Ever wondered what the intro cutscene to Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver would sound like voiced by Solid Snake actor David Hayter? Quite specific of you, but a new documentary from Noclip might just have what you’re looking for. The Past, Present & Future of Soul Reaver interviews key developers from the action adventure game, and about halfway through host Danny O’ Dwyer gets hold of some archive materials, including old audition tapes. These include Mark Hamill reading for Janos Audren, and Jennifer Hale for Ariel.
The biggest treat, of course, is hearing Hayter read for Raziel, especially as it’s that excellent opening monologue. You’ll find the video below, with Hayter around 37:30.
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Hayter and Hale aren’t the only Metal Gear Solid actors that read for parts across the Legacy Of Kain series. There’s also Colonel Campbell’s Paul Eiding as the Elder God, Liquid Snake’s Cam Clarke as Blood Omen 2’s Marcus, and another Raziel reading by Psycho Mantis’s Doug Stone. They’re all fantastic, of course, although it’s hard to imagine Soul Reaver voiced by anyone else. You can toy with fate, chronology, and destiny, but you don’t mess with perfection.
Noclip’s entire documentary is very much worth a watch, featuring interviews with the series’ art director Daniel Cabuco, programmer Scott Krotz, and also Ben Starr for some reason. It’s a great reminder how much technical wizardry and clever compromises went into getting Soul Reaver running on such limited hardware.
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 1 & 2 Remastered released yesterday, and seems to have had a broadly positive reception. And, just personally speaking, it’s quite special to see the long-dormant series getting some love again. I’m a Blood Omen hipster, of course, but the entire series means a great deal to me. Now remake Blood Omen, you cowards.