Voice Actors Left UC4 Over "weird changes" to the Script

In an interview, Alan Tudyk (of Firefly fame) talked about walking away from his contract to voice a character in the upcoming PS4 blockbuster Uncharted 4

he was clear that when he left, he wasn't happy with the way the project was going. "I didn't like it," he said.

"I left because they decided to go a different way with it, and so when they did that, when they changed leadership, it made my contract null and void and I was able to take that opportunity to walk away, which was great because I got the experience of doing it." Tudyk said. "Todd Stashwick was in that as well... and he did the same thing I did, which was, 'Yeah, we're gonna leave now. Y'all are making some weird changes, we're gonna leave.'"

The change in leadership seems to refer to the takeover of UC4 by Druckmann and Straley and the subsequent departure of Naughty Dog employees

The changes in script were also noted by Nolan North, the man responsible for Nathan Drake's man grunts

who said in June that Naughty Dog threw out eight months worth of recording work after Hennig's departure. North didn't say anything negative about the script changes publicly, but he did say that "the tone, I think, is going to be slightly different," under Druckmann and Straley. "It has to be, you know? You can't have… a Robert Ludlum novel is not going to be the same as Stephen King. It's just that they're different styles. But it's true to the story."

So are you concerned about UC4's direction? Could the Naughty Gods stumble? or are you still wondering why Nathan Drake now looks like a weird cross between Nathan Fillion and Liam Neeson?

Source

Not really. It makes sense that they left. They were hired to be a specific type of character(s). With a different story, different tone, etc, it's pretty natural that said characters may have become something very different than what they initially were.

I don't see much of an issue here. Though I'm curious to know what exactly changed. Perhaps they'll talk about it after the game releases. And I'd like to hear both versions at that (not just the ND "official" version).

Dang, i wonder how bad it could have been for them to walk away from the money and such a big platform to show their talents. With the strike going on also, it must have been something crazy.

... This seems really dumb.. Since when do "weird changes" mean something as dramatic as leaving a gig in which you are simply voice acting in a role?? I am not trying to trivialize voice actors work here, but this just seems really petty, especially with how they worded the changes..

'he was clear that when he left, he wasn't happy with the way the project was going. "I didn't like it," he said.'

A voice actor. He didn't like it. **** him, seriously. Who gives a shit what he likes. He's paid to do a job, if he doesn't want to do it someone else will.

I wouldn't be. But I'm curious to see what the actual story is behind this. Interesting quote.

so Sony's sole good upcommin "game" (more like movie) is in dire straights.....

If the actors start leaving because they are not happy with the story direction the developers are taking, then I can't say it sounds good.

So you're saying as actors they turned down money to play parts written by somebody else in a story that has absolutely zero creatively to do with them and that makes sense to you?

@blueinheaven: What are you even trying to say?

I'm saying if I was hired as a voice actor I wouldn't give a flying **** what direction the game did or didn't take I would just do it then send them an invoice.

Voice actors in a fucking videogame we're not talking about Robert De Niro here.

@blueinheaven: Cool. That's your opinion. It clearly wasn't theirs. Money isn't everything in life.

He's a cow...

I figure they're trying to make it overly dark or make it overly dumb.

Probably the latter. Something like Drake turning to be a bad guy or something.

My only issue is that we have to listen to more Troy Baker, at which point he's way too noticeable.

Beyond that, Druckmann's and the other dude's script for TLoU was way better than anything Hennig wrote, and frankly, she was way off with Uncharted 3. The rewrite sucks and I want to hear about the original but this works with me.

This is troublesome.

I hope this doesn't mean Uncharted 4 turns into another Uncharted 3.

LEts take it easy now ... First and foremost the one thing that matters most = game itself. Yes voice acting in such cinematic blockbuster games like Uncharted series matters but its not the main reason why we like Uncharted in the first place.

In the end of the day does anyone here thinks that ND wont deliver in voice acting with one way or another ?

For me , as long as game plays and give me the "wow" factor all day long like that jaw-dropping demo ... i wouldnt care less if voice acting is 10/10 or 9.5/10 . Because it wont be lower than that considering NDs high standards when it comes to voice acting. So all in all , nothing to be worried about.

As much as I loved the Uncharted games, this is actually very concerning.

High end PC, PS4 and Xbox One does not = cow, dullard.

Some of us can afford more than one gaming system, drool on loser.

Owning systems =/= being a fanboy of a certain system

GPUKING owns every system too. We all know he's a rabid fankiddy.

It also doesn't mean you're not a cow. If I remember correctly, @Heil68 has PC/X1/PS4 and I think there's a fair amount of xbox fanboys with PS4s (so they can complain about them collecting dust)

You can be more of a Fan on one thing and Own the Other Products.

Nathan Drake halfway through the game unearths an elder god asthe game takes on Survival horror.

If it was just one Voice actor i wouldn't be too concerned..but two is abit alarming.

thankfully not every actor and/or voice actor in this industry has this mindset.

Every Uncharted game is the exact same.

I'd prefer if they did something original.

Nathan Drake is a douchebag and every game makes me hate him more.

Incoming flop?

@-God-: and your a hermit with three alt accounts and a rabid hate towards anything PlayStation.

And this effects gameplay how?

@AM-Gamer: and you're a cow with a rabid hate....

Must we continue pointing out who belongs to what group

i would be concern if it was something recent.

This was when Amy left a long time ago and Neil and Bruce took over (the two guys who made U2). So things change some when the two beast of men came in a long while ago.... ok...? its been a long while since that, im pretty damn positive that everything had been settled and covered by now.

This not of any recent event. This was like two years ago.

Not really anything to be concerned about. Alan Tudyk is really good friends with Amy Hennig and Todd Stashwick so it makes sense that he's not happy. With the new script came changes to the characters and with that came new voice actors. This is why Uncharted 4 has double the development time of Naughty Dog's other games.

Todd Stashwick was replaced with Troy Baker playing Nate's brother.

Alan Tudyk was probably replaced with Warren Kole (playing Rafe) and that voice actress from Half Life 2 and The Last of Us (playing Nadine).

The higher ups at Naughty Dog probably liked Druckmann's script better so they went with his instead. Frankly I have more faith in the The Last of Us directors than the Uncharted 3 directors.

@Syn_Valence: who said it effects gameplay?

@RTUUMM: right, the story is about the voice actors not liking the direction the game was taken after new leadership.

Losing both imo is really important. Todd was going to be drakes brother instead of Troy Baker which sounds so generic and stupid right now. Alan too is one of my favourite actors and he's very funny.

I saw some pictures of them with Amy hennig so they probably did it for her? Todd himself was hired by her again for a game she is writing currently at EA where she works. So I can see them not only doing it for her maybe but also druckmann changing the script into his dark nature he adapted in TLOU which they didn't like.

After UC3 I say amy could have left sooner because it had a terrible story. Young drake and more sully was good though.

@lostrib:

if certain fanboys are gonna keep preaching as if they aren't fanboys themselves..yes

yes. actors generally turn down roles if they don't like them. thats why he had an opt out written in his contract and he used it when they started going in a direction he didn't like.

Druckmann and Staley >>>>> Hennig and Ritchmond. The latter were responsible for Uncharted 3 whlle the former had big roles in Uncharted 2 and complete control over the The Last Of Us.

This comes down to people involved choosing sides over Hennig's departure. I'm not sure how any one could be worried about the duo in charge of Uncharted 4 failing. The literally rewrote the script as they saw fit and re-did all motion capture. It's not a half-assed effort to save a troubled project. And both gameplay presentations(PSX and E3) have been outstanding.

Plenty of actors take garbage roles just to get a paycheck.it isn't some noble profession that turn down paying gigs. Only the most highly regarded have that luxury.

Too much righteousness in this thread to really invest time in discussing it. Seriously, we went from a topic about UC4 and the development to who the **** thinks they have a big enough penis to call out who's in what fanboy department.

So **** it.

Little concerning but there have been a lot of projects in movies, games and TV that have had development issues that turned out great.

Star Wars is an example of that.

Voice actors? Haha

Great news then I guess.

UC2 & TLOU >>>>>>> UC3

These actors worked in TV and movies where scripts undergo various rewrites and changes. Sometimes during production so their excuse is kind of lame.

I don't care what a voice actor thinks all I know is the team working on UC4 are the same who worked on UC2.

Must be great to have that kind of freedom in your job, that you can show up to work (when you show up to work) and only need to put an hour or two of work into things per day and now they're threatening to strike because they don't get royalties, pfft, what about the workers who crunch for 16 hours a day for a year up to release that don't get paid as much, no royalties; kick these motherfuckers to the curb.

Imagine if a McDonald's worker was like "I was told I'd be flipping burgers but I clearly made some chicken sandwiches today and that wasn't in my contract"; snobby motherfuckers.

Amy Hennig and Richard Lemarchand were also responsible for Uncharted 2. Hennig was lead director and writer, while Lemarchand was lead designer.

Hennig and Lemarchand were also responsible for the Legacy of Kain series, which is better than anything Druckmann and Staley did before Uncharted.

Those are two pretty big actors to lose. I wonder how hard ND tried to keep them.

gameplay...uncharted?

lol

Are the childish insults really necessary? It seems most posters try a little harder these days to be civil, you should try as well.

If UC4 flops this place will look like Baradur after the ring gets thrown into Mt Doom lol.

Seriously though its kinda funny listening to people here that know nothing about that industry criticizing these guys. It must have been pretty terrible to make people walk away from an ez paycheck. Working on crap projects does effect your career in acting.

A lot of the good talent at ND left a few years back. Same thing happened with The Last Guardian. Most of the actual talent behind that game left years ago and are working on a PC game called Vane now.

Troy Baker replaced one. And this was like almost two years ago, why are people acting like it just happened now and the game is at a complete risk?

@lostrib: A rabid hate? Lol doh k!

Did someone forget to feed you under your bridge?