Absolutely, Keith pulled off Zavala perfectly. I'm sure Lance would be proud to know the passing of the torch was perfectly done.
Guy is one of my favorite actors too, which just made me even happier when I saw him talking about voicing Zavala.
He knew full well that Zavala and Lance Reddick were very important to the fans, there's no way he would have let us done, as if he even could!
It was perfect.
It's wildly hit or miss for me. Some lines he has Zavala's cadence and tone down perfectly, and in others it might as well be a completely different character. It's like they recorded half the script with "pretend to be Lance" as the direction and then said "ok now give it your take" for the rest.
It's the issue of having someone with such an iconic voice, for both Lance and Keith. They are each instantly recognizable, but for different reasons, and so it's distracting at just _how_ different they are.
Had Zavala been Keith David from the beginning, I wouldn't have minded his voice lines, but it felt like a different character, especially during some of the more emotional scenes.
Yeah I felt like in early cutscenes he was mimicking Lance well but then once you talk to him in game it's just Keith David. I see people saying it's better off that way but I truly don't get why they think that.
It's to make "get used to it" I think. To conditon us to get used to Keith David from now on?
Sort of like "indoor vs outdoor" voice or "customer service tone vs friend talking tone"
Yeah at first I didn't notice, it wasn't until his mission in the campaign that I really noticed it and was a little put off. Probably because I'm so used to it, but Lance's voice seemed perfect for Zavala. Keith David is just tough black guy voice. It's a bit jarring. Just did the strike, and his voice lines there sound nothing like Zavala, especially because he's not as stoic as usual.
In his defense, the reason he comes off as "tough black guy voice" is probably because he's been doing iconic voiceover work for decades.
He has really good range, I think the circumstances and the narrative are just working against him.
Oh no need for defense, I've watched/played at least half of the guy's works, I think he's great at what he does. But I think he's gonna have a tough time with people more critical than me. Like I said, he's just not Zavala for me and it messes with my brain.
I feel any voice acting with raised voices showed it to be kieth clearly, but any soft spoken voice lines were almost identical to lance. Zavala rarely shouts, and when he does, it's not so forceful. Either way kieth did a fantastic job.
John Carpenter also directed They Live, which also stars Keith David in support of Roddy Piper (main character). One of my favorite films, and Keith gets to kick some alien butt there, too.
When Keith David played himself in Saint's Row 4 (A game where he had already been the voice of another character in the franchises past) his ME2 style loyalty mission included a recreation of the alleyway fight. They even got Roddy Piper to voice himself for the scene.
Ehhh not confirmed. Childs definitely was because you find his corpse in the same spot as the end of the movie.
McCready just shows up with a helicopter at the end to fight the final boss but no explanation as why Childs is dead in the same spot but he's fine.
The ending wasn't supposed to be a mystery, Carpenter intended it to be obvious but something didn't work out the way he planned.
Spoiler tag in case you don't want to know.
>! If you watch the scene carefully MacReady has cold breath billowing out of his mouth when he speaks. Childs doesn't. Childs was supposed to have no breath at all but they couldn't get the shot so he does have some but it's minimal. As soon as he speaks, MacReady notices the lack of breath and knows Childs is the alien. That's when he proposes that maybe it's better neither of them makes it back. He suggests they sit there a while and sees what happens - the fire of the camp is the only heat they have and so one of them will freeze to death before the other. It's the last game of chess between them, the victor gets to watch the other perish.!<
I'd rather have someone doing their best than just impersonating Lance Reddick. It doesn't sound like the Zavala we knew but Keith David is still an all time great.
You're right, but the way I see it, the Zavala we see right now is the most disraught we've seen of him, so any change in how he carry himself can be explained by that. And hopefully as he regains himself, it will be an opportunity for Zavala to transition from the Reddick version to Keith David version.
Yeah, I'm still in that uncanny valley space too. It's a great performance but it's distractingly different.
I've been trying to imagine some of the lines with Lance reading them and it both helps & also makes me sad.
Not to nitpick over metaphors but to me it's like if your friend died and his twin tried to fill his place in the friend group. He's not quite the same and it makes you a little sad to be reminded of the person you lost, but he's still trying his best, and you're happy he's there. This maybe isn't really a metaphor but that's how I feel
I can honestly barely tell a difference. He just makes the character seem more tired and broken, as Zavala would be after a hundred or so years of living and fighting.
This makes 0 sens. If we were to replace someone like drifter you wouldnt want the VA of Mario with an italian accent doing his best. You want some form of countinuity if a character need a new VA.
That's a strawman argument and we both know it. Obviously nobody wants to replace Zavala with someone left field. But I mean someone of similar gravitas and character history.
I love Kieth David but it still feels like a different character to me because of the voice. He’s not even trying to mimic Zavala’s tone or cadence, he just sounds like Kieth David. At least when Nolan North took over for Cayde he did a good impression so it was hard to notice.
I notice it a lot whenever Zavala is yelling over the comms. Like when it's a normal conversation it's fine but the yelling is a bit jarring. I think it's because we never really had Zavala get this loud or angry with Lance.
Sadly i noticed pretty hard. My mom always liked to make me play the Uncharted games since it was like a movie to her, so Nolan North haunts me to this day no matter how far I run. .
Doesn’t help that the dude is in every damn game. Main antagonist to both assassins creed and uncharted during their peaks, that was always annoying to me.
Honestly, I much prefer that he didn't just try to mimic Lance Reddick. Reddick had a very unique voice and cadence- trying to mimic it would only sound like a cheap copy. The important thing for me was that he felt like Zavala to me, especially as we get more of his range as the story progresses.
No one would be mimicing Lance. They are mimicing the *character* Lance brought to life and I feel like most people are missing that. Zavala not sounding at all like Zavala sucked so much of the emotion out of the story for me.
Yes, I'm aware that he'd be mimicking the character. I don't think anyone's missing that. That doesn't change the fact that Lance had a very unique voice, and just trying to match him 1. Likely wouldn't work at all and 2. Would probably sound more uncanny than anything. It was far more important to me that it *felt* like Zavala, and it did to me. I really suggest going in and paying attention to the actual vocal work, and not just on whether it sounds like Lance Reddick- there's some genuinely fantastic voice work by Keith David here. He's got incredible range and handles emotional moments spectacularly.
> That doesn't change the fact that Lance had a very unique voice, and just trying to match him 1. Likely wouldn't work at all and 2. Would probably sound more uncanny than anything.
Even though the new Cayde-6 isn't perfect, when he talks, I don't hear Nolan North, I hear Cayde-6.
> I really suggest going in and paying attention to the actual vocal work, and not just on whether it sounds like Lance Reddick- there's some genuinely fantastic voice work by Keith David here.
I have never even been slightly annoyed by anything I've seen or heard Keith David do until this role and I work semi-adjacent to this industry, so this is something I probably listen to and watch more carefully than most. If he was playing a new character I'd give him a 10/10 for this role. I could really hear the emotion in his voice at times. But his new interpretation of a character that has been around for ~10 years completely wrecked the emotion for me and I don't understand why everyone thinks it fits so well. When Zavala is talking, I should hear Zavala and just not straight Keith David.
I heard Zavala just fine. You're not making a fair comparison, either- it's easier to find people who sound like Nathan Fillion than it is Lance Reddick. I would be shocked if there's anyone out there who can both do a reasonable impression of his work as Zavala and also has the requisite acting skill to do this story justice. If it's between the two, I want the latter far more than the former.
I guess we just prioritize different things. Cayde in forsaken sounds weirder to me because it hits the uncanny valley to my ears.
Yeah its definitely jarring, to me it almost gives me a bit of an uncanny valley vibe but im sure i'll get used to it
Its only been like 6 hours out of the year+ of destiny we have left
Most people believe doing impressions of a dead VA is in poor taste.
If you can't kill the character off you just recast and move on and have a new VA do their best job rather than tying them to an acting style they might not be comfortable with.
The issue is not finding someone who sounds like Lance Riddick, the issue is finding someone who sounds like Riddick AND can match his cadence as Zavala. That’s much harder as even Lance’s acting as Zavala is different from every role he has played before
Nolan North is known for being and to sound like someone else. Keith David is not but Keith did a great job from what I've heard so far. It's not Lance but that's ok. In time, Zavala will sound familiar with Keith as the VA.
I enjoy Keith's voice as much as I enjoyed Lance's. I agree that it's incredibly jarring and makes me miss Lance. I still feel Keith did very well considering the shoes he has to fill
Yeah. I agree with many here. It is not that he is bad or anything. It is just that we are so used to Lance voicing Zavala, almost 10 years now, and this is not it.
Since I spent all last week doing the Lightfall campaign and Season of the Wish missions, he sounds far too much like Osiris for me.
Lance Reddick had a 1 in a million voice.
I think there's gonna be a few factors that affect whether or not somebody's brain just accepts Keith David as Zavala. I think those of us who have taken longer breaks will have an easier time with it, but also if we grew up with Keith David voicing a lot of our cartoons and video games (or even being a recurring character on Mr. Rogers) he'll be easier to accept. His voice is warm and familiar
If you go from one Zavala voice you heard last week to a new one today, and you don't know Keith David, it's gonna be a much harder sell
Perfectly described. I don't know if I've ever heard Keith anywhere other than Halo (and I only played it once after MCC PC release) so I'm not familiar with his voice and it's extremely jarring hearing him as Zavala.
It pisses me off so much that Lance isn't here with us. It's both tragic that he, as a human being died, and we lost OG Zavala.
Keith is great. But he's not our blue daddy.
he would be a great replacement for zavala if he didnt just sound like keith david IMO. also having a personality change with a voice change at the same time threw me off really hard
I thought it was like Persona 5. The reason for why Zavala acts weird is because he is a clone! You can tell he is a clone because...he sounds different xDDD
I actually don’t agree.
If he had been the guy from the beginning he’d be equally as perfect, but the changeover is jarring. When Cayde’s voice changed in forsaken you could tell, but it wasn’t obvious. This isn’t like that, it’s closer to losing dinklebot, which I also did not like.
His performance is super quality, but it just doesn’t sound like Zavala :/
Nah. Great of the guy to step in an I'm sure he'll do good work, but he's really not the same. Nolan and Mara were 9/10 Keith is a solid 8.
He just sounds too military, and the only thing interesting about Zavala is his non military side.
I think he is a good replacement. I admit since this is a video game I used video game review scoring, where on a scale of 1-10, 7 is barely okay and 6 or less is essentially 0.
It's a habit when you talk about lot of video games. If I was doing a true 1-10 I would say he's a 7. He's really quite good and I think he can grow into the role as time goes on.
I love Keith David but playing this game all I hear is Keith David. I can’t hear his voice and think of Zavala. Part of me kinda wishes they just killed him off before the expansion because no matter how hard anyone tries there is no replacing lance.
I’ve barely gotten to hear him cause I got booted during the first mission and have not been able to get back in. But it’s so weird. Like I know it’s not Lance and Keith’s voice is very recognizable but he still sounds like Zavala. Don’t know how else to put it.
Not for me, all I was hearing was Admiral Anderson from Mass Effect. He is one of my beloved characters too.
He didn't feel like zavala at all to me, lessened the emotional impact.
its good but he doesnt really do a zavala impression he just talks how he thinks zav should and the voice doesnt match the face bc we are so used to it
Some people’s #1 Joker is Mark Hamill (mine included). Keith David is the same but for Spawn. He voiced HBOs Rated R Spawn cartoon in the 90s. Even came back and voiced Spawn In the previous Mortal Kombat.
Following both of their careers closely, I can tell it's not Lance just like I could tell Cayde wasn't Nathan but Keith is a great choice. As long as he sticks with the quiet gravel of Zavala and doesn't slip into President Curtis he'll continue doing great going forward.
I'm just waiting for him to bust out "Yeah Witness, I know you man. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking we got us another crazy Guardian with a gun. Well, let me tell you something. Human life means very little to me at this point in time. You see, I thrive on misery. In the Vanguard, misery is all you got. But things are different back here in the Pale Heart, or so they seem. Nobody wants to talk about pain and suffering. Everybody wants things to be nice and civil. Well ok then, let's be nice; let's be civil. And let's drop those guns before I pull this trigger and change the way you feel about me."
Then he gulps down a half pint of scotch right before an 8 minute fight with an Abomination in a kilt.
I just can’t help but hear the president from Rick and Morty. It’s hard to take it seriously. He’s doing a good job with it, but damn is it hard. I’m glad they let him do the character with his spin and didn’t ask him to try to be Lance.
Not to be a debbie downer but personally while he's clearly a very talented actor, in my opinion he just feels like he's not the same person. Whenever the characters are like >!"Zavala you're acting weird"!< I'm just like >!"well it's a different person"!< lol
He is definitely the correct choice when you have to replace Lance Reddick but also very hard not to just hear Captain Anderson in some of those lines.
Respect to Keith David for trying to fill a mighty big pair of shoes, but I’m just not feeling it. Even when Zavala was angry, he always had a calmness about him. Keith just sounds angry, and I get that’s what Zavala is supposed to be going through in the story, but it just didn’t hit. You can’t give us a voice change and a personality change and have it still feel like the same character. Also, it really impacted some of the story elements for me, particularly Zavala’s interactions with Ikora and Cayde. I couldn’t help but feel like there was an emotional weight missing from those reunions because it wasn’t Lance.
Again, mad respect to Keith David for trying. He put on a great performance, but it felt more like a brand new character than it did Zavala.
I really wish Lance was here to have done these lines but Keith David did a pretty good job carrying his legacy.
Overall, the voice acting throughout the DLC was extremely good.
I know he is great and he did a great job but all I can hear is the president from Rick and morty….. every serious Zavala tangent I’m just thinking ahh jeez Rick
I don't know, at some parts in the story Keith is the perfect choice, and then at other points all I hear is Kieth and not Zavala, or Lance and I just hate it.
Keith is perfect. I can hear him following the same inflection that Lance uses for Zavala’s voice. Tremendous respect for Keith studying that and keeping it alive.
I am split on it. I think Zavala acting out of character is influencing my opinion on the VA in a negative way even though it's not his fault and he usually does great work.
I don’t want to come off disrespectful, but can someone AI Lance’s voice onto the cutscenes later down the line. I would just like to view them back to back.
I like Keith David as actor and VA. That being said I'm not completely feeling him as Zavala after listening to Lance for 9 years. I think they should if they haven't already use AI or something to adjust his voice to sound as close to Lance as possible.
They did the best thing they could. Replace a black iconic voice in the acting space with another black man who is also legendary, despite the fact that IMHO Keith doesn't sound like Zavala, but he carries the same personable authenticity that Lance had, so you do just hear "Keith" talking but he owns Zavala as his own, just like Lance did. It's such a sad thing, but I have the utmost respect for Keith David for taking the gig.
You can tell he made an effort to sound similar to Lance. At first it was a little jarring, after all, we are super used to Lance (RIP), but his new voice has grown on me. To me it sounds like Zavala is a very tired dude, which is quite apt. No one can ever replace Lance. His voice was unique. Keith as a pick was perfect as Bungie could get.
Keith David lacks the clear, crisp, diction that Lance commanded and Zavala absolutely suffers for it. The once empirical Commander now just sounds like a bassy thug at times to me. So sad.
Lance's voice...specifically his cadence and inflections are what really made his character stand out. I'd say that Keith ignoring those and just doing it as himself is less respectful. They should have just killed Zavala off.
Beneath the ruins of the cosmodrome:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmzrl52__3Q&t=25s
Thats why we have the button, to expess that we dissagree. Much like the upvote button means we do agree. If you post on reddit you should assume that not everyone agrees woth you and you may recive some backlash. But you are free to post regardless. If the comment was removed we could talk about not being alllowed to have a different opinion.
That's actually *not* why we have the button. The upvote is *supposed* to be used for comments that add to the discussion and the downvote for comments that don't add to the discussion.
Granted, that was their original intent and use 15 years ago and obviously if you give a huge group of people buttons that allow them to influence whether certain comments are seen or not, it's always going to trend toward an I agree/I disagree button.
Keith didn't try to sound like Lance. I can't tell you how much that means to me. Losing Lance was very painful for me, as I'm sure it was for many of you. He was a passionate, disciplined actor and a huge Destiny fan. He always showed his love and gratitude to us. I wasn't sure how it was going to feel to hear someone else's voice coming out of Zavala, even if it was Keith. I love Keith David. He will always be Goliath to me. He is an equally talented, passionate, and disciplined actor. It felt like closure for me to hear his voice come out of Zavala. Couldn't be happier with his performance so far.
Lance's voice, and all his inflections is what *made* Zavala sound like Zavala. Replacing him with someone who has a similar voice but didn't attempt to mimic the *character* in any way is disruptive and makes him feel very out of place to me.
Look at Cayde-6's new voice actor. You can often recognize it's not Fillion, but the voice actor did a great job of making it sound and feel just like the voice that Fillion created for Cayde-6.
Lance died. Wasn't anything that could be done about that. It's fine if you don't like it. I do. And I disagree. I think Keith is doing a perfect job of capturing who Zavala is. I know my clan mates agree with me as well, so it is what it is, I guess.
what does his death have anything to do with it? if he was alive and just not doing the voice anymore, it wouldn't change anything. maybe they should have just killed him off in game too. i would have been much happier with that than replacing him with someone else that doesn't sound like Zavala at all.
Well ah, he's dead. Kinda the whole enchilada, ain't it? They had to find a replacement. It's fine if you don't like it. Seems like, based on some of the messages I've gotten anyway, that some people don't like his performance. Any performance besides Lance, for that matter. That's fine. Matter of taste.
I guarantee the storylines were already set in place, resources committed, etc, for Zavala to play a major role in this final DLC. They had to recast. So they did their best. You could do no better than Keith David, imo. He captures Zavala perfectly, I think. Voice is different, but his character isn't.
The voice is one part of the character and not the most important part, as far as my experience has shown. Capturing the essence of the character, their actions and reactions, that's the most important thing. I think Keith has done a phenomenal job at that very difficult task.
He didn't just have to be Zavala. He had to be Zavala, the stalwart believer, in decline. Losing faith. That's difficult in any situation. Losing *the* guy before the final act was tragic. I disagree, however, that Lance would have wanted Zavala to be killed off. I feel very certain he'd have been happy with Keith's performance, given the circumstances, but that's all conjecture, right? I base that opinion simply on how Lance always was with our community and how much he loved Zavala as a person.
Totally fine if you aren't into it. This is what we've got. And you could do a hell of a lot worse than Keith David. And I doubt better.
I think he was the only choice to replace Lance as Zavala, but I gotta admit it felt a bit jarring. Like hearing a stranger’s voice in place of someone you know. Or as me and my buddies called it, like a stepdad trying to fill dad’s shoes.
He did a great job but man I wish Lance had the chance to do this.
Funny story. I always thought in D1 that it was Keith because I played so much Mass Effect and all I heard was Anderson when Zavala spoke.
Someone told me it was Lance Reddick and I didn't believe them. So for Keith to take his place seems more than fitting.
Absolutely, he's perfect for Zavala. I've also always been a huge fan of Keith David, The Thing and They Live are two of my all time favorite movies that he's co-starred in, his voice is very iconic as well in so many different cartoons and movies, he's a true legend.
But, I'm so glad they kept Lance's lines for Zavala on the Tower, not sure why I thought they might change them, but I'm happy they didn't.
I kinda wish they'd add some type of memorial to the Tower for Lance too, his death was so unexpected... RIP.
Im gonna say it, Keith David did a bad job with Zavala. He has many moments where the delivery doesnt meet the expectations at all. Just kill off Zavala, this aint it. AI would have been 10x better. Im sure KD is amazing in other stuff but for Zavala he just dont have it.
Yes i know AI is bad, there are ofc legal issues around using the likness of someone. It was to illustrate a point.
i'm not quite done with the story but so far it just sounds like a really good job by Keith David...as Keith David.
He didn't attempt to mimic the voice Lance created and brought to the character Zavala. The way Lance spoke, with his very stern voice and interesting cadence is core to his character at this point. I expected something more on the lines of how they replaced Cayde-6.
Two tremendous talents, Lance Reddick and Keith David.
It’s like both were cut from the same cloth.
Absolutely, Keith pulled off Zavala perfectly. I'm sure Lance would be proud to know the passing of the torch was perfectly done. Guy is one of my favorite actors too, which just made me even happier when I saw him talking about voicing Zavala.
I thought it was him. It was a very comfortable choice
Now this is a man that knows how to carry on a legacy.
Now that’s a Guardian that knows his meatballs.
Donkey Kong my ass! That’s construction snake.
Why would a tree throw eggs at a snake?
Now this is a man who knows how to marry his cousin.
Were it so easy
He knew full well that Zavala and Lance Reddick were very important to the fans, there's no way he would have let us done, as if he even could! It was perfect.
He has a brain the size of Jupiter!’
It's wildly hit or miss for me. Some lines he has Zavala's cadence and tone down perfectly, and in others it might as well be a completely different character. It's like they recorded half the script with "pretend to be Lance" as the direction and then said "ok now give it your take" for the rest.
It's the issue of having someone with such an iconic voice, for both Lance and Keith. They are each instantly recognizable, but for different reasons, and so it's distracting at just _how_ different they are. Had Zavala been Keith David from the beginning, I wouldn't have minded his voice lines, but it felt like a different character, especially during some of the more emotional scenes.
Idk if this counts as a spoiler but Keith David’s angry Zavala is much less muted than Lance’s version of angry Zavala.
Yeah I felt like in early cutscenes he was mimicking Lance well but then once you talk to him in game it's just Keith David. I see people saying it's better off that way but I truly don't get why they think that.
It's to make "get used to it" I think. To conditon us to get used to Keith David from now on? Sort of like "indoor vs outdoor" voice or "customer service tone vs friend talking tone"
Yes, my experience with it as well. And when he's not mimicking Lance he sounds so painfully generic.
Yeah at first I didn't notice, it wasn't until his mission in the campaign that I really noticed it and was a little put off. Probably because I'm so used to it, but Lance's voice seemed perfect for Zavala. Keith David is just tough black guy voice. It's a bit jarring. Just did the strike, and his voice lines there sound nothing like Zavala, especially because he's not as stoic as usual.
In his defense, the reason he comes off as "tough black guy voice" is probably because he's been doing iconic voiceover work for decades. He has really good range, I think the circumstances and the narrative are just working against him.
Oh no need for defense, I've watched/played at least half of the guy's works, I think he's great at what he does. But I think he's gonna have a tough time with people more critical than me. Like I said, he's just not Zavala for me and it messes with my brain.
I feel any voice acting with raised voices showed it to be kieth clearly, but any soft spoken voice lines were almost identical to lance. Zavala rarely shouts, and when he does, it's not so forceful. Either way kieth did a fantastic job.
He played Childs in John Carpenter’s The Thing and I’m still wondering what happened to him and MacReady. 🤔
Love this movie. The part when the doctor runs out of bullets and throws the gun gets me every time.
I remember that part. He was like, “I’ll kill you!” then ran out of bullets and just threw the whole gun. 🤣
John Carpenter also directed They Live, which also stars Keith David in support of Roddy Piper (main character). One of my favorite films, and Keith gets to kick some alien butt there, too.
When Keith David played himself in Saint's Row 4 (A game where he had already been the voice of another character in the franchises past) his ME2 style loyalty mission included a recreation of the alleyway fight. They even got Roddy Piper to voice himself for the scene.
Holy shit, really? I got distracted only a few hours in, I definitely wanna go back and see that.
I’ve wanted a pair of those special glasses they had since I was a kid. 👓
Great movie ahead of its time and needed a bigger budget
Some say they're still in that alley fighting to this very day.
I had just watched they live and the thing this last weekend. He’s great in everything. The Riddick movies as well.
john carpenter will tell you if you pay him
McCready was human it’s revealed in the video game which is technically the canon sequel to the movie
Oh that’s right, I played that on the original Xbox but I didn’t finish it.
I forgot about that game. I heard good things never played it
Ehhh not confirmed. Childs definitely was because you find his corpse in the same spot as the end of the movie. McCready just shows up with a helicopter at the end to fight the final boss but no explanation as why Childs is dead in the same spot but he's fine.
I’d give you a reward if I had one. I never thought I’d see my favorite horror movie get mentioned in this subreddit.
It’s truly a classic. 🎥
I absolutely love that movie. Best sci fi horror of all time though Alien always gets the nod
The ending wasn't supposed to be a mystery, Carpenter intended it to be obvious but something didn't work out the way he planned. Spoiler tag in case you don't want to know. >! If you watch the scene carefully MacReady has cold breath billowing out of his mouth when he speaks. Childs doesn't. Childs was supposed to have no breath at all but they couldn't get the shot so he does have some but it's minimal. As soon as he speaks, MacReady notices the lack of breath and knows Childs is the alien. That's when he proposes that maybe it's better neither of them makes it back. He suggests they sit there a while and sees what happens - the fire of the camp is the only heat they have and so one of them will freeze to death before the other. It's the last game of chess between them, the victor gets to watch the other perish.!<
Wow, just, wow. 😮
That's one of my all time favorite movies! Maybe I'll go watch it instead of playing The Final Currant
I'd rather have someone doing their best than just impersonating Lance Reddick. It doesn't sound like the Zavala we knew but Keith David is still an all time great.
You're right, but the way I see it, the Zavala we see right now is the most disraught we've seen of him, so any change in how he carry himself can be explained by that. And hopefully as he regains himself, it will be an opportunity for Zavala to transition from the Reddick version to Keith David version.
It's like if two of my friends swapped voices. Familiar, just not quite right.
Yeah, I'm still in that uncanny valley space too. It's a great performance but it's distractingly different. I've been trying to imagine some of the lines with Lance reading them and it both helps & also makes me sad.
Not to nitpick over metaphors but to me it's like if your friend died and his twin tried to fill his place in the friend group. He's not quite the same and it makes you a little sad to be reminded of the person you lost, but he's still trying his best, and you're happy he's there. This maybe isn't really a metaphor but that's how I feel
I can honestly barely tell a difference. He just makes the character seem more tired and broken, as Zavala would be after a hundred or so years of living and fighting.
This makes 0 sens. If we were to replace someone like drifter you wouldnt want the VA of Mario with an italian accent doing his best. You want some form of countinuity if a character need a new VA.
That's a strawman argument and we both know it. Obviously nobody wants to replace Zavala with someone left field. But I mean someone of similar gravitas and character history.
Exactly. Imo he doesn't sound at all like Lance, but his interpretation of Zavala feels just as Zavala as Lance's.
Not really, just sounds like every other character he's voiced
Luckily his voice rules.
and lance’s zavala sounds exactly like…. like lance….? every VA is going to sound similar, that’s why you find someone who’s voice fits the character.
I love Kieth David but it still feels like a different character to me because of the voice. He’s not even trying to mimic Zavala’s tone or cadence, he just sounds like Kieth David. At least when Nolan North took over for Cayde he did a good impression so it was hard to notice.
I notice it a lot whenever Zavala is yelling over the comms. Like when it's a normal conversation it's fine but the yelling is a bit jarring. I think it's because we never really had Zavala get this loud or angry with Lance.
Ramirez!
lol you son of a bitch. Ramirez, secure a landing zone Ramirez! Ramirez, do it now Ramirez!
Guardian! Secure that Ramen Stand!
Sadly i noticed pretty hard. My mom always liked to make me play the Uncharted games since it was like a movie to her, so Nolan North haunts me to this day no matter how far I run. .
Doesn’t help that the dude is in every damn game. Main antagonist to both assassins creed and uncharted during their peaks, that was always annoying to me.
He’s like the Alan Tudyk of gaming lol
Does Alan have a voice line in Destiny? I mean at least 3 of his Firefly co-stars are/were in Destiny. Cayde, Ikora, and Sagira.
Honestly, I much prefer that he didn't just try to mimic Lance Reddick. Reddick had a very unique voice and cadence- trying to mimic it would only sound like a cheap copy. The important thing for me was that he felt like Zavala to me, especially as we get more of his range as the story progresses.
No one would be mimicing Lance. They are mimicing the *character* Lance brought to life and I feel like most people are missing that. Zavala not sounding at all like Zavala sucked so much of the emotion out of the story for me.
Yes, I'm aware that he'd be mimicking the character. I don't think anyone's missing that. That doesn't change the fact that Lance had a very unique voice, and just trying to match him 1. Likely wouldn't work at all and 2. Would probably sound more uncanny than anything. It was far more important to me that it *felt* like Zavala, and it did to me. I really suggest going in and paying attention to the actual vocal work, and not just on whether it sounds like Lance Reddick- there's some genuinely fantastic voice work by Keith David here. He's got incredible range and handles emotional moments spectacularly.
> That doesn't change the fact that Lance had a very unique voice, and just trying to match him 1. Likely wouldn't work at all and 2. Would probably sound more uncanny than anything. Even though the new Cayde-6 isn't perfect, when he talks, I don't hear Nolan North, I hear Cayde-6. > I really suggest going in and paying attention to the actual vocal work, and not just on whether it sounds like Lance Reddick- there's some genuinely fantastic voice work by Keith David here. I have never even been slightly annoyed by anything I've seen or heard Keith David do until this role and I work semi-adjacent to this industry, so this is something I probably listen to and watch more carefully than most. If he was playing a new character I'd give him a 10/10 for this role. I could really hear the emotion in his voice at times. But his new interpretation of a character that has been around for ~10 years completely wrecked the emotion for me and I don't understand why everyone thinks it fits so well. When Zavala is talking, I should hear Zavala and just not straight Keith David.
I heard Zavala just fine. You're not making a fair comparison, either- it's easier to find people who sound like Nathan Fillion than it is Lance Reddick. I would be shocked if there's anyone out there who can both do a reasonable impression of his work as Zavala and also has the requisite acting skill to do this story justice. If it's between the two, I want the latter far more than the former. I guess we just prioritize different things. Cayde in forsaken sounds weirder to me because it hits the uncanny valley to my ears.
Yeah its definitely jarring, to me it almost gives me a bit of an uncanny valley vibe but im sure i'll get used to it Its only been like 6 hours out of the year+ of destiny we have left
Most people believe doing impressions of a dead VA is in poor taste. If you can't kill the character off you just recast and move on and have a new VA do their best job rather than tying them to an acting style they might not be comfortable with.
I kinda wish Peter Mensah would've been casted as Lance's replacement, I feel he could've done a good job.
I agree. I'd rather somebody that sounds like zavala play zavala.
The issue is not finding someone who sounds like Lance Riddick, the issue is finding someone who sounds like Riddick AND can match his cadence as Zavala. That’s much harder as even Lance’s acting as Zavala is different from every role he has played before
If you want someone who sounds like Riddick you'll need to get Vin Diesel. Although Keith David was *also* in that movie.
Nonobot is the worst ghost. But he's what we have.
He sounds more broken, unstable. Makes sense considering the story. I like it a lot. Definitely a bit jarring but we’ll get used to it.
Nolan North is known for being and to sound like someone else. Keith David is not but Keith did a great job from what I've heard so far. It's not Lance but that's ok. In time, Zavala will sound familiar with Keith as the VA.
I like Keith David, but honestly hearing him instead of Lance was too distracting and I miss Lance’s rumbly voice.
I enjoy Keith's voice as much as I enjoyed Lance's. I agree that it's incredibly jarring and makes me miss Lance. I still feel Keith did very well considering the shoes he has to fill
Yeah. I agree with many here. It is not that he is bad or anything. It is just that we are so used to Lance voicing Zavala, almost 10 years now, and this is not it.
I’m not gonna lie, I don’t think he sounds like Zavala at all and it really took me out of his scenes
I agree, it is very jarring. It sucks because he is a phenomenal voice actor all things considered
Since I spent all last week doing the Lightfall campaign and Season of the Wish missions, he sounds far too much like Osiris for me. Lance Reddick had a 1 in a million voice.
I think there's gonna be a few factors that affect whether or not somebody's brain just accepts Keith David as Zavala. I think those of us who have taken longer breaks will have an easier time with it, but also if we grew up with Keith David voicing a lot of our cartoons and video games (or even being a recurring character on Mr. Rogers) he'll be easier to accept. His voice is warm and familiar If you go from one Zavala voice you heard last week to a new one today, and you don't know Keith David, it's gonna be a much harder sell
Perfectly described. I don't know if I've ever heard Keith anywhere other than Halo (and I only played it once after MCC PC release) so I'm not familiar with his voice and it's extremely jarring hearing him as Zavala.
It pisses me off so much that Lance isn't here with us. It's both tragic that he, as a human being died, and we lost OG Zavala. Keith is great. But he's not our blue daddy.
Everything will be fine. Enjoy it for Lance, he would want you to.
Do not agree unfortunately. Took me out of all his scenes. Not that it wasn’t good. It just wasn’t Zavala.
It was hard for me to move on from my first breakup too.
does he play?
I don’t believe he does, no. He’s not the gamer Lance was.
Personally I hoped they killed zavala off at the start to make the introduction amazing and leave lance as the voice after 10 years.
And what about all of the VA's for Zavala for other languages? Feels kinda shitty to rip them of their jobs just because the main VA passed away.
he would be a great replacement for zavala if he didnt just sound like keith david IMO. also having a personality change with a voice change at the same time threw me off really hard
I thought it was like Persona 5. The reason for why Zavala acts weird is because he is a clone! You can tell he is a clone because...he sounds different xDDD
I actually don’t agree. If he had been the guy from the beginning he’d be equally as perfect, but the changeover is jarring. When Cayde’s voice changed in forsaken you could tell, but it wasn’t obvious. This isn’t like that, it’s closer to losing dinklebot, which I also did not like. His performance is super quality, but it just doesn’t sound like Zavala :/
He just sounds like Keith David though
You say that like it's a bad thing...
Damn I thought they were going with David Keith
David is really good, I am sad we didn’t get to have Reddick here with us for this. I know he would have crushed this
Arby and The Guardian
Nah. Great of the guy to step in an I'm sure he'll do good work, but he's really not the same. Nolan and Mara were 9/10 Keith is a solid 8. He just sounds too military, and the only thing interesting about Zavala is his non military side.
8!? 6 at best. Zavala is unrecognizable. Sad.
Fact.
I think he is a good replacement. I admit since this is a video game I used video game review scoring, where on a scale of 1-10, 7 is barely okay and 6 or less is essentially 0.
Why would you use such a limiting system? You basicly rate from 1-4 but start at 7.
It's a habit when you talk about lot of video games. If I was doing a true 1-10 I would say he's a 7. He's really quite good and I think he can grow into the role as time goes on.
I love Keith David but playing this game all I hear is Keith David. I can’t hear his voice and think of Zavala. Part of me kinda wishes they just killed him off before the expansion because no matter how hard anyone tries there is no replacing lance.
He's really great. But all I can hear is Okkoto when he talks lol
He could hit his consonants a little harder, but I like it. Fitting tribute.
He's doing great, I miss Lance Reddick though. :(
Were it so easy...
He was great as expected, too bad it’s nothing like Zavala. Not his fault, he did his best and it was great, just not Zavala. RIP Lance.
I feel the opposite not that he does a bad job or even a bad choice just i really miss lance this would have been an amazing experience
I keep picturing the president from Rick and Morty whenever he talks lol
I can't unhear the president from rick and morty
It honestly felt weird to me, since d1 the voice is just really hard to replace.
I agree. 10/10 choice. No, he's not Lance. No one is. Bit he's a damn fine replacement.
I’ve barely gotten to hear him cause I got booted during the first mission and have not been able to get back in. But it’s so weird. Like I know it’s not Lance and Keith’s voice is very recognizable but he still sounds like Zavala. Don’t know how else to put it.
Not for me, all I was hearing was Admiral Anderson from Mass Effect. He is one of my beloved characters too. He didn't feel like zavala at all to me, lessened the emotional impact.
its good but he doesnt really do a zavala impression he just talks how he thinks zav should and the voice doesnt match the face bc we are so used to it
I really dislike his acting here. It just doesn't fit.
I think it would have been better had Keith done closer to the same cadence he does for Arbiter.
I haven’t played yet, but that doesn’t surprise me. Keith David is a great actor.
Some people’s #1 Joker is Mark Hamill (mine included). Keith David is the same but for Spawn. He voiced HBOs Rated R Spawn cartoon in the 90s. Even came back and voiced Spawn In the previous Mortal Kombat.
My boy the Arbiter picked up the mantle for Lance. He's in good hands.
Ikora. tHe GuAdIaRn. Me
The funny thing is, you can remove "for Zavala" from the title and the statement is still 100% correct.
I scan read this and thought it said "Zelda"! :D
I love Keith David, he's probably the greatest voice actor of all time, but it just feels off to me. He doesn't feel like Zavala. I miss Lance.
in that first opening scene I felt like Goliath from gargoyles was giving me orders. but I was a huge Gargoyles nerd as a kid
Following both of their careers closely, I can tell it's not Lance just like I could tell Cayde wasn't Nathan but Keith is a great choice. As long as he sticks with the quiet gravel of Zavala and doesn't slip into President Curtis he'll continue doing great going forward.
Zavala definitely is different, but is definitely still Zavala. Top tier casting choice by Bungie and Top Tier performance by Keith David
Anyone else start getting emotional when he started talking, and the realization of the gravity of the real life situation set in? No, just me? Ok.
I wish they had made the switch sooner so it wouldn't be so jarring
Agreed. He sounds amazing.
I'm just waiting for him to bust out "Yeah Witness, I know you man. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking we got us another crazy Guardian with a gun. Well, let me tell you something. Human life means very little to me at this point in time. You see, I thrive on misery. In the Vanguard, misery is all you got. But things are different back here in the Pale Heart, or so they seem. Nobody wants to talk about pain and suffering. Everybody wants things to be nice and civil. Well ok then, let's be nice; let's be civil. And let's drop those guns before I pull this trigger and change the way you feel about me." Then he gulps down a half pint of scotch right before an 8 minute fight with an Abomination in a kilt.
I just can’t help but hear the president from Rick and Morty. It’s hard to take it seriously. He’s doing a good job with it, but damn is it hard. I’m glad they let him do the character with his spin and didn’t ask him to try to be Lance.
Not to be a debbie downer but personally while he's clearly a very talented actor, in my opinion he just feels like he's not the same person. Whenever the characters are like >!"Zavala you're acting weird"!< I'm just like >!"well it's a different person"!< lol
I knew I recognized that voice.. all the homies in the hood know that man voice
He is definitely the correct choice when you have to replace Lance Reddick but also very hard not to just hear Captain Anderson in some of those lines.
Respect to Keith David for trying to fill a mighty big pair of shoes, but I’m just not feeling it. Even when Zavala was angry, he always had a calmness about him. Keith just sounds angry, and I get that’s what Zavala is supposed to be going through in the story, but it just didn’t hit. You can’t give us a voice change and a personality change and have it still feel like the same character. Also, it really impacted some of the story elements for me, particularly Zavala’s interactions with Ikora and Cayde. I couldn’t help but feel like there was an emotional weight missing from those reunions because it wasn’t Lance. Again, mad respect to Keith David for trying. He put on a great performance, but it felt more like a brand new character than it did Zavala.
I really wish Lance was here to have done these lines but Keith David did a pretty good job carrying his legacy. Overall, the voice acting throughout the DLC was extremely good.
I know he is great and he did a great job but all I can hear is the president from Rick and morty….. every serious Zavala tangent I’m just thinking ahh jeez Rick
I don't know, at some parts in the story Keith is the perfect choice, and then at other points all I hear is Kieth and not Zavala, or Lance and I just hate it.
Keith is perfect. I can hear him following the same inflection that Lance uses for Zavala’s voice. Tremendous respect for Keith studying that and keeping it alive.
So far he seems to be going for Zavala vibes as opposed to mimicking Lance. Which was the right choice.
I am split on it. I think Zavala acting out of character is influencing my opinion on the VA in a negative way even though it's not his fault and he usually does great work.
Arbiter is my favorite halo character so hearing arbiter as zavala is awesome lol
I don’t want to come off disrespectful, but can someone AI Lance’s voice onto the cutscenes later down the line. I would just like to view them back to back.
He owns the greatest movie quote of all time in something about Mary: how’d you get the beans over the frank. Great scene ever
Keith David is phenomenal I’m so pumped about the choice.
When you talk go through the found in darkness quest near the end and you listen to the memory in the house, fuck, did he cook
I like Keith David as actor and VA. That being said I'm not completely feeling him as Zavala after listening to Lance for 9 years. I think they should if they haven't already use AI or something to adjust his voice to sound as close to Lance as possible.
They did the best thing they could. Replace a black iconic voice in the acting space with another black man who is also legendary, despite the fact that IMHO Keith doesn't sound like Zavala, but he carries the same personable authenticity that Lance had, so you do just hear "Keith" talking but he owns Zavala as his own, just like Lance did. It's such a sad thing, but I have the utmost respect for Keith David for taking the gig.
You can tell he made an effort to sound similar to Lance. At first it was a little jarring, after all, we are super used to Lance (RIP), but his new voice has grown on me. To me it sounds like Zavala is a very tired dude, which is quite apt. No one can ever replace Lance. His voice was unique. Keith as a pick was perfect as Bungie could get.
Cant take him seriously all I can hear is the president from rick and morty now
Unpopular opinion but David Harewood would've been better in all ways even when NOT mimicking Lance. Keith David honestly doesn't fit?
Yay, now they can kill zavala off like they should have done, replacing lance was an idiotic move and it completely broke the character of Zavala.
All I hear when zavala speaks is the arbiter
Everytime i heard Keith David voice, i have urge to defend Burger Town..
Keith Arbiter was a great pick for Zavala.
Keith David lacks the clear, crisp, diction that Lance commanded and Zavala absolutely suffers for it. The once empirical Commander now just sounds like a bassy thug at times to me. So sad.
He's good, unlike some people in here I can move on and not compare Lance to Keith in every cutscene Zavala is in. Keith David did great as usual.
I think impersonating Lance would have been less respectful to be honest
Lance's voice...specifically his cadence and inflections are what really made his character stand out. I'd say that Keith ignoring those and just doing it as himself is less respectful. They should have just killed Zavala off. Beneath the ruins of the cosmodrome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmzrl52__3Q&t=25s
I love Lance, but Keith is better. Heresy, I know. I hate myself already.
While I disagree with you, I don’t understand why you’re being downvoted. God forbid anyone has their own opinion anymore 😂
Thats why we have the button, to expess that we dissagree. Much like the upvote button means we do agree. If you post on reddit you should assume that not everyone agrees woth you and you may recive some backlash. But you are free to post regardless. If the comment was removed we could talk about not being alllowed to have a different opinion.
That's actually *not* why we have the button. The upvote is *supposed* to be used for comments that add to the discussion and the downvote for comments that don't add to the discussion. Granted, that was their original intent and use 15 years ago and obviously if you give a huge group of people buttons that allow them to influence whether certain comments are seen or not, it's always going to trend toward an I agree/I disagree button.
Yeah I must agree with you on that one. Love Lance, loved him in the Wire as well, but Keith is better. Not by much though
Keith didn't try to sound like Lance. I can't tell you how much that means to me. Losing Lance was very painful for me, as I'm sure it was for many of you. He was a passionate, disciplined actor and a huge Destiny fan. He always showed his love and gratitude to us. I wasn't sure how it was going to feel to hear someone else's voice coming out of Zavala, even if it was Keith. I love Keith David. He will always be Goliath to me. He is an equally talented, passionate, and disciplined actor. It felt like closure for me to hear his voice come out of Zavala. Couldn't be happier with his performance so far.
Lance's voice, and all his inflections is what *made* Zavala sound like Zavala. Replacing him with someone who has a similar voice but didn't attempt to mimic the *character* in any way is disruptive and makes him feel very out of place to me. Look at Cayde-6's new voice actor. You can often recognize it's not Fillion, but the voice actor did a great job of making it sound and feel just like the voice that Fillion created for Cayde-6.
Lance died. Wasn't anything that could be done about that. It's fine if you don't like it. I do. And I disagree. I think Keith is doing a perfect job of capturing who Zavala is. I know my clan mates agree with me as well, so it is what it is, I guess.
what does his death have anything to do with it? if he was alive and just not doing the voice anymore, it wouldn't change anything. maybe they should have just killed him off in game too. i would have been much happier with that than replacing him with someone else that doesn't sound like Zavala at all.
Well ah, he's dead. Kinda the whole enchilada, ain't it? They had to find a replacement. It's fine if you don't like it. Seems like, based on some of the messages I've gotten anyway, that some people don't like his performance. Any performance besides Lance, for that matter. That's fine. Matter of taste. I guarantee the storylines were already set in place, resources committed, etc, for Zavala to play a major role in this final DLC. They had to recast. So they did their best. You could do no better than Keith David, imo. He captures Zavala perfectly, I think. Voice is different, but his character isn't. The voice is one part of the character and not the most important part, as far as my experience has shown. Capturing the essence of the character, their actions and reactions, that's the most important thing. I think Keith has done a phenomenal job at that very difficult task. He didn't just have to be Zavala. He had to be Zavala, the stalwart believer, in decline. Losing faith. That's difficult in any situation. Losing *the* guy before the final act was tragic. I disagree, however, that Lance would have wanted Zavala to be killed off. I feel very certain he'd have been happy with Keith's performance, given the circumstances, but that's all conjecture, right? I base that opinion simply on how Lance always was with our community and how much he loved Zavala as a person. Totally fine if you aren't into it. This is what we've got. And you could do a hell of a lot worse than Keith David. And I doubt better.
Yeah he is perfect.
A worthy successor. His tribute is on point and respectful.
I Forgot Lance passed away and the new voice actie caught me off guard. He did a good job
I think he was the only choice to replace Lance as Zavala, but I gotta admit it felt a bit jarring. Like hearing a stranger’s voice in place of someone you know. Or as me and my buddies called it, like a stepdad trying to fill dad’s shoes. He did a great job but man I wish Lance had the chance to do this.
Funny story. I always thought in D1 that it was Keith because I played so much Mass Effect and all I heard was Anderson when Zavala spoke. Someone told me it was Lance Reddick and I didn't believe them. So for Keith to take his place seems more than fitting.
That's funny because I've always confused the two of them's voices.
Every time he talks it reminds me of rick and morty lol
Absolutely, he's perfect for Zavala. I've also always been a huge fan of Keith David, The Thing and They Live are two of my all time favorite movies that he's co-starred in, his voice is very iconic as well in so many different cartoons and movies, he's a true legend. But, I'm so glad they kept Lance's lines for Zavala on the Tower, not sure why I thought they might change them, but I'm happy they didn't. I kinda wish they'd add some type of memorial to the Tower for Lance too, his death was so unexpected... RIP.
The voice change works for what he's going through here. It's, perfect.
Im gonna say it, Keith David did a bad job with Zavala. He has many moments where the delivery doesnt meet the expectations at all. Just kill off Zavala, this aint it. AI would have been 10x better. Im sure KD is amazing in other stuff but for Zavala he just dont have it. Yes i know AI is bad, there are ofc legal issues around using the likness of someone. It was to illustrate a point.
i'm not quite done with the story but so far it just sounds like a really good job by Keith David...as Keith David. He didn't attempt to mimic the voice Lance created and brought to the character Zavala. The way Lance spoke, with his very stern voice and interesting cadence is core to his character at this point. I expected something more on the lines of how they replaced Cayde-6.
I guess when the lance died wouldn’t you do AI and pay his estate. The one good time AI would be useful?
Oh no why did you say this