Gamers, rejoice! I know it took many months, if not years to recover from Elijah Wood’s tragic exit from gaming as we know it – what, you didn’t know? This is the man who hosted 2005’s timeless, classic gaming program, MTV Presents: The Next Generation Xbox Revealed! Mixing Frodo with Kameo: Elements of Power was essentially my wildest, sexiest dream brought to life, and since that day nothing in the entire industry (or universe) has ever really excited me. That is, until now. Elijah Wood. Is back. And he’s voice acting for Double Fine’s Broken Age.
The news comes via this evening’s VGX awards on Spike, and like most Double Fine-related info it was relayed by lead design guy Tim Schafer. Wood’s voice work will assist in bringing the game’s male protagonist Shay to life, and further fleshes out a surprisingly start-studded voice cast for the game: Jack Black is signed on to contribute, as is Wil Wheaton of Star Trek and Big Bang Theory fame. Though Black’s return is no surprise (he starred in previous Double Fine title Brutal Legend in 2009), Wood’s inclusion is an unexpected and promising treat.
It’s not as if Broken Age needs star power to get by, though – the game looks gorgeous, as evidenced by its teaser trailer released back in March. On the other hand, the game formerly known as Double Fine Adventure did receive — oh I don’t know — $3.3 million in funding via its wildly successful Kickstarter campaign, so I think shelling out some cash for big-name talent here and there is more than within the title’s allotted budget.
Either way, there had better be a character named Sam in the game, because stating the word “Sam” while sporting a frightening look of pseudo-infatuation is definitely one of Elijah Wood’s strengths. Or, they could just face-map the expression from the above image every time protagonist Shay is mildly surprised – I’d be okay with either.