The Beatles: Rock Band
Available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii
Game Developer: Harmonix (Xbox 360, PS3), Pi Studios (Wii)
Game Publisher: MTV Games
Distributed by: Electronic Arts
Release Date: September 9, 2009
Official Website: thebeatlesrockband.com

Game summary from EA:
"The Beatles: Rock Band allows fans to pick up the guitar, bass, mic or drums and experience The Beatles’ extraordinary catalog of music through gameplay that takes players on a journey through the legacy and evolution of the band’s legendary career. Additionally, for the first time in a music videogame, The Beatles: Rock Band introduces three-part vocal harmonies to gameplay, allowing gamers to revel in the unparalleled vocal stylings of The Beatles."

Review Summary:
The Beatles: Rock Band is a stunning and ingenious romp through Beatlemania. The Rock Band gameplay is basically unchanged, but the art style and psychedelic graphics are perfectly matched with the attitudes of The Beatles members. Although there are forty five songs, I would have wanted even more of the catalog to be on the disk and not offered as DLC in the future. This game, like The Beatles themselves, is not for everyone and if you do not like their music, you won’t like this game. The note tracking and complexity of the game are minimal, not because of lack of quality, but because of the simple nature of the source material. The Beatles: Rock Band is not the most robust music game out there, but does a great job in bringing Beatlemania to video game form.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Read the full review below.

The Beatles: Rock Band Review

When I learned that developer Harmonix and The Beatles were collaborating to create a Rock Band game, it was, in my mind, a match made in musical heaven. Bringing together two parties who strive to creating perfection allowed them both to be happy. I would infer that pleasing The Beatles could have been such a tough process, but that hard work showed in the final product. The game is able to give the player a tour in musical history while bringing a solid music game experience.

The Beatles: Rock Band has 45 songs from various albums throughout The Beatles music catalog. They are complete master tracks from their recording sessions and have a little extra, including the counts to start the songs along with some chatter when they are finished. I believe that it was this that totally brought me into the experience of being right there in the Abbey Road recording studio where they were originally performed. There are eight chapters of the game that involve between 4-7 songs, starting with the Cavern club where they got their start, all the way up to their last major performance from the top of the Apple Corps building. Playing through those chapters only takes about 3 hours total without stopping, but there are a ton of unlockables along the way. Included are some great photos that can be unlocked by getting 3 stars (for the first photo) and five starts unlocks both. After an allotted amount of these, a video of a performance or interview is unlocked. These add to the historical context of the game and are just interesting for any of The Beatles fans.

The songs themselves are great, but the complexity of these is not up to the standard of current Rock Band songs and nowhere near those in Guitar Hero. This also is the same for all instruments, but the 3 part harmonies can add to already straightforward lyrics and instrumental tracks. But, this is not where the game shines. The most important and polished aspects of The Beatles: Rock Band are the visuals and animations that appear during each songs, especially those that played during the Abbey Road chapters. For example, during “I Am The Walrus,” the band is transported to a fantastic, yet totally strange, animal realm. Even The Beatles are dressed up in animal costumes; I couldn't take my eyes off them. This same majestic feeling was brought over me throughout the game and kept me hooked all the way up until the credits.

One of the new features that I loved was the diagrams for the toughness of each part of the song. This would allow me to choose the most difficult instrument to play, therefore preventing me from getting bored playing the least challenging track. I cannot wait for the DLC, but only 45 songs seemed to be minimal compared to other music games coming out this year. I wish there were more songs on the disc, but I can understand working with the biggest band in the history of music could have been tough and compromises had to be made.

As a music game, The Beatles: Rock Band is definitely worth the sixty dollars for fans of the band. For anyone who is unaware of The Beatles songs, or maybe is a casual fan, you could learn a lot about the history of music and listen to a song catalog filled with universal hits. With a great story mode, songs that any music fan knows and an attention to detail that is unmatched in the genre, The Beatles: Rock Band is an above average music game and should be played by any fan of The Beatles, old or young.

The Beatles: Rock Band trailer: