Just in case I didn’t love The Beatles enough, the music gods and video game gods united to combine their powers to create The Beatles: Rock Band, released on Sept. 9 for the Wii, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Chockfull of incredible graphics, surreal dreamscapes and, of course, amazing music, The Beatles: Rock Band will attract almost every Beatles fan, from the occasional listener to the Beatlemaniac. It will also make new Beatles fans of Rock Band gamers eager to get their hands on the next game, no matter what music is featured.
Before I even started playing, I was awestruck. The game starts with an animated intro, chronicling the band through their various phases. I could say so much about how wonderful this intro is, and how I would have gladly watched it many times over, but it’s something that needs to be seen to be appreciated. I will say, however, that it let me know right away that I would not be disappointed in this game. After picking my jaw up from the floor, I proceeded, ready to rock.
After playing through Story Mode, which chronologically goes through various Beatle venues, starting with The Cavern Club in Liverpool, through The Ed Sullivan Show and Abbey Road Studio, and eventually ending with the concert on the rooftop of the Apple Corps Headquarters in London, I was very pleased with the graphics this game has to offer. The venues are instantly recognizable, it is obvious who each character is and all the band members change with each of their phases, from clean-cut Beatles on songs like “Twist and Shout” to beardy Beatles on final songs like “Get Back.” The only imperfection I can detect is John Lennon’s long locks in the final stage looking a bit more dready than they did back in the day, but, hey, John would have looked good with dreads so this weirdness amused me more than it bothered me.
But where the graphics really excel is in the “dreamscapes,” the background images played during the song. When the band is at an actual venue, you see them performing there, but since The Beatles stopped touring in 1966, many of the songs are performed in the Abbey Road Studio. But instead of a potentially boring background of the guys sitting around in the studio, the production team took this opportunity to illustrate the songs, especially in “Yellow Submarine,” “Octopus’s Garden” and “I Am the Walrus.” These dreamscapes are so fantastic that it is almost distracting. Many times I missed a few notes to check out what’s going on with the digital Beatles behind my note display, but I’m not complaining; these are enough fun to watch that those friends waiting for their turn to play will not be bored.
If stellar graphics aren’t enough, the game also awards photos and prizes for mastering songs. Players can get up to two photos from each song, the first for getting three out of five stars on a song, and the second for getting five stars. These photos come with little tidbits of information, usually about the song it was awarded for. After getting a certain amount of photos, a player is rewarded with prizes, like a rehearsal video from the band’s Ed Sullivan appearance or some audio from a rare Christmas record. These photos and prizes, as well as the in-studio chatter heard in many of the loading screens, make The Beatles: Rock Band more than a game, but also a learning experience. I played obsessively to get five stars on the songs just so I could get all the photos and prizes because I seriously could not get enough of all these neat extras.
The disc offers 45 songs and not one of them disappoints. A few songs are noticeably missing, however, like “Help!” and “Strawberry Fields Forever.” Although I understand why my favorite “Hey Jude” didn’t make the game, I would have loved for “It Won’t Be Long” and “Two of Us” to have been included. Later this year, more songs will be released online, including full ” Abbey Road,” “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “Rubber Soul” albums. For as pricey as this game was, I’d hope to get all these songs with the actual game, but if it’s paying more for the extra songs or not getting them at all, I’ll pay. The makers know this and it’s why they did it.
A common concern for many gamers about The Beatles: Rock Band is its difficulty, or assumed lack thereof. Expert Rock Band/Guitar Hero gamers might find the slow speed of some of the songs to be too easy, but I think that’ll only be a problem for those who don’t like The Beatles at all. The songs are more challenging than one might assume, so the game should still be worth it for Rock Band experts. For those of us who haven’t made it to expert just yet, there is still enough of a challenge in this game. I found that the songs were a lot more fun to play as I graduated from medium to hard, especially in songs like “Here Comes the Sun” and “I Me Mine.”
Best of all about The Beatles: Rock Band is that it has Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr’s blessing. The wives of the late John Lennon and George Harrison also approve of and were involved in the making of the game. The Beatles: Rock Band was even George’s son Dhani’s idea. Dhani and Giles Martin, son of legendary Beatles producer George Martin, also played a huge part in the game’s production. For the skeptic wondering what John and George would think of their music being made into a game, they can play on knowing so many of the Beatles camp gave the game their seal of approval.