The Beatles Rock Band

Rating:

Reviewed by:
Gerasimos Manolatos

Price: $59.99 (game only), $99.99–$249.99 (instrument editions)

The Skinny
Hello? It's The Beatles. You know who they are. You know their music. You've seen the myriad of commercials that use their music to hawk products. Now prepare for the British Invasion of your video game console. Moptop extraordinaires Paul, Ringo, John, and George offer up over 40 of their classic hits for you and up to five other wielders of plastic instruments to bang out.

The Good
When MTV announced that they were dedicating a whole new Rock Band game to The Beatles, we broke out the ol' shark and lamented the days of "one rhythm game to rule them all." After playing through the final product with the instruments available in the limited edition bundle, it's clear that we had just experienced something special.

In short, while Guitar Hero: Metallica or Aerosmith were okay in their own way, they are put to shame by the package Harmonix has put together, namely a solid helping of The Beatles music catalogue. There is no "bands inspired by" filler content to be found here; just pure unadulterated hits from the band's romp through Britain and The States in the mid to late 60s.

Special video montages pull you through the various venues made iconic by a visit from the Fab Four, like Shea Stadium and Abbey Road, and punctuating every song are unique background graphics that are simply amazing. For example, play "I Am the Walrus" and you'll see the band members dressed up in various animal costumes with some creative uses of colors that add some pop to the whole visual experience.

If that's not enough to get you on board, there are dozens of never-before-seen photos and videos that narrate some key points in the band's creative careers, like accidentally discovering artificial double tracking.

Overall, this is a suitable celebration of a once-in-a-lifetime musical act.



The Bad
You may be a few decades removed from Beatlemania, but ask your father about what he knows about the boppin' Brits and he'll tell you where all the "coming together" and psychadelic elephants nonsense really came from: pot, LSD, and the professional groupies that followed them on tour. (Most notably, one Ms. Yoko Ono.)

Unfortunately, playing through The Beatles Rock Band is like experiencing a Jonas Brothers concert filled with flying unicorns, pink clouds, and colorful cotton candy. In other words, The Beatles' image has been scrubbed clean of anything that may have raised red flags to the more conservative audience of today, even if the band's drug use was behind some of their greatest hits.

Speaking of hits, with a massive catalogue of over 180 iconic songs at their disposal, it's hard to chide Harmonix for leaving out specific songs. That said, it's silly to think that tracks like "Hey Jude," "All You Need Is Love," and "Let It Be" were left on the cutting room floor. Heck, they're even in Chase credit card commercials! Why force you to wait and pay for DLC for some of the band's most popular songs?

Don't get us wrong—the game does an exceptional job of giving you a taste of Beatles lore. But with a semi-lacking setlist and a Disney-ification of the band's history, you'd do well to grab The Beatles Anthology along with the game for the true Hollywood story.



You're So Special
The limited edition bundle includes a drum kit with a faux kickdrum branded with The Beatles, a microphone and stand, special Beatles post cards, and a replica of Sir Paul McCartney's legendary Höfner bass guitar. If you're at the point of using plastic drum kits and guitars as apartment furniture, skip the 250-dollar price tag and just use your older instruments—they work flawlessly!

Buy, Rent, or Disembowel
Buy. The 250-dollar price tag is a bit much for the limited edition bundle, but even with its obvious faults, the standalone game is a worthwhile use of your unemployment funds.