The Beatles: Rock Band Review

Written by: Darren Cartledge Posted: 24th September 2009

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Rock Band not being invaded by creepy crawlers, but paying tribute.

The Beatles: Rock Band Details:

	Music
	PlayStation 3/Xbox 360/Nintendo Wii
	Harmonix
	EA

12+

Out Now

1-4

With the Guitar Hero games releasing several versions dedicated to big name bands it was inevitable that Rock Band would soon follow suit. In the spirit of not wanting to be undone Rock Band developers Harmonix turned to one of the most famous bands of all time, the fab four also known as The Beatles.

The Beatles: Rock Band features two main modes of play, Quick Play which allows you to jump straight in, choose a song and play it to your hearts content. Story mode tells the story of The Beatles and sees you playing through set lists from different stages of the bands career. Each of these set lists featured takes place in a different setting, usually revolving around some of there most memorable gigs played by The Beatles. These venues include the Ed Sullivan Show, The Cavern and of course the Apple Corp Rooftop. Not all the songs in The Beatles Rock Band take place in such venues and these songs usually come with a unique, psychedelic video playing behind the note streams. These of course look rather funky and fit to each song extremely well. Of course the game features likenesses of the band, and these change for each song depending on what stage of their career they are from. The likenesses are top drawer with each of the fab four instantly recognisable, despite being slightly caricatured likenesses.

On the whole the game doesn’t really change the formula we’ve seen in past Rock Band games, this of course makes it instantly accessible to anyone who has played the previous game. The selection of songs in the game aren’t the hardest to get to grips with, mainly due to the fact The Beatles weren’t renowned for long guitar solos or intricate drum beats. This of course makes the game slightly more accessible which may open the franchise to people who would normally be put off by music games. For example an older gamer who has a keen interest in the band. From my experience of the game, the lyrics generally provide the biggest challenge often leaving you short of breath as you try to keep up with some of the higher pace songs. One of the few differences in The Beatles: Rock Band however does come in the vocals section of the game, as it introduces 3 part harmonies to the franchise. This effectively allows different players to sing specific parts of the songs and also chorus section at different pitches.

The one area in which The Beatles: Rock Band may disappoint is in its selection of songs. There are a number of there well known hits in the game such as Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, I am the Walrus, Get Back, Twist and Shout and Yellow Submarine. However it may disappoint in this area as other hits you would expect to make up the forty five song track list aren’t present. Tracks not featured in the game include Help and Penny Lane to name but a few, although I expect these will be presented later in the form of downloadable content.

Whilst The Beatles: Rock Band doesn’t make any major leaps or bounds forward for the series, the game does pay a fitting tribute to the band opening up some of their greatest hits to a new generation of fans. Not only that The Beatles may also be responsible for introducing video games to a whole new audience.