Best performance of 2024 –

2024 was a bit of a strange year for game achievements. We didn’t really have a standout, narrative title that seemed to win an awards ceremony like God of War: Ragnarok, The Last of Us: Part II, and instead many of the frontrunners this year focused on play rather than being a cinematic experience. Astro Bot, Metaphor: ReFantazio and Black Myth: Wukong certainly feel like they are in the realm of video games rather than trying to be more. But even if this year was one of play over performance, that doesn’t mean we haven’t had great acting in games.

5. Clive Standen as Titus in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II

Mark Strong left difficult shoes to fill after he finished playing Titus in the first Space Marine game, but Clive Standen more than lived up to the challenge in this year’s sequel. Playing a Space Marine is difficult because you can’t really immerse yourself in the emotion of ordinary human characters, a performance can come across as wooden or trite, but Standen manages to make Titus really feel alive, even without going big and broad in his performance. He is understated, but not emotionless, and you get the sense that behind all that duty and honor there are layers of Titus waiting to be peeled off.

4. Richard Lintern as Igon in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

I really like Messmer’s voice actor Jack Barton because I believe he gives one of the most compelling demigod performances in the entire game, but nothing can beat Igon’s monologue. The first time you hear “CURSE YOU, BAYLE” rip through the arena as you take on the dreaded dragon, you feel like you can beat a hundred more Bayles as long as you have Igon behind you. It’s a bit of a meme, but Lintern threw everything he had into the voice recording booth to make Igon, the tragic NPC who cemented his place in Soulsborne’s history.

3. Kazuhiro Nakaya as Ichiban Kasuga in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

I don’t know about you, but I’m someone who likes to play a lot of games in their original language. I usually don’t care if I can’t understand it and am fine with reading subtitles, and I think this allows you to get the purest performance possible, especially in the case of something like Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Kazuhiro Nakaya has done an incredible job bringing Ichiban Kasuga to life, in what may be his strangest and longest adventure to date.

2. Humberly González as Kay Vess in Star Wars Outlaws

As the star of a brand new Star Wars adventure and the first open-world game set in Star Wars, Humberly González had a lot of pressure to join this franchise, but she knocked it out of the park with her performance of Kay Vess. Gameplay thoughts aside, González proved she was more than capable of creating a unique and interesting character in a universe that so desperately needs one.

1. Melina Juergens as Senua in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

It’s hard not to see Melina Juergens’ period as Senua as something beyond what we expect from video game performances. By really breaking through the idea that all it takes to perform in a video game is to sit in a cubicle and read lines, Juergens has become her character in a way that few do. Without Juergens, there is no Senua, not in the way we know here, and so she deserves the recognition she gets, even a nod from Harrison Ford himself, despite saying her name incorrectly.