I saw this being brought up a lot in regard to that new trailer that just hit the tubes. Thought it would make for a fun little poll. Surprisingly enough, I haven't seen a thread on the topic before.

Personally, I'm pretty firmly in the Jennifer Hale camp. She puts more nuance, emotion and variation in her voice. That said, I can see why a lot of people don't like her somewhat hissy take on the renegade lines.

Mark Meer is a bit of a mixed bag. Some of his lines are great ("big stupid jellyfish") but all too often he comes across as flat and monotone, like someone reading from a page. However, he did improve noticeably between ME1 and ME2, so maybe he'll do better in ME3.

Incidentally, I'm pretty sure both actors were specifically directed to use fairly neutral tones. I've heard them both elsewhere and they were significantly more animated, especially Meer.

...

PS. Please try not be obnoxious when voicing your opinion. Femshep fanatics/haters, I'm looking at you.

Zhukov:
Femshep fanatics/haters, I'm looking at you.

I think this actually speaks for itself. Jennifer Hale is polarizing because she gives FemShep a personality. Mark Meer is just kinda meh.

I suspect this might have been caused at least partially by me.
But, like I said in the trailer thread, I do quite dislike Hale.

RedEyesBlackGamer:
I prefer Meer's Shepard. My only complaint is how creepy and manipulative he comes off as during some of the romance dialogue.

To be fair, I think that's the romances, not Mark Meer.

I hear people saying that Mark Meer comes off as monotone while Jennifer Hale gives emotion and all that jazz, which confuses me since I always think FemShep comes off as sounding monotone. Most of the time it sounds like she's just bored. She even sounds bored in most of her "big, epic speeches" which I always thought MaleShep was able to deliver quite well.

Let's face it folks, each of them have their good and bad moments. It's a massive game series with thousands of lines of dialogue, neither actor is going to get every line spot on.

Jennifer Hale is the best paragon, Mark Meer is the best renegade. His deadpan delivery makes some of the renegade comments infinitely more badass.

I only played as Femshep, but from what i heard from youtube videos Male shep does sound more lifeless. Considering that in other roles his voice work is MUCH better (bisexual elf prostitute in DA2), I think Meer was instructed to sound as he does in ME.

I usually play a male Shepard but when I did switch to Fem Shepard I was surprised at how much better the voice acting was so yeah a vote for Jennifer Hale here easily the best hands down.

Is there a mod where you can have her voicing male Shepard instead? that would be quite fun (if a little weird).

oh boy...this is going to go well

all Im going to say Is I prefer femshep

also turns out femshep is also cinderella from disneys cinderella 3....yeah, cinderella is compander shepard...

I've always found Meer's Shepard to be a bit dull. I don't know if that's him, or the way he was directed. Either way, renegade FemShep all the way.

Mark Meer for the most part sounds like a dullard. Shep just seems flat and bored most of the time. He's not without his moments, most of the renegade dialogue is good for him but since I find most of the renegade dialogue to be appallingly douchebagy I don't use it. That isn't Mark Meer's fault though.

I'm a Jennifer Hale fan; she just gives more oomph for my time spent. I'm nearly up to to the part when she gives an epic speech so I'll check back on how those are delivered.

Neither. And both. They're both good.

I prefer femshep purely because I started with her, and I'm damn well going to end with her.

Zhukov:
I saw this being brought up a lot in regard to that new trailer that just hit the tubes. Thought it would make for a fun little poll. Surprisingly enough, I haven't seen a thread on the topic before.

Personally, I'm pretty firmly in the Jennifer Hale camp. She puts more nuance, emotion and variation in her voice. That said, I can see why a lot of people don't like her somewhat hissy take on the renegade lines.

Mark Meer is a bit of a mixed bag. Some of his lines are great ("big stupid jellyfish") but all too often he comes across as flat and monotone, like someone reading from a page. However, he did improve noticeably between ME1 and ME2, so maybe he'll do better in ME3.

Incidentally, I'm pretty sure both actors were specifically directed to use fairly neutral tones. I've heard them both elsewhere and they were significantly more animated, especially Meer.

...

PS. Please try not be obnoxious when voicing your opinion. Femshep fanatics/haters, I'm looking at you.

I've got to agree. To me FemShep actually has the better acting skills, she seems capable of pulling off both paragon conversation choices with a calm, gentle tone, while also being able to become stern and harsh for the renegade conversation choices.

That said, though, I do like Mark when it comes to the Renegade choices, as you said: some of his lines are realy great, and just in general I prefer him if I'm playing a Renegade character.

Edit: Since I can't quite describe why I like male Shepard's voice for the renegade options, I hope these videos will help illustrate it. :3

"I was only mostly dead...try finding THAT option on government paperwork."

In the first one Jennifer Hale was a far better voice actress, but she was also more experienced. However in Two Meer gave a much better performance, so now they are about even.

I like Mark Meer when he talks he makes Commander Shepard sound badass. His "epic" speeches sound awesome as well

Meer does seem to do better at sounding badass, and delivering the big speeches, but Hale still does a fine enough job at those moments. Hale does better in the general conversation options, though. and a lot of Meer's dialogue during romance conversations just ends up sounding really creepy (and when you combine that with male Shepard's smiling,... *shudder*)

Overall, I'd have to hand it to Jennifer Hale, just because it's far more consistent.

Where's the "They're both awful" option?

Gorilla Gunk:
Where's the "They're both awful" option?

Third from the top.

Seeing as Shep is clearly completely insane, Meer works much better in my eyes.

CAUSE ITS A BIG STUPID JELLYFISH

In all seriousness, I prefer femshep in all aspects. I dunno why. The first time I played Mass Effect I played as femshep and ever since then playing as maleshep feels wrong. I just like everything about femshep better, and that includes the voice acting.

Mark Meer is one of this generation's worst voice actors, delivering every single line in a dull, lifeless monotone and raising his voice with all the authenticity of a kindergarten stage production of Robin Hood. He's saved from being the worst voice in the Mass Effect franchise only by the presence of an uncharacteristically hammy and subpar turn by Gwendoline Yeo in both games as Shiala and Sha'ira. What the hell happened to you, Gwen? You were so good in Final Fantasy X-2.

Jennifer Hale, on the other hand, is pretty much a shoe-in for the video game voice acting hall of fame. Every single thing she shoots for is a roaring success, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the Mass Effect series, where regardless of Shepard's alignment, she is unquestionably believable.

i prefer male shep all the way, idk how to exactly describe it, but i love the strength of his "military" voice and how he delivers it..some of the lines he has said in the mass effect games have given me massive shivers up and down my spine, while that has yet to happen once with female shep.

jennifer hale is amazing in all her other roles in other games, but i just really don't care for her in the shepherd role, it just doesn't..."fit"

I found FemShep's delivery strained, monotonous and just uncomfortable. ManShep's "average joe" voice is likeable and believable for paragon options, and his deadpan-delivered renegade options are almost always perfect.

FemShep, on the other hand, has one voice, and it's an unnaturally, forced husky "bad ass chick" voice that sounds way too firm for the reasonable/calming/comforting lines that come from paragon options. Meanwhile, it sounds way too emotional & angry for the renegade options. Whereas ManShep's renegade voice comes across as though it might damage the Normandy with the sheer weight of all the shits it doesn't give, FemShep sounds all too often like a bullied young woman taking revenge and trying to force a badass veneer over it.

Mark Meer all the way. His 'lack' of emotions (i wouldnt agree in 100%) is IMO far more natural coming from a fucking ELITE COMMANDER IN SPECIAL FORCES. Hale puts too much feelings in it. it aint romeo and juliet.

Jennifer Hale is a better voice actor, but I can't stand her voice in Mass Effect for some reason. So as far as ME is concerned, Mark wins. But other than that he's not a very good voice actor. He sounds kinda flat and unconvincing at times.

The general consensus seems to be Mark Meer does a better job as a renegade Shepard whereas Jennifer Hale does a better job as Paragon shepard.

In the multiple play throughs of both ME1 and 2 and playing as both male and female Shepards I found myself enjoying Jennifer Hale's performance more. I can't put my finger on exactly why or what made one more enjoyable to me than the other (both are good in their own rights as has been said before) but I just prefer Hale over Meer.

So yeah, I voted for Jennifer Hale.

I just hate the male Shepard. Its not his quality of voice acting, which is Bioware level great, its just him. He's just such an asshole, even if you pick the "good" lines. It just bugs me. I'm one for silent protagonists, because I fill in the lines with my own voice reading them in my head. I want the character to be me, a vessel in which I carry out actions, learn information, and interact with others, and nothing is more of a disconnect than a voice actor you don't like.

I exclusively played BroShep,but I saw plenty of videos of FemShep dialogue. And,to be honest,Hale does a better performance. In both games,her performances felt more believable.