Okay, so firstly, I love the game, but on my second play through (to get the stealth suit which I can't use in my third play through to get the Foxhound emblem), I really noticed the voice acting. And, then I recalled how many reviewers commended it. And so, I need to ask, why?
Firstly, why so many dramatic pauses. About a tenth of the script must be ellipses. At many times, this is like playing Final Fantasy VIII with voice acting. And then, there are the shocked, grunt, interested, or whatever those noises are supposed to be. I am unaware of any human being who makes those noises at any point in their lives, let alone trained military men. And David Hayter emphasising "Liquid" every single time he says it, like suddenly he turns into Ross from Friends and has to over-emphasise every single syllable.
Anyway, as a result of this, the third play through to get pointless badge might be delayed, possibly indeterminably (even if I have to skip most the cutscenes). But, more importantly, MGS4 isn't the worse offender in this regard. XIII has some bad moments. And both of these games are very story driven. Compare them to the work in Uncharted (original, getting around to the new one), Ratchet & Clank, and Stephen Fry's work in LBP, which are all non-story driven, and one has to wonder why video games have to have such over-the-top ridiculous voice acting whenever the story has drama.
Very random rant, but seriously, it makes no sense.