The Beatles: Rock Band by Michael Mullenix With the competition putting out games based around the careers of legendary bands such as Aerosmith and Metallica, Harmonix finally steps into the ring with a definitive killing stroke and delivers The Beatles: Rock Band. The rise of The Beatles marked the beginning of a revolution in the music world and with the remastered re-release of their discography, a Rock Band game is a crucial ingredient for the band’s ultimate experience. For the person with a moderate comprehension of the band’s music and life this game is an inspiring synthesis of their career set against some of the most entertaining visuals found in any video game this year. For the ultimate Beatles fan, this game will provide love-letters in the form of unlockable special content and bonus videos. From top to bottom the game shifts Beatlemania into overdrive and provides an extensive tribute to the biggest group of the past century. The game’s core feature is Story Mode that hand guides you through the major events and critical years of The Beatles. The mode starts off in the Caverns Theater in Liverpool, 1963 with the first hits the group ever recorded. Play through the initial tracks, such as "Twist and Shout" and "I Saw Her Standing There" in order to progress to the next venue.
The venues include their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, Shea Stadium, and their rooftop performance on top of the Abbey Roads studio. The experience is streamlined, but obviously more interested in coming off as a pseudo-interactive documentary than in previous installments of Rock Band. While it ultimately doesn’t hurt the final product or the intended goals it has set, it does strike against the element of customization that has been a staple of Rock Band since the first game.
In place of the custom set lists in previous titles, playing through every song in a chapter unlocks the ability to play the chapter challenge. The challenge consists of playing the same songs, only without a break in between and in the exact order they appear. The most interesting venue, and a highlight of the game’s visuals, is the Abbey Road Studio, which covers the three years the Beatles did not perform for any crowd. Being that the Beatles never toured these albums and the songs themselves don’t lend themselves well to a live setting, the creative team at Harmonix have crafted an entirely new and creative world that emerges in each song, blended from iconic imagery of the Beatles' work. In "Yellow Submarine" for example, the setting soon shifts from the recording studio to the bottom of the ocean and then onto the legendary Yellow Submarine itself. For "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts’ Club Band" the level opens up on a sun-drenched gazebo where the band has donned their Sgt. Pepper’s outfits and is playing for the park-going crowd.
As the song fades into" Little Help From My Friends," the gazebo has sprouted a hot air balloon on top and is now floating into the sky, while the clouds form the lyrics of the song. The song draws to a close only to return the group to the now seemingly mundane recording studio. "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" may not employ the same concrete visuals, but I feel that saying the game is on LSD during this song is a rather moot point. Sure, it pulls the attention away from the fret board, but the scenery demands it, so make plans for a second go-around on most of these songs.
The only new gameplay mechanic featured in Rock Band Beatles is the new three-part harmony. A selection of songs in the game features the option to allow three singers to come together for synchronized choruses. If you have the two additional microphones needed, the karaoke aspect now seems more social. Aside from that, the game is pretty true to the Rock Band Formula. The fret boards are the same, just slightly brighter, Overdrive is now called Beatlemania, and aside from Story mode it is still possible to play on Quickplay, Tug Of War, and Score Duel modes. In addition, starting in October the game will release additional albums for Downloadable Content starting with the complete Abbey Road album.
Me editorializing: I like this one, if I don’t say it now, you will get the entirely wrong idea. I’ve never been against any game that takes the players through the entire career of a band. It's fun for the fans of the artists, audiophiles, or fans of the games themselves. In these three fronts, the game delivers a stellar package for everyone. If this is the last Rock Band/Guitar Hero ENTIRE BAND’S LIFE AND CAREER, let it be said it ended on a good note. Oh shit, here comes Van Halen, FUCK!