The news that Keanu Reeves, that angel among men, is set to star in Cyberpunk 2077, got has many gamers wondering: what are the other greatest celebrity cameos in gaming? There have been more than you'd think over the years. That isn't just talking into account games with celebrity voice actors, no. These are games that have celebrities in them in all their glory, both voice and form. Not all of these are particularly good, either. Some of them are from games that are, shall we say, less than perfect. However, these are all memorable. How many of them do you remember?
10 Gary Coleman - Postal 2
Postal 2 is a heck of a game. Amidst all of its wanton chaos, sharp satire, and bizarre moments, there's also this pint-sized badass. He arrives in Paradise to promote his book What I'm Talkin' About, with the mayor subsequently declaring Tuesday "Gary Coleman Day."
Your interaction with him comes in the form of trying to get his autograph, and the queue is extremely long. If you decide to go the titular postal while waiting, you'll find that Gary has a huge amount of health, and a machine gun at the ready.
9 Phil Collins - GTA: Vice City Stories
Whatever you think of Phil Collins' music, this cameo proves that he certainly has a sense of humor. In the mission "In The Air Tonight," you must protect Phil from hitmen at his concert, while he performs his signature song of the same name.
It's an amazing bit of world-building in a series that, at that time, often just used aesthetics rather than actual celebrities for that purpose.
8 Lemmy - Brutal Legend
The oft-forgotten game Brutal Legend is a must have for fans of classic rock and metal. The game features several incredibly famous rockstars, but the best cameo has to be Lemmy Kilmister as Kill Master.
Kill master is a mystical shaman who lives at the top of a mountain, rides a motorbike, and wields a bass guitar that can produce a massive sonic blast. It's a cameo that Lemmy must have been proud of.
7 Keith David - Saints Row 4
There's nobody quite like Keith David. The action movie star is a living legend, famed for his appearances in The Thing and Platoon, among many other films. His appearance in Saints Row 4 is now just as legendary to gamers. In the game, after conquering the screen, he went into politics, becoming The Boss' vice president.
He proved to be excellent at this job, and even better at fighting aliens.If you fall head over heels for Keith David, don't worry: you can romance him anytime you want.
6 Snoop Dogg - True Crime: Streets Of LA
If you never played True Crime: Streets of LA, the long-lost cousin of Sleeping Dogs, don't worry, because nor did most people. And that's a shame, because it was a fun game, complete with excellent gunplay and a sophisticated, branching, crazy storyline.
It also starred Snoop Dogg, something that was very easy to miss. The legendary rapper is a hidden character you can unlock to help you take down crimes.
5 Fred Durst - Fight Club
Oh my lord. The Fight Club video game is an abomination. The book and film were both a critique of masculinity, cultures of violence, and teenage-style rebellion gone bad. The game just throws all this away and goes "those fight scenes were cool, right? Violence is great!" Then it adds Fred Durst into the mix. Why? Who knows.
The in-game Durst is a lean, muscular figure that looks like he sprang full-formed from the real life Durst's imagination. It's a fever dream of edgy mid-00s culture, like a darn time capsule.
4 Bruce Lee - EA Sports UFC
For rather obvious reasons, there's no voice acting associated with this cameo, but it's a cool one nonetheless. Bruce Lee was a martial artist par excellence, who molded his body into absolute peak condition.
If he were still alive, he would have made an excellent UFC fighter, and in this game, gamers finally got to see how he would have fared against other athletes at the pinnacle of athleticism. The answer? Pretty darn well, despite being a bit too slow.
3 Aerosmith - Revolution X
Oh goodness. If you thought that the nadir of gaming on this list had been reached with Fight Club, you have no idea. In this game, an evil regime called the New Order Nation has kidnapped Aerosmith, and it's up to you to rescue them. Sound bad? It gets worse: you shoot enemies with CDs. Yeah, really.
Every time you rescue a member of the band, they give you a pair of Aerosmith wings that boost the end of level bonus. Often thought of as one of the silliest cash-ins ever made, it's not worth playing seriously, but for laughs? It's well worth a shot.
2 Ricky Gervais - GTA IV
Going to the comedy club in GTA IV is a memorable experience. It was surreal to see actual famous stand-up comedians Ricky Gervais and Katt Williams performing in game, with pitch-perfect body language and some superb material to boot.
The jokes were typical Gervais fare with some quite shocking lines in places, but they helped establish this world as a real, breathing place. It's one thing to have famous people portraying characters on the talk radio stations, but quite another to have some incredibly animated and well-written stand up performed in front of your character.
1 Hideo Kojima - Metal Gear Solid V
Despite its patchy story and general incomplete feeling, Metal Gear Solid V is a solid title that many gamers love. Amidst its pitch perfect gameplay, you can find Hideo Kojima, the famed creator of the franchise, guest starring in his game. In Ground Zeroes, he's a rescuable NPC in the side op "Intel Operative Rescue."
Once he's been saved in Ground Zeroes, you can transfer his character into The Phantom Pain by using the "Download MGSV: GZ Save Data" option in the main menu!