First music game review....Beatles Rock Band!

Ok, haven't done any music game reviews yet, and really for good reason. They are all kind of the same, have been since Rock Band busted on the scene about two years ago. Now Guitar Heroes and Rock Bands and Band freakin' Heroes and whoseewhatsit, theres been an absolutely ridiculous amount of music games that have came out in the past two years, and ESPECIALLY this year. Frankly, theres been toomany. You had Guitar Hero Metallica in the summer time, and yeah those guys had some jams in the 80s, they probably deserved their own game after all these years (as long as they kept most of the newer stuff out of there), but then the onslaught began - Guitar Hero 5 like a month later, then freaking Band Hero, and here at the end of the year, Guitar Hero Van Halen (and c'mon...did that even really need to happen? The answer is no). But the one standout, at least for me, and for a few other critics if I've done my research right, was Beatles Rock Band. Now HERE is a group that truly deserved their own game. I'll put it right out there first before you get much further...The Beatles are my favorite band of all time. EVER. In my humble (humble but AWESOME, and therefore RIGHT) opinion, there was no band like them when they came out, and there never will be again. They did some mind-blowing things and some of their songs are even considered to be the first songs to start an entire GENRE ("Helter Skelter" is often regarded as the first heavy metal song), and they were a band that truly evolved on each record. They were incredible, and their music is timeless. If a band like that DOESN'T deserve a game, then I don't know what band does.

But this is, after all, a video game review, because thats what I'm in the business of doing here. It isn't supposed to be a long diatribe about how great The Beatles were and are, even though I could probably do an entire blog about that. For example, I think John Lennon is the biggest musical genius of the past decade. I'd even put him up there with Beethoven. This is just to give you an idea that, if you hadn't figued it out yet, this review is going to be a little bit biased. But anyways, so on to the game. Theres a picture of the amazing intro right there, and what an amazing intro it is. To be honest with you, I was moved the first time I saw it, I was in awe. I was skeptical of how exactly they would handle the glut of songs that The Beatles had and if they would just do some lame cop out (like a lot of the Guitar Hero compliations did and what they DEFINITELY did with *shudder* Rock Band: AC/DC) and just smash a bunch of songs on the disc. Most of those fears were immediately put to rest when I saw the few minutes long intro. It encompasses much of what the Beatles music was about - from the early days where they were essentially the first boy band, to when they started getting surreal and otherwordly, to the end of their career where they truly went out with a bang by having one final jam session on a rooftop. An epic beginning for a truly epic band. So I was sold on the intro, but you may not be. As with any music game, the main question here is the song list. Does it work, are you getting your moneys worth?

The answer is, for the most part, yes. There are some songs that should have made it in here and some of their omissions are kind of unforgivable (really guys? No "Happiness is a Warm Gun"? No freaking "Yesterday"? Thats probably their most popular song for Gods sake!), but whats here is pretty great. Helter Skelter is in there. Alot of the great songs from Let It Be made it. There are a few too many songs by the "lesser" Beatle, Ringo, but can we really be upset about that? Because Ringo was one of the producers of the game, of course he will want himself to be well represented. But really "Octopus' Garden" is a song that probably should have remained dead, and "Yellow Submarine" can just stay in our childhood memories, I don't need to be banging out that song on some plastic instruments in my mid-20s, I'm too old for it (even though yes, it IS about drugs), and frankly so will most people that buy this game be too old for it. But thats ok, because theres a lot of good in here too. There isn't a World Tour mode or anything like Rock Band 1 or 2 has, its more of a Guitar Hero like progression because you've got a little over 40 songs to play through and they are split up between eras of the band.

Heres a few more pictures of what some of the in-between eras cut scenes look like. It's very well done and a nice slice of what The Beatles were all about. I don't really think I need to go over the graphics here, because anyone who has played a Rock Band or Guitar Hero game basically knows what they are getting themselves into. If you haven't played one, well, get with the program first of all, and second, its just a big wall of notes that fall progressively toward the bottom of the screen, and its your job to either strum the guitar when the lines hit the bottom, bang on the drums, or sing the note the way the game wants you to if you are singing (which is probably the most fun part of Beatles Rock Band). This one adds a new game mechanic which is another example of how they went and above and beyond for this one - it introduces harmonies where you can plug in two more mics and those two people can back up the lead singer. This is an awesome idea, and its also DIFFICULT. A friend and I tried to just do harmonies and it is TOUGH because you are so used to singing the song a certain way. This adds some replayability to the title however and is something that I hope we see in other Rock Band games, although I'm not sure how well it would work with like, EVERY song.

You might have seen me mention that the singing is probably the most fun part of Beatles Rock Band. It really is, because of the harmonies, because some of the great lyrics that Lennon and McCartney (and Harrison too, he was great as well!) came up with, and just because its damn fun to be singing some of these old classics that nearly every one will remember. It's also the most fun because the rest of the instruments are kind of easy. Yes, guitar is hard on a couple of songs, but not many. An expert from Rock Band or Guitar Hero 3 (in my opinion the toughest one so far) can come through and blaze through all of these songs. I've also had more than one complaint from a drummer. "It's too slow! There isn't enough notes for me to hit!" are common. This isn't to say that some noob won't have a rough time with the game, they will. But to veterans, this game is cake. And thats kind of a bummer, but might not really be the developers over at Harmonix's fault - Ringo wasn't a very complex drummer. Not to say he was bad - he was much like Meg White in The White Stripes - he was an absolutely perfect addition to the geniuses that he was playing with. He just wasn't a magician on the drums, nothing wrong with that. So there you have it, the singing is the best part of Beatles Rock Band, and while this game has some tough songs (of course Helter Skelter is tough, along with Come Together, some other greats) its nothing an expert won't be able to take down easily.

So what about the fun though, the lasting appeal? Well thats where this game delivers, and kicks other games asses that are less fun. Did that make sense? Who cares, point is, this game rocks. You tell me you don't have a big ol' smile on your face if you are singing the lead vocals to "With a Little Help from my friends" and you are playing with some good friends. There is some great, timeless stuff on this disc, worth every bit of the price of admission. Much like all the Rock Bands, it should be played with friends, but it has a pretty good offering of stuff to do by yourself if you want to brush up. There are trophies for getting 1,000,000 points as a guitarist, bassist and drummer, and you can five star all the songs as a singer for extra bonuses, and there are extra challenges galore. This one will keep you busy for a long time if you really love music games.

So what to do with this one, who to recommend it to? Well, I am biased, but frankly, everyone in the world should play this game. But then, I think that everyone in the world should listen to The Beatles. And ALL of The Beatles I mean, not just the old boy band stuff everyone knows like "8 Days a Week", "Hard Day's Night", "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and other stuff, but their entire catalog. You've heard the saying "This movie/game/awesome thing has to be seen to be believed", well, The Beatles need to be heard to be believed. If you are a young person and don't know much about them and have a passing interest in Rock Band, go buy this game. If you are an older person who doesn't know much about these newfangled "videomagames", go pick this up, theres never been a better game to start on, especially since this one is much more beginner friendly than others. I recommend it for anyone and everyone, and if this type of music REALLY isn't your thing, like you are a straight metal head or love the rap or whatever, then at least give this one a look, I promise you you will not regret it. Harmonix (the developers, to those not in the know) have done The Beatles justice with this beautiful game, and the songs will keep coming too, with three full albums already available for you to download and more on the way as I type this up. So that is all, and on to the scores!

Graphics - 8/10. The intro is amazing, the cut scenes are great, and some of the backgrounds while you jam out are nice. Overall though, nothing you haven't really seen on any other Rock Band or Guitar Hero. You got your falling notes and such and your scrolling lyrics, and these games aren't really about the graphics anyways. But the added stuff on this one is truly beautiful.

Sound - 10/10. Obviously much more important than graphics, and where the game shines. The lyrics are represented well, all the guitar, bass, and drums is well represented, and it has an incredible (if lacking some truly high notes in The Beatles career) setlist.

Challenge - 7/10. Can be tough for a newbie, but an expert may complain about some of the songs after a while. I can sing most of the songs on Hard with very little difficulty, and the guitar isn't much more difficult. This is at the bottom end of the spectrum as far as difficulty goes with the music games (where Guitar Hero 3 will probably always reign supreme for me).

Fun - 10/10. You'll be playing this one with friends for a long time. I was honestly moved the first few times I played through all the songs with everyone, something I did four nights in a row when I first picked it up. Playing through the first time is something I'll remember for the rest of my life. It's an incredible experience that shouldn't be missed.

Overall - 9/10. If you have even a passing interest in music games or video games in general, you owe it to yourself to at least check this one out for a while.