The Beatles Rock Band: My Two Cents

I never try and pretend like I’m the biggest Beatles fan. I enjoy their music quite a lot, but I’m not a raging maniac like my sister is whenever she sees Paul McCartney’s. I can understand why the band was so popular and why it has been put up on such a high pedestal, though. If you can’t, then you’re an imbecile. They were pioneers.

Now, I don’t know if this is just my high from recently finishing it, but if it is that’s completely irrelevant. I’ve played music games and apart from making me feel like a rock star even while I’m standing in the middle of my room in underwear, I never really got anything more from them. Understandably so since these games are designed to do that. Most party games don’t really care if you get a deep emotional response. They’re just concerned with fun, and that‘s great!

What Beatles Rock Band managed to do was not only make an informative tribute to the band, but they also managed to push a few extra buttons. I obviously didn’t cry. I’m a man for goodness sake. Men don’t cry.

No -- what Harmonix did was successfully present players this extraordinary band, and show you why it is that these four talented men are so beloved. Just think about the era that this band came from and how their music evolved. They Pop rock stars that were allowed to be experimental, and you get to witness key points through a rhythm game.

There wasn’t on key design choice that made it all great, though. It was the entire package, The music, the visuals, the way the game progressed. Everything from the character models to the all the littlest of details like the studio audio playing while a song loads. The game just feels like a labor of love. It has soul. It was made passionately. It makes me glad Harmonix were the ones doing this game and not Neversoft. That would have been disastrous.

Sorry for the my blog’s length and quality (or lack thereof) but I just had to say something. It isn’t hyperbole when I (shockingly) say that this has been one of the greatest emotional gaming and music listening experiences of my life.

While I was jotting down my thoughts I came across Deathofthedead's blog. It's similar to mine but vastly better articulated. Go read it.