One thing that is rarely criticized about Mass Effect is its wide cast of characters. Through the protagonists, party members, and other NPCs, BioWare have created a vast and believable universe, and this setting is one of many things that entrances fans of the game. The characters are a fundamental part of this setting, and for the most part, they are beloved by players.
Part of this is the voice acting behind them. Employing some of the premier talent in the industry, many of the characters in the series have memorable performances that serve to construct the character every bit as much as the writing does. However, some fall short of this admittedly high benchmark, and detract from the experience of the story.
10 Nailed It: Jennifer Hale Is Iconic As FemShep
One of the first choices the player makes in any Mass Effect game is choosing the gender of their Commander Shepard. Despite being a minority of the overall choices, with only 32% of players choosing a female Shepard, Jennifer Hale's voice has become irrevocably associated with the character.
Managing to sell Shepard's heroic and larger-than-life hero sides every bit as much as she sells Shepard's more human and vulnerable side, Jennifer Hale is typically considered by fans to be the better of the two Shepard performances.
9 Fell Short: Mark Meer Underwhelms As Male Shepard By Comparison
Either gender of Commander Shepard has become one of the most recognizable and popular characters in video gaming, certainly of the modern era. Mark Meer voices the male Commander Shepard, and rightfully has fans for this performance.
However, he is up against the high benchmark of Jennifer Hale's performance as a female Commander Shepard. While Meer in no way diminishes the role, he doesn't live up to the standard of a veteran voice actor like Hale, and his performance comes off as wooden in comparison. Especially disappointment for those who wanted to see a male Shepard's story or romances.
8 Nailed It: Robin Sachs Transforms Zaeed Massani
Zaeed Massani, the amoral mercenary who is hired to joins the team in Mass Effect 2, doesn't get as much time to shine as other party members. A DLC character with fewer resources than the other characters in the game, he lacks branching conversation trees, instead offering scripted conversations where he tells his war stories.
Nonetheless, Robin Sachs takes this limited material and makes waves with it. He takes a character that could've been a one-note grumpy braggard and instead makes him an old soldier who is without a doubt tired, but proud of what he's done in the past and looking forward to a defiant end. In Mass Effect 3's Citadel DLC, he especially shines as an eccentric uncle figure who refuses to admit his care for Commander Shepard, even as he works to make their apartment the most rigorous fortress in the galaxy. Sachs would pass away in 2013, with the Citadel DLC being one of his last projects.
7 Fell Short: Keith Szarabajka Adds Little To The Reapers
Harbinger is considered by some to be an underwhelming antagonist in Mass Effect 2 and 3, mostly serving as a recurring miniboss who, at higher difficulties, actually makes battles easier. A common complaint is that he has a very limited pallet of voice lines, resulting in each of them being heard many, many times during missions.
Szarabajka doesn't give a bad performance as Harbinger, but there's little to differentiate it from Peter Jessop's Sovereign from Mass Effect. As the seeming leader of the Reapers, the hope would have been that every part of his construction would lead to further insight on their role and their history. Instead, players were given more of the same.
6 Nailed It: Keith David Makes Anderson Instantly Trustworthy
In the early game of Mass Effect, Captain Anderson is your superior officer— and once you're promoted above him, he serves as a mentor, confidant, and even father figure to Commander Shepard. He's an old soldier with a long history in galactic affairs, and personal ties to many of the story beats you encounter.
Keith David provides Anderson's voice, and for many fans, he simply nails it. He perfectly sells the gravitas such a character needs without bordering on the melodramatic or pretentious, while also providing him with humanity, warmth, and a sense of humor.
5 Fell Short: Bill Ratner Hits Few Notes As Udina
Portrayed as something of a counterpoint to Anderson, Ambassador Udina is a non-combatant politician who is an unashamed human supremacist, believing that humanity should be the ones in charge of the Galaxy. He starts off as a somewhat dislikeable figure, even with Shepard on the same side, and ends the game a full-blown villain, helping Cerberus in a coup.
It isn't helped by the writing, but Ratner's performance around Udina tends to hover between crabby and contemptful in nearly every interaction he has. While it serves to make the character adequately dislikeable— and thus provide catharsis when Anderon assaults him in the climax of the first game— it doesn't give the character the range that is to be expected from the series.
4 Nailed It: Liz Zroka Sells Inexperienced Yet Competent As Tali
Tali'Zorah vas Normandy is one of the companions Commander Shepard picks up in Mass Effect, and one of two who reappears in every game to serve as a party member. Throughout, she is the youngest and one of the least mature party members, enthusiastic about adventure and love stories, and with crushes on Shepard and/or Garrus Vakarian.
However, she is as competent as any other member of your party, being one of the galaxy's best engineers, and a skilled hacker. Liz Zroka's performance manages to convey both of these aspects of Tali perfectly, without either becoming grating or anything other than endearing.
3 Fell Short: Adam Lazzare-White Fails To Enhance Underdeveloped Jacob Taylor
Most of the companions in Mass Effect are known for their sympathetic, compelling personalities, engaging plotlines, and enjoyable character development. While Jacob Taylor from Mass Effect 2 has a well-enjoyed loyalty mission that draws themes from Heart of Darkness, he largely fails on the other fronts.
His character is understated, with his resentment towards the Alliance and his tensions with certain crew members going under-explored. Adam Lazzare-White fails to transform Jacob's subject matter or add his own spin on it, with his most notable delivery being an oft-mocked line where he comments that sneaking into Shepard's cabin is a risk, but with a worthwhile "prize".
2 Nailed It: Martin Sheen Gives A Great Performance Of A Divisive Character
The Illusive Man is one of Mass Effect's most controversial villains. Fans debate his motivations and his goals, while also questioning how he obtains the near-limitless resources he possesses in Mass Effect 2 and 3, and whether parts of his story make actual sense.
Even with a frustrating script that fails to answer questions about the character satisfactorily, and associates the Illusive Man with some of the more controversial plot points of the series, Martin Sheen works wonders with the character. He gives a charismatic and compelling performance that veers from master manipulator to seeming sincerity on a dime, and depending on context manages to sound entirely reasonable or completely deranged. The quality of the voice acting is one of the things universally agreed-upon with the character.
1 Fell Short: Troy Baker Had Little To Work With As Kai Leng
Kai Leng is an infamous character from Mass Effect, spending much of the third game losing to Shepard in easy boss fights and then utterly shaming the protagonist in cutscenes the player has no input in, while every other NPC makes sure to remind you how dangerous he is, with no proof. He is considered by many to be the culmination of the poor choices surrounding Cerberus in the third game.
Despite being voiced by iconic veteran voice actor Troy Baker, there is little to elevate Kai Leng. He simply lacks any depth in the script as given, and his lines are one-note arrogance and contempt. Baker sells these well, but it is a waste of his talents.