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'80s action hero Michael Biehn has been rather busy again as of late, lending his vocal talents to not one, but two different video game projects. Tapped up by Gearbox Software to appear in their quasi-sequel shooter Aliens: Colonial Marines, Biehn’s first foray into video game voice work (he acted in the live-action cutscenes of Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun) appears to have resulted in a less-than-pleasant experience for all involved.
Following his character's ignominious off-screen death in Alien 3, Biehn returned to reprise the role of Corporal. Dwayne Hicks via a series of hidden audiovisual logs. Appealing to the space marine's fan support, Gearbox later retconned Hicks’ unfortunate fate, for an extra add-on Colonial Marines DLC adventure, titled ‘Stasis Interrupted.’
Speaking to Game Informer on Friday, the actor discussed his time spent on the project, as well as his contributions to the madcap success of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon. As regards Colonial Marines, Biehn recalls a tired, even passive atmosphere surrounding the game, one in keeping with the title’s lengthy, ultimately fruitless development cycle.
"[The project] wasn’t fun at all. I just really didn’t have any fun. It seemed kind of passionless. I think in movies, television and the gaming world, you get some people that are really, really passionate, and some people that are just going through the paces. They think that because they have a brand name, they’re going to get a hit game or a hit movie out of it. That certainly was the situation on [Aliens: Colonial Marines]."
In contrast to Gearbox's and/or the now-defunct TimeGate Studios' alleged gloomy attitude, Biehn positively enthuses over Ubisoft Montreal’s passionate and inclusive stance during the interview. The studio's record-breaking Blood Dragon title features Biehn as a grizzled pastiche of 1980s macho mainstays including Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Check out our review of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.
The consummate on-screen marine, Biehn made his name with such classic sci-fi films as The Terminator and Aliens, before appearing to fall off the face of the Earth (or entering into career-based cryosleep) at some point during the next decade. Though Biehn would intermittently reappear throughout the '90s - most notably in Michael Bay’s prison-set escapade The Rock - the actor is nowadays most commonly encountered in B-grade action flicks.
So will Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon kick off a career renaissance for Michael Biehn? Will he be able to carve out a voice acting role similar to Star Wars’ Mark Hamill? Was Aliens: Colonial Marines as bad an experience for gamers as it was for actors? Have your say in the comments below.
You can follow Sam on Twitter @GamingGoo.
Source: Game Informer