly/Drake/BSG vibe was nice). Captain Willard, Animal Mother, Worf, Chris Griffin, Trinity, Six, Frank Armitage and Colonel Tigh FTW!

  • Xerx3s #3 2 years ago

    Apart from Diablo 3, my most anticipated game in the next 5 years. Best thing, unlike Diablo 3, it's out next month! \0/

  • Kerome #4 2 years ago

    I'm especially happy to see Jennifer Hale coming back as the female Shepherd voice, she did a great job on the first Mass Effect. In fact so much so that a friend of mine commented that you'd be missing out by playing the male character.

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #5 2 years ago

    That's a great cast. A January to look forward to, for a change.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #6 2 years ago

    You can't beat a bit of Shohreh Aghdashloo.

    "You keeeled my brudder Saddaaam"

    Criminially underused in Flashforward so far.

  • Rodriguez #7 2 years ago

    This game just gets better and better, I absolutely cannot wait to play this!!

  • symmetry #8 2 years ago

    Fuck yes! That's a fantastic cast of voices. Really can't wait for this.

  • StooMonster #9 2 years ago

    It's like a geek's wet dream.

    +1 Moribundman

  • RobotRocker #10 2 years ago

    Great cast, but I am not completely satisfied till they bring Wrex back. If you or Ashley didnt kill him in the first place and you are using that save

    Shepard.

  • metalangel #11 2 years ago

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    UGG Bailey Button for Job Interview They can easily break their feet because of the coldness and it will influence their health. Fall’s New UGG Classic Tall Rage So in autumn and winter, it is a very important thing to choose a pair of warm and comfortable boots,

    Now that is BIZARRE spam. "Avoid breaking your feet in the cold by wearing our boots!"

  • superdelphinus #12 2 years ago

    i only starting watching chuck a few weeks ago but have watched every single episode now (including the 3d one)! i love it. I also love all the references they pack into the show. The godfather one was absolutely genius

  • AphoticCosmos #13 2 years ago

    Total fucking win. Tigh is awesomesauce!

    Roll on January! ME2 = GOTY 2010 without question.
    Edited by 1 at 11/12/09 @ 13:48

  • thefinn #14 2 years ago

    "Strahovski's not the only Chuck alum, either. Adam Baldwin also makes the transition, taking on the role of Kal 'Reegar and proving that you really, really can't stop the signal."

    Chuck? What about his role on Firefly?

  • Genome #15 2 years ago

    Chuck? What about his role on Firefly?

    Ahem... Tom did mention it...

    "...proving that you really, really can't stop the signal."
    Edited by 1 at 11/12/09 @ 14:54

  • Bluetooth #16 2 years ago

    Wooo, the Arbiter/Sgt. Foley is back!

  • RexRunti #17 2 years ago

    Great cast and this game is a definet must however Bioware, and all games companies should remember great live actor does not equal great voice actor.

  • Spekingur #18 2 years ago

    Love Firefly.
    Makes me wish there was more of it. Silly Fox - not realising there's a market outside the U.S.

  • udat #19 2 years ago

    Firefly == win.

    Loved the bit in Borderlands with "Jaynistown" and "Jaynis Kobb".

  • Grayvern #20 2 years ago

    Bugger firefly adam baldwin was in the x files and full metal jacket.
    (although I did love firefly)
    Edited by 1 at 11/12/09 @ 18:02

  • VMerken #21 2 years ago

    I just hope they have dealt with the daft vehicle sections.

  • Eraysor #22 2 years ago

    Not sure I can drool fast enough to keep up with the pure awesome this game produces.

    From the last book, it seems like the Illusive Man will be a pretty difficult character to play, so it'll be interesting to see how President Bartlett does.

  • NonniR #23 2 years ago

    Eruogamer! Blasphemy! How dare you not mention the greatest of them all. Simon Templeman!

  • JensonJet #24 2 years ago

    No mention of the young woman who plays Liara. Along with the female Shepard they really made the game that little bit better. I'm really happy Martin Sheen and the Colonel Tigh actor are in this new version too. Is Lance Hneriksen back too? Although we never got to see his character, I'd hoped he'd be playing a bigger part in this... not to mention he's always up for voice-acting so he wouldn't ever turn the work down!

  • kongzi #25 2 years ago

    so that was martin sheen in that trailer? Awesome.. judging from that same trailer, ME2 is going to have some of the best facial animation and texturing/shading i've seen in a game ever and I know how hard that is to achieve. Environments looked insane too! This really looks like it's gonna tick every box you can imagine.