Niko's voice.

[Schokoladeka]

I'll be honest. The voice actor did not do a great job with Niko's voice... in GTA V I was more than pleased with the voice/acting part. It was fantastic. But GTA IV's Niko was terrible. I mean at SOME parts he nailed it and was very good but ...damn. Such a shame.

Edited March 10, 2018 by Tengerecki

[Hmmm nice bike]

Are you by any chance Serbian? Personally, I thought Michael Hollick's acting and accent were great, but I know that his Serbian wasn't all that good and seemed to be directly lifted from whatever remotely Serbian sentences that Google Translate would turn English into back when they originally recorded the dialogue around 2006-2007 (and Google Translate was even worse back then), so I can kind of see why someone from there or who's more familiar with the Serbian language would not think it's good acting at all.

 

I think one of the few times I noticed something a bit off about Niko's voice acting was

if you kill Jeff's wife, it sounds like Hollick's accent slips a little bit (and the whole dialogue was just weird, Niko sounded way too cold and happy about murdering some woman). Edited March 10, 2018 by Hmmm nice bike

[Tycek]

I gotta agree with Hmmm nice bike here as I believe Michael Hollick did great job voicing Niko. Sure the grammar of his serbian is atrocious at some points, but it was never that much of a problem to me to break the character. And the evolution of his language through the course of the game, from thick accented barely understandable English "Are you full of crap or what" to normally spoken language yet with still noticeable balkan accent was really nice touch.

 

GTA V may have better voice over, recorder more professionally by skilled actors, but all of these doesn't matter if half of the things characters are spouting are meaningless gibberish.

Edited March 10, 2018 by Tycek

[Magic_Al]

I wonder if Rockstar would have kept the character Serbian if Vladimir Mashkov had taken the role, since although his Serbian character in

was the basis of Niko, Mashkov is Russian. Serbian speakers might not think the result was any better.

[Hmmm nice bike]

I was actually wondering if Niko and Roman would have been Russian had Mashkov taken the role and if they were initially conceived as Russian characters, unless they were always intended to be Serbian and they just wanted Mashkov because of his role in Behind Enemy Lines (and because Niko's look was heavily inspired by 'Sasha'). If the latter is the case, unless he's actually fluent in Serbian, then I doubt Mashkov's Serbian would have been any better than Hollick's.

[Willy A. Jeep]

I always felt like Niko's voice acting was poor in general. I don't know or have much experience with Serbian, but the way he speaks and sounds just... didn't fit the character of Niko or the atmosphere of the game. At first, I thought it might've just been my problem - having a hard time digesting the voice and character as one - but as time has gone on, I've found my distaste for Niko's voice acting has only grown. Decently written character, but Hollick's acting too often slides into an over-the-top, half-effort attempt at making Niko sound a certain way. I think one of the few times I enjoyed his acting in GTA IV was during the in-person interactions between the ULP contact and Niko. Seemed... more tuned, somehow.

[Paisan™]

I'll be honest. The voice actor did not do a great job with Niko's voice

 

 

[Tycek]

for instance, Young Maylay did in case of CJ,

And how come this doesn't suprise me?

[Sonny_Black]

I don't care, for me Niko sounds amazing.

[TheOriginalGunslinger]

Niko doesn't force not so humerous cringy lines down in your eardrums though... For that, he's just a cool ass guy. I just prefer better dialogue tbh which IV's story offers.

Edited March 13, 2018 by Dexter_Morgan

[Piggsy pls]

Considering Hollick was forcing a Serbian accent I don't think he did a terrible job, but yeah not great either. I wish they'd gotten Mashkov, or better yet a Serbian actor to do the role. I do like Hollick's job on Niko's combat quotes, though.

[Sumitaser]

Wait, so who is Niko’s voice actor?

Josh Feinman or Michael Hollick?

[Tycek]

Michael Hollick. Where did you find this Josh Feinman?

[Sumitaser]

IDK saw him somewhere on the internet as Niko’s voice actor

[Bratva Assassin]

I personally think Michael Hollick did a pretty good job voicing as Niko. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even know Michael Hollick was even an American! When I hear Niko’s voice, I always think to myself “That guy ought to be from somewhere in either Eastern Europe or the Balkans just like Niko!” However, Michael Hollick is actually from Brooklyn, New York, but who knows? Maybe he’s of that ethnic origin! I personally think Michael Hollick did such a good job that he should act as Count Dracula with either Vince Vaughn, Chris Pratt, or Josh Duhamel as Abraham Van Helsing in a movie!

[Algonquin Assassin]

On 9/15/2018 at 4:28 AM, ThatBenGuy said:

I personally think Michael Hollick did a pretty good job voicing as Niko. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even know Michael Hollick was even an American! When I hear Niko’s voice, I always think to myself “That guy ought to be from somewhere in either Eastern Europe or the Balkans just like Niko!” However, Michael Hollick is actually from Brooklyn, New York, but who knows? Maybe he’s of that ethnic origin! I personally think Michael Hollick did such a good job that he should act as Count Dracula with either Vince Vaughn, Chris Pratt, or Josh Duhamel as Abraham Van Helsing in a movie!

Pretty much my thoughts too. When I first played GTA IV I had no idea Hollick was American until I came on here listening to all the whining from people that couldn't do a better job themselves. Obviously there are times where he slips up, but I'm no judge how Serbian dialect should sound.

 

The poor guy probably had NO knowledge of Serbian before he was thrown into the deep end.

[GiveMeLiberty78]

For what it's worth, I think the voice acting is good and the Eastern European accent seems authentic, at least at face value. But I have read many topics that Niko is in fact not Serbian. Search Google and you'll find many different threads each with different ideas (except Niko being from Galgamac Prime because we all know he's really from Alpha Centauri, haha!). But here's an interesting IGN thread that debates Niko's origin - the problem is that some people assume Eastern European, or Eastern European accent, = Russian.

Also, this video may be good evidence that he is more likely Croatian, as his expressions translate from Croatian to English. But here is the video that translates his expressions and convinces me that he is Croatian or at least Serbo-Croatian (I have added the expressions and their translations below, for those who wanna read further).

Unless he is Serbian but there's never explicit proof in the game that he says he is. (Vlad calls Niko a serf which is basically a forced labourer/slave tied to the landowner's land, some times people mishear/misunderstand that dialogue.) Maybe the game suggests as points that Niko is Serbian, but for me the convincing evidence that he is Croatian in is his dialogue translated - although there are errors according to native Croatians and Serbians - whilst others suggest he is Serbo-Croatian. Eugh, it is all a bit confusing.

One thing we can all agree on, I think: Roman rightly described Niko as being a "mystery man" - I think for once Roman's not bullsh*tting and actually speaks the truth!

By the way: Why on a GTA Forum can I not type b u l l s h i t t i n g without it being censored? Seems a bit ironic to me!

---

Niko's expressions (roughly translated from this video) which are Crotian according to Google translate:

1. "Seronja" - sh*thead
2. "Ti si idiot" - You're an idiot
3. "Policijski kerovi" - Police dogs
4. "Kreten" - Idiot/Jerk
5. "Dosadan si" - You're annoying
6. "Zajebi" - f*ck it
7. "Zaveži" - Shut up
8. "Ti si patetican" - You're pathetic
9. "Jebi se" - f*ck you
10. "Ti si kreten" - You're an idiot/jerk
11. "Ti si seronja" - You're a sh*thead
12. "Lepa zemlja, drago mi je da ne placam porez!" - Beautiful country, I'm glad I don't pay tax
13. "Šta je ovo?" - What is this?
14. "Ostavi me na miru!" - Leave me alone
15. "Ti si slab i spor, prijatelju" - You're weak and slow, my friend
16. "Glupi Ameri" - Stupid Americans
17. "Zašto radiš to sebi?" - Why are you doing that to yourself?
18. "Oceš da te ubijem?" - Do you want me to kill you?
19. "Koja ti je posljednja želja?" - What is your last wish?
20. "To boli!" - That hurts
21. "Bori se, budalo!" - Fight, you moron
22. "Da vidimo šta znaš!" - Let's see what you know!
23. "Provaj me, budalo!" - Try me, you moron!
24. "Do davla!" - Damn it!
25. "Seronje" - sh*theads
26. "Ovo je sranje" - This is sh*t
27. "Prokletstvo" - Damn
28. "Ti si slucaj za psihijatra!" - You are a case for a psychiatrist!
29. "Jebeno isto" - f*cking same?

Edited September 15, 2018 by GiveMeLiberty78

[Jeansowaty]

He also says "Budala!" which means "fool!" if you hit someone with a car. It always cracked me up.

[Antonio"Toni"Hernandez]

I always thought he did a great job too. However since he's not a native Serbian speaker or a bilingual (I assume he is), the accent he uses may sound a bit strange to the ones who actually speak that specific language. Most of all, as aforementioned, why didn't they hire a native speaker that speaks English fluently too? I don't believe it would be hard to do for the big firms like R*. But, I also think they might have hired him because of his physical appearance or his voice, who knows. 

Edited September 15, 2018 by Antonio"Toni"Hernandez

[GiveMeLiberty78]

16 hours ago, Antonio"Toni"Hernandez said:

I always thought he did a great job too. However since he's not a native Serbian speaker or a bilingual (I assume he is), the accent he uses may sound a bit strange to the ones who actually speak that specific language. Most of all, as aforementioned, why didn't they hire a native speaker that speaks English fluently too? I don't believe it would be hard to do for the big firms like R*. But, I also think they might have hired him because of his physical appearance or his voice, who knows. 

True, I wondered why R* did not just recruit an actual Serbian/Croatian. Out of interest, why might physical appearance matter? I know they used Hollick for the voice acting and motion capture (for animations), but does physicality actually count for anything? Just wondering.

I'm also surprised that the role was turned down. I wonder why, seems like a great oppotrunity.

 

20 hours ago, Jeansowaty said:

He also says "Budala!" which means "fool!" if you hit someone with a car. It always cracked me up.

Aaaah, so that's what the old hag shouted when I sped away in my Sabre GT! I kid, I still drive a crappy Blista Compact around Hove Beach...for now...

Edited September 16, 2018 by GiveMeLiberty78

[Algonquin Assassin]

On 9/16/2018 at 6:19 AM, Antonio"Toni"Hernandez said:

I always thought he did a great job too. However since he's not a native Serbian speaker or a bilingual (I assume he is), the accent he uses may sound a bit strange to the ones who actually speak that specific language. Most of all, as aforementioned, why didn't they hire a native speaker that speaks English fluently too? I don't believe it would be hard to do for the big firms like R*. But, I also think they might have hired him because of his physical appearance or his voice, who knows. 

R* approached Vladimir Mashkov who formed the basis of Niko's physical appearance due to Behind Enemy Lines so it's not like they didn't give it a go.

 

He turned down the role due to a "lack of interest". Bet he regrets it now though. One man's loss, another's gain.

[Antonio"Toni"Hernandez]

12 hours ago, Joker In The Pack said:

R* approached Vladimir Mashkov who formed the basis of Niko's physical appearance due to Behind Enemy Lines so it's not like they didn't give it a go.

 

He turned down the role due to a "lack of interest". Bet he regrets it now though. One man's loss, another's gain.

Didn't know that indeed, never wondered and thus didn't researched upon it. I doubt he would regret it though, actors earn really well compared to other sectors, which means he would always find a job with a high amount of fee. As for the fame wise, how many people would be a hardcore GTA fan to know even the name of the voice actor of a protagonist compared to the people who are the fan of his movies?  

 

On 9/16/2018 at 6:02 AM, GiveMeLiberty78 said:

True, I wondered why R* did not just recruit an actual Serbian/Croatian. Out of interest, why might physical appearance matter? I know they used Hollick for the voice acting and motion capture (for animations), but does physicality actually count for anything? Just wondering.

I'm also surprised that the role was turned down. I wonder why, seems like a great oppotrunity.

As you may notice, not only the protagonists' but all the other characters' voice actors' appearances are reflected to the game characters today. But, why?

 

-It's probably cheaper than hiring two people for the jobs respectively. 

-To convey the personality of the character appropriately.

 

Although, we don't know whether this is the case or not upon the Hollick's case, we just throw some possibilities after all, we know that R* are OCD company - that is they scrutinize things in terms of their games since we have not seen a major bug which drastically affects the gameplay over the years (their QA team really do great) or there are not story wise incontinencies, except GTA III and seems lessons were taken after it. Therefore, that's why I threw this possibility since it's unlikely they wouldn't also think of that. Besides, there is no actual posting for voice acting like other openings, things like that are always kept private and chosen by the responsible department or the person as far as I know. Thus, they should be 2 times more careful when choosing.

 

Apart from all those, if that's true that there are mistakes regarding the expressions, it is not Hollick's fault, it's the fault of either the LSP with whom R* agreed or the one who wrote those dialogues, it may even be possible they used machine translation, which is quite risky since even today, with the help of post editing, there are so many ambiguities they produce, and as far as I know they don't have a full time Serbian or Crotian localization specialist or tester, even now.

[mde2]

11 minutes ago, Antonio"Toni"Hernandez said:

that is they scrutinize things in terms of their games since we have not seen a major bug which drastically affects the gameplay over the years

- Purple Nine's Glitch (III)

- Cherry Popper Ice Cream Factory Glitch (VC)

- Madd Dogg Suicide Glitch (SA)
- Cash removal glitches in GTA V

 
Just a few examples of game-breaking glitches/bugs throughout the series. I know I'm nitpicking one part of your post but just wanted to bring up the fact that no, R* do not always release their games without major bugs and glitches.

[markusizr]

On mission That Special Someone . Niko and Darko little bit speaked russian  and Darko said why(za chto/За что)

[Antonio"Toni"Hernandez]

13 hours ago, RetroMystic said:

 I know I'm nitpicking one part of your post but just wanted to bring up the fact that no, R* do not always release their games without major bugs and glitches.

Not at all, dude, no worries. I meant really major bugs that make the game totally unplayable or always affect the playability of the game like game crashes, some commands do not work or you cannot achieve 100%. We have seen the examples of those shambles in Ubisoft's and EA's games, for instance. 

[Tycek]

21 hours ago, markusizr said:

On mission That Special Someone . Niko and Darko little bit speaked russian  and Darko said why(za chto/За что)

I believe it's the same in Croatian (za chto) and very similar in Serbian (za shta).

[GiveMeLiberty78]

@Antonio"Toni"Hernandez Good point, and yes Rockstar sure do have a good track record albeit some minor problems along the way, but it's a mammoth task to do what they do.

[Compute]

For me, I could always tell it was a fake accent. But it does make Niko stand out more.

[billiejoearmstrong8]

It isn't technically a great Serbian accent but for me the personality and emotion Michael Hollick brought to the character with his voice acting more than makes up for that. As well as the stellar script it's Niko's voice that makes him a charming, witty and engaging character. Plus even if the accent isn't spot on I think it's still pleasant to listen to and does come off as a decent Eastern European accent to a Westerner, it sounds authentic and consistent enough that I never get taken out of the immersion of the game thinking it sounds strange or American or anything. Of course an actor from that part of the world could have made the accent more accurate but who knows if all the other aspects of the voice acting besides the accent would've been as good.

 

I really like it, when I play TLAD or TBOGT or other GTA games and I'm going about the city I miss playing as Niko simply because none of the other protagonists' voices/comments are as entertaining.

Edited December 26, 2018 by billiejoearmstrong8

[Aquamaniac]

They should have taken the big bald guy from the movie "In China they eat dogs" (a movie from Denmark), didn't find a better scene: