C&C3 voice cast unveiled

Command & Conquer 3's live action plot sequences will call upon the acting talents of lots of people we've heard of, EA announced today, including Lando out of Star Wars, Michael "Sam Fisher" Ironside and even Sawyer from Lost.

Lando "Billy Dee Williams" Calrissian sounds very excited in the press release. "This is the most fun I've had since Star Wars!" he declared, adding that he was surprised at how much depth there was to his character, GDI Director Redmond Boyle. "His polished exterior gradually breaks down as the world is plunged into chaos and he eventually shows his true nature under extreme pressure," Lando added, sounding not a bit typecast.

Other names you might recognise are those of Ironside, who as well as providing Sam Fisher's gravely tones has also appeared in countless films - including Starship Troopers - as well as Josh Holloway, better known for his sardonic depiction of Sawyer in TV's Lost. Elsewhere there's Tricia Helfer and Grace Park, both of whom are in Battlestar Galactica, Ivana Bozilovic out of Wedding Crashers and Shauntay Hinton out of, er, some other things.

They will of course be working variously opposite and alongside Joe Kucan, the man who originally played Nod leader Kane in Command & Conquer's classic video sequences and does so again here, while some of the news reporters who appear in the game are real-life equivalents too, including freelancer Shanon Cook and Las Vegas FOX affiliate anchor John Huck.

C&C3 executive producer Mike Verdu reckons this is no less than C&C fans expect. "Telling a story with a mix of live action and high-end movie-quality computer graphics has been one of the hallmarks of the series," he explained. "I am delighted that we are bringing the rich game world and epic story for C&C3 to life with an amazing cast and stunning CG effects - and I can't wait for gamers to see the results. These very talented actors have added tremendous depth and dimension to the C&C3 game experience."

And we'll get to see how they do, and indeed how the game experience pans out, when C&C3 is released next year.