To create the perfect tone and timbre for its upcoming epic role playing game, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Bethesda Game Studios announced an all-star voice cast of British stage and screen legends. Developed for both the Xbox 360 and PC platforms, Oblivion is one of the year's most highly-anticipated games and sequel to the best-selling role playing game of 2002, Morrowind.
Leading the lineup is Patrick Stewart, playing the role of the Emperor. Stewart is best known among genre fans as Captain Jean-Luc Picard on Star Trek: The Next Generation and as Professor Charles Xavier from the X-Men feature films.
Providing the voice for the Emperor's lost son and heir to the throne is Sean Bean. Bean skyrocketed to the public's attention as Lord Boromir in the Academy Award-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy. While Oblivion will be his first video game role, Bean is well known for starring in a variety of films, including memorable roles in National Treasure, Goldeneye, and Patriot Games.
Terence Stamp will lend his talents to the game's heavy plot, a sinister force bent on the destruction of Tamriel, the game's geographical setting. Stamp starred in Star Wars: Phantom Menace as Supreme Chancellor Valorum and as General Zod in the legendary Superman films. Oblivion is Stamp's first foray into voice work for a video game.
Having never done voice work for a video game before, I really had no notion of what to expect, said Stamp. Bethesda did a great job in providing the tone and theme for the character and it was fun to give life to the villain in the story, who is a very thoughtful man from a different line of kings who seeks to realize his own vision for the empire.
Bethesda had previously announced that Lynda Carter would also be lending her voice talents to the game. Best known for her starring role as the crime-fighting superhero, Wonder Woman, in the hit television series, Carter has appeared in more than 50 television shows and films, including this summer's hits, Sky High and Dukes of Hazzard.
As the next chapter in the Elder Scrolls series, Oblivion is a single-player game that takes place in Tamriel's capital province, Cyrodiil. Gamers are given the task of finding the hidden heir to a throne that sits empty, the previous emperor having been killed by an unknown assassin. With no true Emperor, the gates to Oblivion (the equivalent of hell in the world of Tamriel) open, and demons begin to invade Cyrodiil and attack its people and towns. It's up to the player to find the lost heir and unravel the sinister plot that threatens to destroy all of Tamriel.