Game Review: The Beatles: Rock Band

The gang at Harmonix has done it again. The team behind the insanely popular series of music games known as Rock Band have created a game designed specifically for Beatles fans. Much like Guitar Hero: Metallica and Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, The Beatles: Rock Band takes players on a guided tour through time as they play a wide variety of songs from The Beatles’ catalog in a variety of locations from the band’s beginnings in the early 60s all the way through their more experimental years. Finally, fans can rock out with the fab four.

Unlike the Guitar Hero games that focus on one band, The Beatles: Rock Band does not include songs by any other artists. What you have here is a game that is 100% devoted to Beatlemania. While not every song that you love is going to be in the game, with over 40 songs, Harmonix has made sure that they have included a healthy variety of tracks and the assortment represents each member of the band. The absence of some songs can be a bit of a disappointment since there is a chance you won’t be playing some of your favorites when you start up the game, but when playing story mode, you definitely won’t be bored (the diversity in song selection really pays off).

Harmonix has also promised paid DLC (downloadable content) for the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game, and “All You Need is Love” has been available since the day the game was released. Even though this isn’t a perfect solution, at least there is hope that more of The Beatles’ great tracks will make it into the game.

Visually, The Beatles: Rock Band is the most striking and beautifully rendered music game I have ever played. From the cinematic opening to the performances during the game to the cut scenes between levels, I found myself amazed at how good the game looked. While some levels – like studio recordings at Abbey Road – are not as visually interesting as performing at Shea Stadium or on The Ed Sullivan Show, the game manages to make them fun and appropriate for the music being played. During the song “Octopus’s Garden” in an Abbey Road level, you are suddenly whisked away to an underwater setting while fish and giant rainbow colored bubble letters are flying by on screen. The game is never boring to look at and even the cartoon-styled looks of the characters seem wholly appropriate for the game.

The audio in the game is great and all the songs are of the highest quality, even when mixed with somebody singing through a mic and the crowd going wild, you can hear every word and rock out to the songs you love while you play them.

While some people say that this game should have just been a DLC pack for the existing Rock Band game, I think there is something nice about keeping it as a separate entity. And, if you are willing to shell out the large sum of cash to get the limited edition bundle, you’ll get some pretty sweet instruments with it. The limited edition controllers are replicas of The Beatles’ iconic instruments: John’s Rickenbacker 325, Paul’s Höfner 500/1 Violin Bass, George’s Duo Jet and Ringo’s Ludwig drum kit (complete with Beatles logo). Unnecessary? Yes. The game can be played with any Rock Band controller. However, these “instruments” are emblematic of the attention to detail Harmonix put into The Beatles: Rock Band and they are a very nice addition for the Beatle maniacs out there.

While the lack of some of their better songs is a sad note, I had a blast playing this game from beginning to end and I would recommend this game to anybody who has a love or even respect for The Beatles and their history. I’m giving it 5 out of 5 pot leaves – and if you like the Rock Band series, it’s a must buy.