Just out of curiousity, is anyone on this board an actor?
I was telling a friend of mine a story the other day, about how I once tried to audition for a role using a monologue from the game "Marathon." I wasn't really serious about getting the part, but I just thought it would be interesting to see how it would go over.
For those who don't know what a monologue is, it's basically a 1-2 piece from a piece of dramatic text, usually a play. If the piece is two long, or of more than one person is talking, then you cut the text down accordingly. The monologue doesn't have to convey the story, but it should be able to convey a strong character motivation.
Anyway, I just thought that it might be fun to gather a list together of game monologues that fit this description. I'll start:
I would shoot this terminal right now, if I thought that
it would reach that damn AI. I might do it anyway, but
ammunition is short. I've run out of ammo for my assault
rifle, and the only flamethrower we had was lost when an
elevator failed to function, and squad two was cut off.
I understand that the aliens are taking prisoners. I'll
hand it to them, they are better fighters that us. But
I'll be damned if I'm going to be taken prisoner, my last
bullet is for me.
I've got a minute or two to rest, so I'm going to wax
philosophical. I can't say any of this to the men because
I don't want them to know how hopeless I think our fighting
is. If I thought that we'd be safe if we surrendered, then
that is what I would do.
Marathon: The Lost Network Packets.
"I hear her voice, Eleanor's voice. Begging me... not to hate you. That's why I didn't hunt you down. You still want to hear 'why'? All right. I'll tell you. I want to destroy everything. The people of this city, this city itself. The whole world... I got nothing left in this world. Corel, Eleanor, Marlene...... Think about it, Barret, how old was Marlene back then? Even if I did go to her now, she wouldn't even know me! And what's more? These hands are a little too stained... to carry Marlene anymore."
Dyne from FFVII. I did it in a Southern accent, ala John Wilks Booth from "Assassins."
Anyone else?
Posts
How deep, Simon, how very deep.
Les enfants terribles?
Correct.
More or less:
Okay so it's more comedic, but I gained so much respect for that voice actor (Michael Gough). How he was able to get through it without just breaking down in uncontrollable laughter, I do not know.
The way you put that, incidentally, reminded me of Kung Pow.
"What is the Evil Council's plan?"
"Man, it is so evil. It is a bad, bad plan that will hurt many people...that are good. I think it's great, because it's so bad!"
Eternal Darkness Cutscene Guide
Thank you for writing, Concerned. Of course your question touches on one of the basic biological impulses, with all its associated hopes and fears for the future of the species. I also detect some unspoken questions. Do our benefactors really know what's best for us? What gives them the right to make this kind of decision for mankind? Will they ever deactivate the suppression field and let us breed again?
Allow me to address the anxieties underlying your concerns, rather than try to answer every possible question you might have left unvoiced. First, let us consider the fact that for the first time ever, as a species, immortality is in our reach. This simple fact has far-reaching implications. It requires radical rethinking and revision of our genetic imperatives. It also requires planning and forethought that run in direct opposition to our neural pre-sets.
I find it helpful at times like these to remind myself that our true enemy is Instinct. Instinct was our mother when we were an infant species. Instinct coddled us and kept us safe in those hardscrabble years when we hardened our sticks and cooked our first meals above a meager fire and started at the shadows that leapt upon the cavern's walls. But inseparable from Instinct is its dark twin, Superstition. Instinct is inextricably bound to unreasoning impulses, and today we clearly see its true nature. Instinct has just become aware of its irrelevance, and like a cornered beast, it will not go down without a bloody fight. Instinct would inflict a fatal injury on our species. Instinct creates its own oppressors, and bids us rise up against them. Instinct tells us that the unknown is a threat, rather than an opportunity. Instinct slyly and covertly compels us away from change and progress. Instinct, therefore, must be expunged. It must be fought tooth and nail, beginning with the basest of human urges: The urge to reproduce.
We should thank our benefactors for giving us respite from this overpowering force. They have thrown a switch and exorcised our demons in a single stroke. They have given us the strength we never could have summoned to overcome this compulsion. They have given us purpose. They have turned our eyes toward the stars.
Let me assure you that the suppressing field will be shut off on the day that we have mastered ourselves...the day we can prove we no longer need it. And that day of transformation, I have it on good authority, is close at hand.
Like I said, anything Andrew Ryan says.
Especially....
"Perhaps the same could be said of ALL religions."
Non-Sequitur of Darkness!
/vomit
And on-topic, in Neverwinter Nights 2, when your Dwarf Warrior (or Monk) learns the true meaning of punching people: Punching people for a reason! So good, so touching, and yet so hilarious.
This game has tons of really good dialogue.
Currently playing: GW2 and TSW
He gets so angry during this speech, it's a really powerful moment. You're tearing apart everything in the city and Ryan is screaming at you, telling you that it's not doing any good.
I love his line that goes something like "Silence, vermin! You were born for the sole purpose of dying today!" Anyone remember the exact one?
PSN: TheSuperVillain
You know, my last owner always said I was sharp and edgy. He was such an ass.
You know I am an intelligent sword, although I had no formal edumacation.
It is a terrible thing to fall, but all the greater is to admit it.
Oh and...
thank you for reminding me just how awesome the writing in the Legacy of Kain games are. Purple prose without being too purply...
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Also, the opening monologue to Silent Hill 2, just about any lengthy monologue from The Boss in MGS3. Also, as long as it's clear that's it's supposed to be cheesy and over-the top deadpan, the vast majority of the voice-over from Max Payne.
I disagree that it works equally well as it does as a dialog.
TNO: I see.
Vhailor: No, you do NOT see. Pray you NEVER will.
Okay fine, I agree. The dialog does add that extra...I dunno...gravitas to the proceedings.
Glad somebody suggested this. Specifically, Max's finale is good for melodrama:
it for signs of life)
MAX (voiceover): The accursed beast was dead, but not without its toll
on me. That was but one, and there was an entire city of them. I
could not hope to fight them all alone. I knew I had to get help...
(MAX staggers up the stairs back to the mansion.)
(Cut to MAX in the secret study, studying the Tome.)
MAX (voiceover): I knew there was a way. I just had to find it...
(Three months later. A filthy padded wall. A pan down reveals the
room's occupant, MAXIMILLIAN, a prisoner of an asylum, looking dirty,
and tied up in a straight jacket.)
MAX (raving): I tried... I tried to tell them... But they wouldn't
listen to me... Damn them... DAMN THEIR EYES!! They didn't believe
me.... Strange creatures... The world in peril from unseen foes...
The death... THE DARKNESS!!!
(MAX slides down the wall and sits)
MAX (feverishly): Instead they jeered and threw me into this forsaken
place... A place of empty souls and fevered thoughts... reeking of
foetor and decay! Thinking me mad with delirium! (chuckle) The fools
cast away their hopes of salvation by locking me in this damned asylum!!
(MAX stands, walks up to the barred door, and slams his shoulder
against it.)
MAX (screaming): MAY THE RATS EAT YOUR EYES!! I am now lost to your
cause!! (sobbing) The Darkness comes!! It will damn us all!!
(still picture, the Tome closes)
Personally, I found Pious's conversations with the Ancients so much more amusing.
Everything irenicus said ever. Moreso than andrew ryan in my opinion.
Mage 1: You two! The prisoner from the lower levels! Hes escaped!
Mage 2: What??? How...
Mage 1: Oh... oh gods... he comes! HES HERE!
*Irenicus Teleports into the room, and all begin casting spells*
Irenicus: "I cannot be caged... *Kills mage 1*
Irenicus: "I cannot be controlled... *Kills mage 2*
Irenicus: "Know this even as you die... ever pathetic... ever fools." *Releases a massive spell blowing mage 3 into 50 peices*