Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is set to be released for PlayStation 5 on June 26th, and many of the characters from the first instalment of the franchise are due to return.
Like the first game, simply titled Death Stranding, the sequel uses motion capture to accurately project the likeness of the actors into the game, rather than having stars voice characters who look nothing like them. The main character, Sam, is portrayed by Norman Reedus, and there’s a host of famous faces in the supporting cast too, including Lea Seydoux as Fragile and Elle Fanning as Tomorrow.
But one of the main characters from the first game who will reappear in the sequel is a man named Higgs, and fans are only just realising where they know his actor from.
In the first game, Higgs is the leader of a terrorist organisation known as the Homo Demens, who want to bring about a mass extinction using a godlike being known as an Extinction Entity. He almost always wears a mask, but we do see his face on a number of occasions.
Higgs is played by Troy Baker, and while that name might not seem familiar to you if you don’t pay attention to the credits of other games, you’ve almost certainly heard his voice before.
Troy has an extensive filmography, and if you’ve played a video game in the last 20 years, you’ve probably heard his voice before.
But fans have been left gobsmacked after finding out he also voices one of the most beloved video game characters from the last decade – Joel Miller from The Last of Us. Troy provides the voice in both parts of the game, which was recently made into a hit TV series, and was praised for his emotional performance.
He also provides the voice for the main character Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite, Snow Villiers in Final Fantasy XIII, Batman and several other characters in the Lego Batman games, and Nathan Drake’s brother, Samuel Drake, in the Uncharted series.
The actor even provides voices for online games, including Agent Jones in Fortnite and Loki in Marvel Rivals.
Despite his extensive career, fans of Troy believe Death Stranding and its sequel could well be the actor’s “magnum opus”, as they praised his impressive performance in the role.
The conversation on Reddit prompted several people to exclaim they had “no idea” he was the actor behind some of their favourite video game characters, hinting at just how dynamic his range is.
One person said: “Can you really say Daniel Day Lewis has a magnum opus? The guy is just fantastic in everything he’s in. Not bad, not good, fantastic. Troy is fantastic in everything he’s in.”
Another added: “I didn’t even know he was Joel the first time I played The Last of Us!”
Back in 2022, Troy spoke about what it was like to take on the villainous role of Higgs in Death Stranding, and said he was thankful that director Hideo Kojima put his “trust” in him and allowed him to take the role in his own unique direction.
He said in an interview on the Kojima Productions website: “A huge amount of trust has been extended to me to make choices and to be daring in those choices. It’s the responsibility of Kojima and the team to then shape those choices into what makes the most sense for the story. I try not to edit and self-direct. I just try to go for it and wait for someone to tell me to stop.”
Troy also praised the “work ethic” of Norman Reedus and described Kojima as a “cocktail of controlled chaos and creative genius”.
Death Stranding 2: On The Beach is set to be released on June 26th for PlayStation 5.