Mass Effect - the better voice?

[Lysimachus]

Topic's probably been done to death, but ...

...whose voice do you prefer for Shepard: Jennifer Hale or Mark Meer?

I remember starting ME2 with Male Shepard (he looks like a damn badass) and the voice acting just ... ehhh. Then since I'd heard so much about Hale, just before Freedom's Progress I started a FemShep and thought the acting was awesome.

[Razvus]

I have a feeling only me and the Dude will be voting for Hale.

[sickpeople]

I vote for Hale. She just sounds so sexy, when she is threathing someone.

[The Stig]

Hale is better. Meer sounds like a sportscaster.

[Arbitrary Crusader]

Pick Male shep, because I never heard Femshep.
But will do when I deiced to make an ugly female shep, and get it on with a korgen....we can do that, right?

[Captain Jin]

I prefer Meer. I don't understand all the hate towards his voice and to be honest Hale is such a common voice actress these days that her voice almost ruins the immersion for me. I hear her and I think "Naomi Hunter" or another of her 50,000 characters so far. Where as Meer has only really done Shepard as far as major voice acting roles.

[Stavroforos]

I prefer Meer, because his voice sounds much more like a soldier's voice, while Hale's sounds like it should belong in something for all the fantasy RPG fanbois to enjoy, with all its ups and downs.

[Kamos]

Hale just doesn't really convince me for the role of badass space commander. It always sounds off for the role.

[Legio]

I was always partial to Meer.

[Sanguinary Guardian]

I vote for Hale. She just sounds so sexy, when she is threathing someone.

This!

[The Dude]

I have a feeling only me and the Dude will be voting for Hale.

Well I just put her one vote ahead Jin raises a good point on how often you hear her though. She's sort of like the female Steve Blum. But that's not really a problem to me, as I only know her from Mass Effect and KotOR. And Bulletstorm.

Anyhow, overacted as Hale's Shep may be at points, Meer's is systematically underacted. He continually fails to impress me, and it's really not his fault as apparently plenty folk dig him, but I just think he has a very, very boring voice. He could probably be a good actor, but a voice actor needs to understand that all he has to act with is his voice and he should be able to use it accordingly.

[beckyolt]

It's really hard to compare the VA of a male and a female IMO lol.

But I prefer maleshep's VA.

[Ascarona]

Hale is trying too much to sound badass, it's annoying.

Meer all the way!

[Tankfriend]

I also prefer Meer - like Ascarona has said, Hale is just trying too much to perform to her role, but she does not really manage, in my opinion. Especially situations like "talking to Jacob" are just way overdone in the "seductive" department, to the point where the professional soldier one would expect vanishes completely and is exchanged with a sex-crazed vamp.
Meer fits the idea of a professional soldier more, in my opinion - he has a certain coldness and lack of emotion in his voice at times, yes, but, personally, I think that actually adds to the role of a badass professional soldier that "gets the job done". And he also manages to still come up with quite emotional scenes nonetheless, as far as I can tell.

[Habelo]

Meer has really nailed shephard to me, militaristic and disciplined dialogues.

[Manco]

Meer's good in basic dialogue but falls flat in anything that requires any pathos.

[Stavroforos]

Meer's good in basic dialogue but falls flat in anything that requires any pathos.

You mean like telling Tali you love her?

[Cúchulainn]

Hale.

She creates more of a legitimate character than the cliché "badass", gung-ho american male.

If your going to be a "badass" then be ing angry.
Scream at your enemy. "I have come for you and your soul", not this flaccid PG .

Hale isn't trying to be one which make her far more the better choice.

[Fluttershy]

I almost always play male shep... but honestly I found the voice acting for fem shep to be better... I swear male shep sounds EXACTLY the same no matter what hes doing

[Manco]

You mean like telling Tali you love her?

Nah, Bioware's romances are cringeworthy regardless.

I liked them in BG but I guess that's because I didn't have to hear them out loud.