[Review] - The Beatles: Rock Band

[spawn622]

Developed by: Harmonix (PS3/360); Pi Studios (Wii)

Published by: MTV Games

Distributed by: EA Distribution

Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, Wii

Players: 1-6

Rated T for Teen by the ESRB

The Breakdown

Take the already popular Rock Band and mix it with one of the biggest bands in the world, The Beatles. Throw in a developer that absolutely loves The Beatles and you will get The Beatles: Rock Band.

The Important Stuff

Let me preface this review by saying this, it will be a little skewed because I am a huge Beatles fan. From the beginning intro video, all the way through to the very end of the story mode, you can tell Harmonix has the same love for the group as any Beatles fan does. Apple Corps obviously saw this in the developer as well, by giving them unprecedented access to photos, recording studio sessions, and many extras that will be new to fans. The sometimes overprotective owner of the rights to The Beatles franchise also gives Harmonix the rights to allow full downloadable albums, starting with Abbey Road soon after the games release. Keep in mind that Beatles music can’t be legally downloaded from ANY of the download services as of yet, so this is a huge deal for Harmonix.

Harmonix took a definite “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach in the game. The basic structure of Rock Band is still intact here. The only major addition is the 3 part harmonies on the vocals. You can have up to 3 people on one microphone or 3 separate mics. Each person can sing the same part or choose a harmony to sing for maximum points. The lead guitar, bass guitar, and drums are still here and for the most part unchanged. The only difference here is really with the drums. Instead of playing whatever you want on the drum fills, you will actually be playing Ringo’s drum fills. In drum trainer mode you will also learn Ringo’s drum beats.

The track list in the game is outstanding for fans as well. You get 45 songs on the disc and 1 downloadable song available right out of the gate. “All You Need Is Love” is available as a timed exclusive for download on the Xbox 360 day one and all proceeds are donated to charity. In career mode the tracks coincide with The Beatles’ actual career and every minute is a joy to play.

Graphically, the game shows off the love for the property. As you get to the Abbey Road studio tracks, the game seamlessly goes in to what I refer to as the “Dream Sequences”. Instead of the Fab Four just sitting around the studio playing, these dream sequences coincide with the songs. In “Yellow Submarine” you get an underwater sequence that is akin to the actual video for the song. In “Here Comes the Sun” you get to see the guys in a hot air balloon as certain lyrics float through the clouds. The character models are true to life and as you progress through the career, their appearances change accordingly. This is a far cry from Guitar Hero 5’s terrible renditions of artists passed.

With each star you collect in career mode you can gain pictures of some behind the scenes looks at The Beatles. Each picture has a description to accompany it and as you gain more pictures you will gain prizes. These prizes can be behind the scenes videos or audio, as well as some really nice exclusives, such as a look at one of the Christmas cards that the band sent to its fan club members. The card was also accompanied by a recording of the band singing Christmas songs and you get a reproduction of that audio as well. The extras in the game are truly a fans dream come true and will provide replay value to try and get everything there is to gain.

Reaction

As I said at the beginning of the review, I am a huge Beatles fan. I’m sure if you’ve read this far in, you can pretty much tell what my reaction to the game has been. Sure I know this is just Rock Band with a different soundtrack, but it is THE soundtrack to me. The Beatles play the music that I can listen to any time and love it. Harmonix did such a great job and showed so much love to the property.

Graphically the game couldn’t be any more of a joy to look at. The character models, the backgrounds, the dream sequences, and even the extras in the background are all detailed and look exactly like they should. The lip syncing to the music is spot on and looks totally natural. The location graphics are recognizable for the most part. From the Ed Sullivan stage to the Abbey Road Studio rooftop, it’s all here and it all looks great.

The songs chosen for the soundtrack truly do show off The Beatles catalog. Playing Paperback Writer, Yellow Submarine, St. Pepper…The list just goes on and on. I never ran in to a song that I didn’t like to play. Almost all the classic favorites that everyone knows are here, or will be available soon through DLC. There are some more obscure songs that bigger fans will easily recognize, but may draw in a new audience for those songs from people that may not know them. Knowing that Abbey Road, Rubber Soul, and Sgt. Pepper are all coming soon as well as more albums of DLC is also a huge draw. DLC is something that Harmonix has always done well with Rock Band, so I’m sure we’ll see more albums and songs announced fairly soon.

If I am forced to nitpick something in the game, it would have to be the difficulty level. I normally play on Hard. Carpal tunnel syndrome keeps me from playing on Expert for more than one or two songs, so I play Rock Band and Guitar Hero games on Hard and I am normally challenged enough to not get 5 stars on every song. In this case, I was able to 5 star every song on Hard the very first time I played through them. I never had to play a song more than once. I can only deduce that Harmonix did this so you could feel comfortable playing guitar (Lead or Bass) and still play vocals as well. This did give me a sense of actually being a member of the band. Doing both was quite fun and did offer more of a challenge, so I can forgive the rather low difficulty on guitar. Drums, as always, are a challenge for me and I only did a few songs. That said, I did have a blast playing as Ringo. Knowing that I was playing his actual drum beats was pretty awesome.

Overall, I absolutely loved every aspect of the game. The opening video had me grinning from ear to ear and as I played through the game, I found myself wanting to watch the background videos and missing some notes. The tracks chosen are amazing and I immediately purchased “All You Need Is Love”. I look forward to filling up my Xbox hard drive with every album offered for the game. The difficulty will be a turn off for some more advanced players, but playing the game with a mix of people is really awesome and it makes for a great addition to your music game fueled parties. As a Beatles fan, all the extras were a joy to read, watch, and listen through. I can’t say enough how much I loved this game. Due to the difficulty, I can’t give it a perfect score but it is as close as possible for a music game in today’s saturated market.

Ladies and gentlemen….The Beatles!!! I give them a 9 out of 10!!!

Photos via Gamespy

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee135/spawn622/Beatles/Beatles1.jpg

Click here to view the article