The Beatles: Rock Band captures the creative legacy of the Beatles and their music with close attention to authenticity.
The Beatles: Rock Band plays like every other Rock Band game you've seen before, with a few new twists. Players strum, drum, and sing to the respective notes on-screen. Nailing specific phrases of notes powers up the energy meter, which when filled enough, lets the player use Beatlemania (the equivalent of Overdrive in past Rock Band games). The game is also the first to offer harmonizing, where up to three players can sing three different notes to produce a harmony. This subtle change to vocals adds authenticity to the song list, allowing up to six players to play and sing (if you have the proper equipment). It's a fun addition, and while it's not particularly groundbreaking, it adds to the Beatles vibe offered in the game.
Being that this is the first full Rock Band game focusing on a specific band, you really can't get much bigger than The Beatles. The soundtrack takes songs from across the band's extensive catalog, offering earlier hits like the upbeat "I Saw Her Standing There" to the later tracks like "Helter Skelter." The songs themselves don't rely on intricate solos or massive fills; as a result, The Beatles: Rock Band is significantly easier than its Rock Band predecessors. However, the lighter difficulty makes the game much more accessible and rewarding once a song is complete. Also, the songs remain fun to play. The differences in the band's sound over time are clear after you play through the songs on the disc, which sadly, only clocks out at around 45 tracks. Harmonix has delivered full albums like Rubber Soul on the Beatles Rock Band's own music store, but due to preserving the band's image, has not offered any way to export the songs to another Rock Band game or use cross-compatibility to play other non-Beatles-related downloadable content on the Beatles disc. This is a bit of a disappointment, but being that The Beatles are so iconic, it can be understood that Harmonix wanted to keep the DLC separate.
The Beatles: Rock Band has a number of modes that Rock Band veterans will no doubt recognize. You get the typical Quickplay with nearly all of the songs unlocked from the start, so jumping into a quick jam session isn't cumbersome. There are also training modes to learn the ropes of the game and multiplayer modes with the traditional tug-of-war, score duels, and simply being able to play songs with friends over Xbox Live. The new mode for The Beatles: Rock Band is the Story Mode, which is a generally linear collection of songs for the player to play through, unlocking Beatles photos and new songs once other songs are completed. Interestingly enough, the Story Mode acts as a documentary of sorts. You begin with the band at the Cavern Club, gradually working toward bigger venues like the memorable Shea Stadium performance, all the way up to playing atop the Apple Corps building. Playing well through the different songs lets the player unlock photos to view, with enough photos unlocking famous extras like the Beatles Christmas Record. The Story Mode is very well produced, offering a huge amount of Beatles-related content to unlock. However, at about a few hours long, the Story Mode is painfully brief. Unlockable challenges (which are essentially multi-song setlists) extend the gameplay a bit, but it would've been better to have a bit more content in the Story Mode.
The Beatles have become iconic figures since the band was created, and respecting the band's image was a challenging feat for Harmonix. Have no worries, though: the presentation in the game is authentic to the utmost detail. The brightly colored images on the menu screen recapture the art of the times and the unique cinematic sequences mix in actual photography with beautifully-rendered colors and images that Beatles fans will no doubt recognize. Starting a song, the player will see the full band in one of a number of venues. These can range from the legendary U.S. debut on the Ed Sullivan Show or even a transformation of a recording studio to one of the expressive and stunningly designed "dreamscapes." Even the band's in-game avatars follow the same movements and actions of the actual members. This attention to authenticity, respectfulness, and detail in the band's image can't be praised enough. The sound design is what you'd expect from a Rock Band game; great sound quality and plenty of diversity. Even though only a single band is represented in the game, the Beatles have proven that their songs have evolved over the course of their career. Playing an earlier Beatles track like "Twist and Shout" sounds completely different from a later track like "Revolution." The diversity is fueled through the evolution of a band, not through multiple different bands. In short, The Beatles: Rock Band sets the bar for presentation in a music game, paying close attention to the band's legacy and music library.
Pros
+ Excellent amount of authenticity to the Beatles image
+ Songs show the evolution of the band while still being fun to play
+ Superb presentation
+ Nice collection of unlockable extras
Cons
- No cross-game-compatibility or song exporting
- Could've used more tracks
- Short Story mode
The Beatles: Rock Band is easily the best band-specific game on the market today. The track list is a bit lacking, even with DLC, and the Story Mode is over far too quickly, but the moments of grooving to songs like "Revolution" or "Twist and Shout" are simply superb. The presentation is fine-tuned to the utmost detail; whether you're exploring the dreamscapes of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band or simply playing a tune in the Cavern Club, there's a sense of magic in watching or playing along with the Beatles. Offering a huge amount of authenticity to the band's image, while also being incredibly fun to play, The Beatles: Rock Band does justice to one of the world's most legendary musical groups. If you're a fan of The Beatles, this is an absolute must-own. Even if you know nothing about the band (shame on you), The Beatles: Rock Band is a fine way to educate gamers about the band's creation, evolution, and tremendous influence. It lacks the longevity of its predecessors in the Rock Band world, but as a standalone product, it offers a fun and unique musical experience that any gamer should check out.