If you have read any of my articles concerning God of War II, you've probably noticed a common thread running through all of them. No, not that fact that the game is awesome and will probably be the PS2s swan song, but my excitement about the inclusion once again of the wonderful Linda Hunt as the voice of the Narrator. Her voice is distinctive and lends an incredible quality to the voiceovers. In general, all the voiceover work in GoW II is very well done and something that I think is often overlooked. People are quick to point out terrible voice acting, but good voice acting is rarely commented on.

I picked up my copy of God of War II on Tuesday and rushed home to open it and was greeted with a disc of extras along with my copy of the game. While most people would dive right in to the game, for me that extras disc was like video game foreplay. I quickly slipped it into the PS2 and was thrilled to see that one of the first things on the disc was interviews with some of the voice actors. And there, in the menu image was none other than Linda Hunt herself.

The interviews were short and sweet and highlighted some of the more well known actors in the group:

T.C. Carson, the voice of Kratos himself has done a ton of VG voice over work in games like Saints Row and Star Wars Battlefront II, but began his career as a regular on Living Single.

Linda Hunt, who voices the Narrator and Gaia has appeared in many films and TV shows and even won an Oscar Award for her portrayal of a Filipino man in The Year of Living Dangerously.

Michael Clarke Duncan as the voice of Atlas is no stranger to VG voice over work either although you may remember him best as the eyepatch wearing Manute in Sin City or "that big guy from The Green Mile."

And finally, in a coup that's sure to titillate the Clash of the Titans fans out there (myself included), Harry Hamlin reprises the role he made famous in COTT by providing the voice of Perseus.

The interviews are great and interestingly, when questioned, not one of them actually plays games. Several of them also talked about the difficulty of recording these voiceovers when they really don't have a lot to go on as far as plot and motivation and other such actory things.

So, if you can manage to tear yourself away from the game, take a minute to check out that extras disc which in addition to the voice over interviews also includes character concept art, scenery art and several other goodies. And who knows, if you're not careful, you might just learn something! (Points if you get that reference) Flynn De Marco

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