Actors support Tiberium Wars

For the most part, live-action video in games is hard to find. Aside from a brief wave of games that included Night Trap, Wing Commander III, and Phantasmagoria, Hollywood actors haven't shown their faces too often in games, opting instead to do voice work for computer-modeled characters.

However, one series, Command & Conquer, did continue to incorporate live-action video. Actors such as Michael Biehn (Terminator, The Abyss), James Earl Jones (the voice of Darth Vader, The Meteor Man), and Kari Wuhrer (Anaconda, MTV's Remote Control) have been featured in previous C&C games but departed from live-action video in its more recent installments.

That's not the case for the upcoming PC real-time strategy game Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars. In August, Electronic Arts announced that C&C3 would bring back actor Joe Kucan to reprise his role as Brotherhood of Nod leader Kane in high-def live-action scenes. Today, EA revealed that Kucan won't be alone in front of the camera and will be joined by a host of other well-known actors.

Fans of science-fiction properties will recognize most of the cast, which includes Josh Holloway (Lost's Sawyer), Billy Dee Williams (the Star Wars films' Lando Calrissian), Michael Ironside (the voice of Splinter Cell's Sam Fisher and Top Gun's Jester), and Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica's Number Six). The full lineup of actors featured in the game is listed below.

"This is the most fun I've had since Star Wars!" said Williams. "The game's story and universe are immersive and drew me right in. I was intrigued by my character, GDI director Redmond Boyle, because he has more depth than I expected from a video game personality."

The HD live-action scenes will be combined with computer graphics to help propel the game's plot forward. For added realism, EA has also employed the talents of real-world news casters to deliver TV-style reports of the Tiberium Wars.

For more information on how the cast was selected and the decision to include live-action sequences in the game, read GameSpot's Q&A with C&C3 executive producer Mike Verdu.

Command and Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars has not yet been rated and will be released in North America and Europe in 2007. For more information, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

Actor / Past work
Michael Ironside / Top Gun, voice of Splinter Cell's Sam Fisher
Billy Dee Williams / Empire Strikes Back, Colt .45 Spokesperson
Josh Holloway / Lost, CSI
Tricia Helfer / Battlestar Galactica, CSI
Grace Park / Battlestar Galactica, L.A. Law: The Movie
Ivana Bozilovic / Wedding Crashers, Van Wilder
Shanon Cook / CNN reporter
John Huck / Las Vegas Fox News anchor
Shauntay Hinton / former Miss USA
Joe Kucan / Command & Conquer series