The Beatles: Rock Band

After playing through a few of the early songs in The Beatles: Rock Band, a thought occurred to me that should have been obvious before but had eluded me until now... The Beatles were the N'Sync or Backstreet Boys of their generation... they were a boy band. Sure, it's better music (well, at least in my opinion) and they had a long enough career to become more than a boy band, but all the accoutrements of their boy band status are there.

That's really where playing through The Beatles: Rock Band differs from listening to your favorite Beatles albums. The game includes 45 songs (playable through 43 tracks... a couple of the songs are coupled up) that span the band's career (though not their entire catalog) from their early days at the Cavern Club through Abbey Road to their final live performance on the Apple Records rooftop. Its part game, part documentary and that combination lets you experience the Beatles music in a new way. Gameplay is exactly what you'd expect from a game that has "Rock Band" somewhere in the title. Each of the tracks is split into four different parts, guitar, bass, drums and vocals. The one addition to the normal Rock Band gameplay is the vocal harmonies in most of the songs. Now, up to three players can sing the different parts... or, if you're anything like an average Rock Band singer, butcher three different parts.

What really struck me the first time I played the game is the presentation of it. Everything is much cleaner and brighter, which is in line with the Beatles aesthetic. In fact, anything that would have been a distraction from the original music has been stripped away or replaced with something more muted. To activate Beatlemania on the drums(or Overdrive/Star Power for those of you more familiar with the Rock Band/Guitar Hero terms), all you need to hit is a single special crash cymbal when it appears. Gone are the extemporaneous fill sections from the game's predecessors. If you listen really closely, you can hear the slightest "ding" that happens when you achieve another star rating during the game... but you really have to listen for it. It all adds up to as pure an aural presentation of the music as you can get with the clacking away of two fake guitars, the thwacking of plastic drums and potentially three slightly off-key singers.

For the casual videogame players, all of the songs are unlocked as soon as you pop in the game disc but there is incentive to play through the story (campaign) mode. If you're a hardcore videogame player or a hardcore Beatles fan, you can unlock photos and videos that are artifacts of the Beatles journey through achieving higher star rankings on each song. The Beatles weren't really known for their intricate and complex guitar or drum parts, so the more experienced Rock Band or Guitar Hero player can probably pass each song with little difficulty. However, because the songs in the story mode are presented in chronological order and not ordered by difficulty, some players may find themselves easily passing one song and in over their head on the next on the same difficulty setting.

Since the Beatles catalog is limited (for obvious reasons), it's a little disappointing but understandable that there are only 45 songs in the game. There are plans to release new songs through downloadable content, but it will probably take a long time and a mountain of money (from both the licensing and consumer perspective) to get the entire catalog in the game. As it stands, you can play through all of the songs in a few hours.

Rating

"Buy" if you're a huge Beatles fan. This game was made for you. Though chances are if you're a huge Beatles fan, you already bought the game and are reading this review to see if I agree with you.

"Rent" if you've heard a few of the Beatles songs or if you're curious about the Beatles. The Beatles have had such a different sound throughout their career that while you might be familiar with "I want to hold your hand" this game is a good way to experience some of the Beatles songs you haven't heard in tv or movies.

"Pass" if you don't like the Beatles. If you've already made up your mind about the Beatles and their songs, this game won't change your mind. You're better off not playing the game than playing through it like a chore.

Recommendations

Rock Band 2 - It doesn't have the vocal harmonies but on the flip side, you can play songs by bands other than the Beatles.