Nolan North & Troy Baker Praise Square Enix’s ‘Avengers,’ Affirm It’s “Impressive”
Square Enix’s Avengers project has been hid behind a veil of secrecy. There’s been little gameplay footage to speak of, and the footage that has leaked appeared to be highly scripted. However, Square Enix and developer Crystal Dynamics have received praise for the voice cast they assembled, which includes well-known names like Laura Bailey and Travis Willingham. Nolan North, best known for voicing the leads in Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series and The Last of Us, is voicing Iron Man in the Avengers. Speaking in an interview with GameByte, North assured fans the game would be worthy of the superheroes it celebrates.
North holds the project in high regard, saying, “It absolutely is one of the most stunning things…You can’t tell where in-game cinematics and gameplay [separate]…it’s so seamless. You always worry that [a game] looks so good, and then you get the game and you’re like, ‘oh gameplay doesn’t look as good.’ [Avengers] really, visually, it’s one of the most stunning things I’ve ever seen.” Continuing, North even went so far to suggest that Avengers could eclipse some of the prior games he’s worked on. “And obviously with The Last of Us, Uncharted, they’re amazing, but [Avengers] blew me away.”
Troy Baker, one of North’s friends and Avengers co-stars, joined him on the stage, accentuating the message of how “impressive” the upcoming game is. “It really honestly is [amazing],” Baker said. “I’m gonna share something with you: we saw the demo that they’re gonna release a week after Gamescom…I told our director, I was like cool, that’s a great demo, and I asked one question and he goes ‘No man, that’s all gameplay.’…It looked like a scripted event [and I was confusing it] with gameplay.”
Baker voices Bruce Banner, better known as the Hulk, in the game, a casting decision he was surprised by. “I was like, ‘I’m gonna be Hawkeye right?’ And [Shaun Escayg, creative director] goes ‘You are gonna be Bruce Banner’ and I’m like ‘say what now?’” While Baker wasn’t forthcoming with details concerning the plot, he believes the nature and duality of his character will be handled well. “[Escayg] told me about who he wanted Bruce Banner to be in this story, and in the game, and I’m like, that’s never been done before. That’s super cool.”
GameByte’s entire interview with the venerable voice artists can be seen below:
Square Enix’s Marvel’s Avengers will be released on May 15, 2020.