‘Master Of Orion’ Adds All-Star Voice Cast To Anticipated Reboot [Video]

The Master of Orion reboot is set for release on February 26, and publisher WG Labs just dropped a voice cast bombshell. Developer NGD Studios and publisher WG Labs have assembled an all-star voice cast that draws from some of the biggest franchises in science fiction, including actors from both Star Trek and Star Wars.

Casting well-known actors in video games isn’t a new idea, and many of the famous voices set to appear in the Master of Orion reboot have already appeared in video games. The remarkable feat, for fans of both Master of Orion and science fiction in general, is the number of big names that WG Labs managed to assemble.

Star Trek is the most heavily represented franchise in the recently announced voice cast. Michael Dorn, who played Worf in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, anchors the cast as the narrator of the reboot. John de Lancie, who appeared as Q in The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager, voices the leader of one of the factions in the game, and Dwight Schultz is also in the mix. Shultz played Reginald Barclay in the Star Trek franchise, but long-time fans will also remember him from The A-Team.

Star Wars is also represented in a big way, with Mark Hamill voicing the emperor of the Alkari Empire, which is one of the factions fans may remember from the original Master of Orion. Hamill is most famous for portraying Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, but he has also earned accolades for his voice acting as the Joker in a number of Batman projects.

Off on another galactic adventure.And what a star-studded cast! I’m the only one I’ve never heard of. #MasterOfOrion https://t.co/1bmRqnXuaG

— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) February 18, 2016

The full list of Master of Orion voice actors is available via a press release from WG Labs. Some of the other big names include Robert England (Nightmare on Elm Street), John Kassir (Tales from the Crypt), Alan Tudyk (Firefly), and veteran voice actor Nolan North (Uncharted).

If reading names on a page isn’t enough, many of the actors cast in the Master of Orion reboot feature in the video that can be watched above. Long-time fans of Master of Orion, and franchises like Star Wars, Star Trek, and Firefly, may want to brace for nostalgia overload.

Some of the franchises represented by the voice cast that WB Labs pulled together for their reboot are the biggest in the genre, but Master of Orion also has a history that stretches back decades.

WG Labs and NGD Studios’ Master of Orion, due out on February 26, is a reboot of a game of the same name that was first released by MicroProse in 1993. The original Master of Orion was an early example of the 4X genre, which is a term that was actually coined to describe it. Gameplay involved exploration of space on a top-down map of a randomized area of space, expansion to new worlds, exploitation of resources, and the extermination of rival players or AI characters.

Victory, in the original Master of Orion, meant dominating your opponents via diplomatic means or military conquest, but there were many paths to victory.

Which path towards victory will you take when Master of Orion comes out? #conquerthestars

— Master of Orion (@moothegame) February 3, 2016

To this day, the original Master of Orion is widely considered to be one of the best examples of the 4X genre.

Burned some time with an old dos game, master of orion 2. Where are my four hours gone?

— mobility at its best (@tr2k) February 1, 2016

According to Nerdist, the reboot is a painstakingly crafted remake of the original, rather than a sequel, and includes the same type of exploration, diplomacy, and space warfare seen in MicroProse’s 1993 release.

Two sequels to the original Master of Orion were released, in 1996 and 2003, after MicroProse merged with Spectrum HoloByte, was subsequently acquired by Hasbro Interactive, and later Infogrames. As previously reported by Inquisitr, Electronic Arts shut down the online multiplayer component of Master of Orion III in June of last year.

Does an all-star voice cast like this, including the likes of Mark Hamill, Michael Dorn, and John de Lancie, spark your interest in Master of Orion, if you never played the original?

[Screenshots via YouTube]