First, I’m going tell you that I was never into the Beatles, or any music for that matter. As such, I’m often seen as an outcast in that regard and I had little interest in The Beatles Rock Band when Harmonix announced the game. However, many of my friends are huge Beatles fans, so I came up with the brilliant idea of grabbing the title a week after release and my Rock Band set, thus, appeasing them and boosting my popularity. Essentially, it’s a pyramid scheme to get me laid, but now is not the time for that. After playing through the game I’m less of a non-believer.

The game opens with an LSD-centric animation showcasing the Beatles’ most popular songs. Then you can jump into Quick Play and play through the game’s 43 songs from the outset. I convinced my comrades that the songs weren’t available and we had to play through the story in order to unlock them—suckers! The story chronicles the Beatles’ humble beginnings in Liverpool, England to their touring of the United States, to their recording sessions at Abbey Road. After playing the previous Rock Band games, I’m relieved that the Beatles takes on a more relaxed, linear approach that the original Guitar Hero games did with their career modes. Also, there’s less pressure to succeed because you don’t have to worry about losing fans or making less money if you fail a song. All of the stuff that makes Rock Band’s World Tour mode so overwhelming for me is gone. Also the story can be completed in no more than three hours.

Despite the streamlined career mode, the game retains the Rock Band formula for gameplay of guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. Playing on Easy automatically enables “No Fail Mode” for that player, and it can be turned on when playing in Quick Play. The one major addition to this entry is the integration of two-part or three-part harmony when one or two more microphones are plugged in respectively. Assuming you can find people who can sing harmony, it’s great, but even if you can’t, it still lets more players get in on the action if the other members aren’t quite adept at playing and singing simultaneously. The songs also aren’t that difficult compared to other Rock Band games. I often found myself getting 100% while playing guitar on hard, despite knowing little or nothing about most of these songs.



After completing the story, you can go back and take on the challenges, which are essentially playing through each set list without breaks between songs. As you’re doing this, you’ll be unlocking photographs that feature information on the band’s career, as well as behind-the scenes videos. Even with all of that said and done, the game is short-lived and you’d only play it again whenever guests are around or if you have the urge to play Beatles music. The title also features its own set of DLC. Simply put, you won’t be able to import Beatles music to Rock Band or vice versa.

The game does take a unique approach with the visuals during the songs. You’ll see digital renditions of Paul, John, George, and Ringo that sort of creep me out their countenance. I made a joke about how the “Sgt. Pepper Beatles Rock Band” issue of last month’s Game Informer had the Mario Brothers on the cover, but no one thought it was funny. When the story gets to Abbey Road, the “dreamscape vision” scenes dominate the background and sometimes you’ll simply want to watch these scenes instead of playing. The videos included with “Yellow Submarine” and “I Am the Walrus” are two of the highlights in this regard.



Each track is a master recording, so Beatles fans will have much to appreciate from this game. Another key thing is when you use the whammy bar on the guitar; it doesn’t make that god awful sound distortion, which is much welcomed. It makes me hope that future Rock Band games will give you the option to turn off distortions.

Coming from someone who isn’t into the Beatles, I’d probably say rent it or at least don’t pay the full $60, unless you’re a die-hard fan or you often have friends and family that are heavily into the Beatles visiting. It’s definitely a gateway game for non-gamers much like Wii Sports. I definitely prefer the core game design of this title over the previous entries, and that definitely makes up for my lack of interest in the source material.

4/5