‘Mad Max’: Is He Losing His Aussie Roots?

Is Mad Max losing his Aussie roots in the upcoming game?

The three Mad Max films we’ve seen thus far starred Mel Gibson, an Australian born actor, and were directed by Australian director George Miller. The first of the films had won the Guinness record for being the most profitable film in decades, and kickstarted the popularity of Australian New Wave films. Mad Max is buried in Aussie culture like a baby kangaroo in its mother’s pouch.

So it came as a bit of a shock when a behind the scenes visit for the upcoming game Mad Max revealed a voice actor for the main character without an Aussie accent. Avalanche Studios had replaced the accent with the almost-clicheed tough-guy growl that American films have made popular due to films such as Watchmen, Escape from L.A., and The Dark Knight.

At least the scenery of the wastelands of the Australian Outback seem to be intact, but taking the Aussie accent away from Mad Max could be like an insult to the film trilogy’s roots.

Avalanche Founder and Chief Creative Officer Christofer Sundberg addressed the issue:

“We treated this as a completely new property. And that was really the only way for us to take on a licensed game.  It’s the first licensed game we’ve ever taken on. And we wanted to treat it like an original IP. The setting – where it is in the world – has really nothing to do with the Mad Max video game. It’s really a game to do with the relationships between different people in this world.”

In other words, Avalanche Studios has decided against making it a direct movie tie-in and simply used the character as a template for something completely new. They are apparently aware of the curse surrounding the connection between movies and video games and are going out of their way to ensure it doesn’t happen this time.

However, changing the accent could still anger some of the more hardcore Mad Max fans who might consider it sacrilege to mess with the character’s Aussie roots. Avalanche is hoping you won’t take offense in light of making a game you want to come back to for years to come.

How do you feel about Mad Max no longer having an Australian accent?