Jason Isaacs voices a baddie in Baldur's Gate 3

You know, Zhukov from The Death Of Stalin

Professional villain Jason Isaacs will voice a character of questionable morality in Baldur's Gate 3, developers Larian announced today at Geoff Keighley's Level Up Pool Party. The English actor who played Star Trek: Discovery's Captain Lorca, Marshal Zhukov in The Death Of Stalin, and a whole load of other baddies has now lent his voice to Lord Enver Gortash, the creator of magical clockwork watchmen. Ooh it is a good voice.

Gortash is the one who looks like he's hoping to pack in his management consultant job and become a professional freelance Dungeon Master running sessions from his lavish games room. Stained dark oak panels, hanging candelabras, mood lighting rig (including strobe) with foot pedal controls, hidden sound system pumping area-appropriate soundscapes, shelves of leatherbound tomes, a table with built-in remote-activated hidden compartments which pop up to reveal items and bonus dice to players, a display of hand-forged swords sharp enough to kill (he tested on a bottle of Pepsi Max), straw scattered on the floor, he's got it all in the suburban four-bed he owns.

"After the recent disappearance of Duke Ravengard, the city of Baldur's Gate has turned to Lord Enver Gortash, the up-and-coming designer of the Steel Watchers – magical clockwork warriors created to defend the city," a press release explains. "As the newly-minted protector of Baldur's Gate, Gortash stands as one of the most powerful figures within its walls."

With the city embroiled in a power struggle, Gortash will be "a major antagonist to be contended with as you venture into the morally gray alleys and docklands of the game's sprawling city." I can't see anything going wrong with a powerful figure trying to create some sort of robotic cop in a troubled city.

"It was a thrill to join the Baldur's Gate universe but I fear that the magnificent Lord Enver Gortash is being mischaracterized as a villain," Isaacs said. "In a brutal world of betrayals and butchery, he's learned to lie better and backstab first. The joy in voicing him - apart from the obvious pleasure in getting to look so glorious - was that the creative team and I got to play loose enough to find ways that he could enjoy the ride and make the players hate him more!"

Baldur's Gate 3 has another famous professional villain in the form of a necromancer voiced by J.K. Simmons. You know, the fella behind Portal 2's Cave Johnson, Spider-Man's J. Jonah Jameson, the white supremacist gang leader in Oz, and so many more great and horrible baddies. I look forward to hearing all these excellent villainous voices.

Baldur's Gate 3 is due to launch in full on the 31st of August, after almost three years in early access. Even unfinished, we've said it's one of best RPGs to play right now. Me, I'm waiting for version 1.0 before touching it.

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