Rapper Drake doing Voice Acting for Gears of war 3

Usually when you hear news like this, you expect some sort of hip-hop based game. But Drake is taking his video game debut and doing it big, lending his voice to one of Xbox 360’s most popular gaming franchises. Set to release sometime in April 2011, Drake fans can check for the Grammy-nominated artist in “Gears of War 3″. Overall, the franchise is one of the consoles most successful selling 12 million copies worldwide. In addition, the series has spawned a number of New York Times, best-selling novels, comics, and an upcoming movie.



For those of you unfamiliar with “Gears”, it’s a third-person shooter where players take control of Marcus Fenix, a former prisoner turned war hero. As the captain of Delta Squad, Fenix and company are fighting to save the planet Sera from the unending invasion of the subterranean Locusts. In a war that has raged on for well over 14 years, humanity is being pushed to the brink of extinction. Marcus and his team are fighting a seemingly impossible battle, but the endgame is near and it’s either win or face extinction.

Drake will be voicing the character of Jace, a newcomer to the game, but a central character in the related comic book series. According to the press release, Epic Executive Producer Rod Fergusson knew he was the right man for the job.

“When we began casting for the role, ‘So Far Gone’ had just released, and Drake’s combination of heart and grit was just what we were looking for. Rather than search for somebody who sounded like him, it was clear that we should approach him directly… fortunately he turned out to be a huge fan.”

And the feeling was mutual on the rapper’s end.

“When Epic came to me with the role, I couldn’t pass it up,” said Drake. “They’ve created an amazing character in Jace, and I’m looking forward to my tour in Delta Squad.”

“Gears’ developer Epic Games, can’t let the series finale go out with a whimper, so they’ve made some other additions including four player cooperative campaign gameplay. Quiet as its kept, rapper/actor Ice-T might have inadvertently let the cat out of the bag about his involvement in the game. In a Ustream interview, Ice-T pretty much made the announcement and then attempted to clean it up saying “I didn’t just say that.”

So there it is, a hip-hop legend and it’s newest golden boy are set to start in one of the potentially hottest games of next year. Will you be putting your copy on reserve now or later?