Paul’s an knowledgeable in Videogames, Star Trek, flannel shirts – in that order. For PCGamesN he covers GTA, Arc Raiders, PUBG, and extra.
Revealed: October 5, 2026
It took me all of about two minutes to get whiplash from Star Wars Galactic Racer – and I hadn’t even set foot inside a speeder. Earlier than I begin competing within the Galactic League in earnest, there’s the small process of assembly my staff, which is the place I heard a well-recognized voice in a spot I least anticipated it.
A Scouse bark got here out of nowhere, and it caught me off guard. Liverpool accents are uncommon in video games except somebody is making a medieval affair and desires a number of strains for some peasant shovelling shit. These usually sound like they’re executed by somebody who’s by no means bumped right into a Liverpool accent however thinks they can provide it a go. Fortunately this wasn’t fairly the case right here.
The voice was coming from my mechanic, Hibi. A four-armed Ardennian who’s obsessive about making issues go actually, actually quick, and under no circumstances involved concerning the security of the individual sitting within the cockpit. I wished to know why, so I went straight to the supply and requested Matt Webster and Kieran Crimmins, CEO and Artistic Director of Fuse Video games, respectively, what the deal was with my Scouse mechanic.
“Right here we go” was the very first thing I heard after I talked about that I used to be from Liverpool. Presumably anticipating a barrage of abuse, I solely wished to know… why? The actor who performs Hibi, Lucy Montgomery, is not from wherever close to my neck of the woods, so what is going on on there?
Crimmins seems to be the driving power behind the choice, and he tells me about his connection to town: “So, all my household are from Liverpool, and I grew up up north. My cousin Ian was the one which bought me into Star Wars after I was youthful. So for me, the Liverpool Star Wars connection has all the time been fairly robust.”
The truth that there was an precise story, and an actual connection there may be nice. It is not simply mechanic equals northern equals Scouse; why not. Crimmins continues by saying that Montgomery’s accent and power reminded him of his auntie. “I used to be like, she is so this character. She jogs my memory of [her] a lot that it needed to be the course as quickly as we heard it … I knew that sort of vibe so nicely that it was a match made in heaven.”
To me, Hibi appeared like loads of individuals from my childhood, so it was humorous listening to Crimmings speak about the way it was principally his auntie. She appeared like Margaret from Bootle. Margaret – Maggie to her pals – has been going to Goodison Park to observe her beloved Everton for many years now. She goes together with her greatest mate Maureen, and so they wish to get there early to observe the staff practice with a sizzling cup of tea.
It is not Maggie, in fact, as a result of though she in all probability does exist someplace in Liverpool, there could be little or no cause for her to be on Jakku.
Galactic Racer is nice; it is up there as not solely the most effective Star Wars racing sport for me, however top-of-the-line, full cease. Sure, the speeders are quick, and the roguelike marketing campaign is more-ish, however actually, it is the Scouse mechanic that places it excessive. Subsequent cease: rent extra Scousers for voice work. Let Barry Sloane do Captain Value as a lad from Toxteth, put Peter Serafinowicz in principally something, and let him speak like he used to. Let’s keep away from these chicken-an-a-can-of-Coke impressions, although; I’ve heard all of them earlier than.
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