Title: The Beatles: Rock Band
Publisher: MTV Games
Developer: Harmonix
Platform(s): PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii
Release Date: September 9, 2009

BUY!!

The Beatles is one of the few bands that have never been included in digital media. Many of us couldn’t believe the announcement when Harmonix stated that they will be creating a musical game with Apple Corp. The Beatles: Rock Band was born and many of us played it and every press event we could. Microsoft Game events, E3, PAX we waited in line and played when we could. It was just recently when Harmonix sent us a copy of the game, that I got to see what The Beatles: Rock Band experience really would be like.

The opening cinematic gives you a good idea of what the art style will be in the game. The art style used is brilliant. Harmonix wanted to create a hyper-real rendition of each band member. The backgrounds are colorful and bright. One might want to watch the backgrounds because they are so visually interesting, but as interesting as they are, they don’t get in the way of gameplay. One of the most interesting aspects of the artwork is when they use picture clips of the stadiums, fans, and the Beatles. It gives you a glimpse as to what it really was like as you travel through their story.

Harmonix sent over a wireless microphone for the Xbox 360. For the purposes of the review I used old hardware. Only our hardware has taken a beating, so we went out and bought GH World Tour equipment and an extra Guitar. All of that hardware worked perfectly with The Beatles: Rock Band. While it would be nice to have the exclusive instruments like, John Lennon’s Rickenbacker 325 guitar, Sir Paul McCartney’s trademark Höfner bass, and George Harrison’s Gretsch Duo Jet guitar, a gamer on a budget uses what they can. I also discovered that the Lips Microphones work perfectly with The Beatles: Rock Band which is nice for having extra mics to do harmonies with allowing more people to get into the game. Another nice feature is that up to three mics can be used with just one controller.

I choose to jump right in and start with the Story Mode. Story Mode takes you though the 45 songs from an early gig at the Cavern Club to the rooftop concert at the Apple Records building. At first the goal was to unlock songs for quickplay, but that need is gone as all the songs were unlocked in Quickplay and organized by difficulty. For the review, I sang and played Guitar and Bass. I didn’t play drums because, well I suck at them anyway and it wouldn’t be fair to judge the game on something I can’t do. In Story mode you unlock theater extras, photos and the movie clips before each section. After most sections you also unlock a challenge which gives you access to more photos. There are quite a few achievements for number of photos collected.

First thing I noticed with gameplay was how clear the hud was for the particular area you are playing. For example, if I am playing guitar, bass or drums, the notes and area that the notes come down are very clear. The background is very colorful at times but it doesn’t interfere with the gameplay.

Fundamentally, the gameplay is the same but there are some added features to add some challenges. Singing harmonies is something that can be difficult to get used to and it really only works if you have enough people for the extra mics until you get microphone stands. Which is something we’re seriously considering because singing The Beatles songs are just as much fun as playing them.

Added features to gameplay is the ability in the game settings to set Super Speed on which increase the speed that the notes come down. Turning on Realistic mode gives one the authentic experience of playing with screaming girls in the background. I was surprised at how loud this was particularly if you are in a solo! The final mode is for people that really have chops because in Performance mode you can turn off all the hud and you just play. Probably best for singing unless you’ve already memorized the guitar/bass/drum notes.

I tested multiplayer locally for my review. Unfortunately we couldn’t test any of the online experience until after the game comes out for everyone. So look for me on Xbox 360 (GamingAngel) on 9/9/09. In local multiplayer we had a range of people from hardcore Beatles fans, to people that have only heard a few songs. We had an interesting turn out. People seemed to love playing and didn’t want to touch singing. While most everyone had fun playing along, we couldn’t convert the one person that had never played Rock Band and didn’t know much of the Beatles.

Song selection is really great with a mix of well known classics and songs that people may not have heard of. Personally I felt that 45 songs is too short of a setlist. The story mode experience ended too soon for me and it was a weird feeling when you didn’t unlock more songs. I know future DLC will add to that experience, and I’ll pick up every one.

The sound of the Beatles Rock Band is amazing. Any Beatles fan is going to want to pick this up to jam to their favorite songs. If you aren’t a Beatles fan, I still recommend Beatles Rock Band because you may be amazed at how many songs you really do know. I didn’t think I knew a ton of their songs but playing through the game I realized I had heard more of their catalog then I thought. Also, I am now a true believer in that everyone should be exposed to The Beatles music. The lyrics, styling, music it’s just incredible. The added experience of seeing pictures and traveling through their story helped me experience The Beatles in a way I had never before. They were truely the best rock and roll has had to offer.

The Beatles: Rock Band is one music game that everyone should pick up. It’s challenging as a game and also amazing to listen to as a Beatles or music fan. Harmonix worked with many other companies such as Apple Corp, EMI, MTV Games to create this unbelievable game which could have been a hot mess with that many people involved, but Harmonix created a great product that is going to create Beatles fans for years to come. What a great way to celebrate awesome music.