“Great Britain, a land of dazzling beauty, extraordinary diversity, season after season changes…” But the roaring cars remain. While the weather conditions may vary, the country’s stunning beauty and its wild freedom remain. Well, at least in the latest campaign for the Forza Horizon franchise: “4 Changes Everything”. The name refers to the ever-changing times of the year and invites all fans of fast cars and computer gaming to enjoy the popular game’s new location in—yes, you’ve guessed it right—Great Britain. With a score of over 91% on Metacritic, the game does provide one of the most breath-taking open-world racing spaces and it definitely deserves the grandest of narrators. A voice that would describe every raindrop, every flower, every McLaren speeding through their natural splendour, and season after season. And according to 215 McCann, this is planet Earth’s ‘greatest Britain ever’, well at least that’s what the script says…

The San-Francisco-based agency decided to highlight the game’s impressive visuals and the vast possibilities to drive around the whole open-world with a spot that takes place in a regular recording studio. First, we are blessed with a voice that sounds like a regular voiceover recording session for some British nature documentary. One almost as iconic as David Attenborough… Well, it’s actually the sound of popular Canadian voice actor Maurice LaMarche, who narrates the film and takes us on a hilarious ride through all of Britain’s seasons, while Remember Me’s actor Joel Kelley Dauten plays his deadpan studio director counterpart.

developed by Turn 10 and Playground Games for Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. Its incredible gameplay graphics and breath-taking action take the funny story to new heights, as a swarm of—not bees, but—drivers rush through fields, forests, and even rivers… Driving wherever they wish in their dream cars, across the sprawling pastures of rural Great Britain.  And LaMarche, whose long list of roles includes The Simpsons, Futurama, or G.I. Joe, beautifully delivers a very confident performance worthy of a professional with decades of experience, while declaring he will nail his lines “in one take”.

Yet, the game’s advertisement is nowhere near a Planet Earth documentary, with speeding race cars making their way through a field full of blooming flowers. And that’s a quite surprise for our sweet voice actor, as LaMarche gets quite taken aback as the “magnificent blossoms” get mercilessly mowed down. And this is not the only time the majestic voice gets lost in an imbalance between the wild game and the wildlife.

The actor then struggles some more with words like “multiplayer” or “hooningans”, but we’re not going to more away, as you really want to watch the confused voiceover professional yourselves. The ad introduces the impressive Dynamic Seasons feature, which allows the seasons to change weekly within the game in an open-ended progression system.

The campaign is currently running across the U.S., UK (obviously!), Mexico, Germany, Australia, and France on paid online media, and the game itself will be available on Xbox One and Windows 10 PC starting October 2nd. So, if you like roaming around in insanely fast cars, and not really care for roads, definitely give Forza 4 a go!

CREDITS:

Campaign title: 4 Changes Everything

Game: Forza Horizon 4
Creative title: Seasons of Change

Client: Microsoft Xbox / Forza
Senior Director, Xbox Global Marketing Communications: Taylor Smith
Director, Xbox Global Marketing Communications: Ryan Cameron
Senior Marketing Communications Manager: Jonathan Segall

Agency: 215 McCann
Chief Creative Officer: Scott Duchon
Creative Director: Nichole Geddes
Senior Copywriter: John Choe
Senior Art Director: Shawn Raissi
Director of Integrated Production: Alex Spahr
Producer: Christine Hurty
Director of Business Affairs: Mary Beth Barney
Production Generalist: Carson Bell
Business Director: Peter Goldstein
Account Director: Bryant Marcia
Senior Account Executive: Sam Brody
Assistant Account Executive: Robert Kalish
Director of Strategy: Brian Wakabayashi
Strategy Director: Cassidy Wilber
Strategist: Christian Stewart

Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks
Director: Clay Weiner
Managing Director: Shawn Lacy
EP: Holly Vega
Producer: Lisa Stockdale
DP: Tim Hudson

Editorial: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Austyn Daines
AE: Sebastian Zotoff
EP: Raná Martin
Head of Production: Shada Shariatzadeh
Producer: Amanda Ornelas
Producer: Dina Ciccotello

Visual Effects: A52
VFX Supervisor: Stefan Gaillot
2D VFX Artist(s): Michael Vaglienty, Matt Sousa, Dan Ellis
Online Editor: Kevin Stokes, Gabe Sanchez
Designer: Olga Midlenko
Animator(s): Peter Murphy, Kris Szumowski
Producer: Michael Steinmann
Production Coordinator: Andrew Rosenberger
Executive Producer: Kim Christensen
Senior Executive Producer: Patrick Nugent
Managing Directors: Jennifer Sofio Hall

Color: A52
Colorist: Paul Yacono
Color Assistant: Corey Martinez
Color Producer: Jenny Bright and Sarah Laborde
Executive Producer: Thatcher Peterson

Music Production:  Human Worldwide
“Changes”
Music by Human
Producer: Kamela Anderson
Creative Director: Gareth Williams, Craig DeLeon
Composers: Matthew O’Malley, Craig DeLeon, Jon Hubbell, John Barnes

“Summer Oasis”
Music by Human
Producer: Kamela Anderson
Creative Director: Gareth Williams, Craig DeLeon
Composer: Gordon Minette

“Spring Fields”
Music by Human
Producer: Kamela Anderson
Creative Director: Gareth Williams, Craig DeLeon
Composers: Andrew Bloch, John Barnes

“Fall Hunt”
Music by Human
Producer: Kamela Anderson
Creative Director: Gareth Williams, Craig DeLeon
Composer: John Barnes

“Winter’s Chair”
Music by Human
Producer: Kamela Anderson
Creative Director: Gareth Williams, Craig DeLeon
Composer: Ed Dunne
Recording Studio: Lime Studios
Engineer: Loren Silber
EP: Susie Boyajan
Producer: Kayla Phungglan
Producer: Megan Hernandez

Sound Design: Brian Emrich 
 
Storyboard Artist: Steve Caruthers
 
Gameplay Supplier: Turn 10