Anytime a band specific music game is reviewed, you have to take one thing into account. Musical tastes differ, which means not all music games are for everyone. That was true for Aerosmith and Metallica, and it's even more the case with The Beatles Rock Band. While other band-centric music games include a few guest acts, this game is all tracks from The Beatles. There aren't even any of the songs from the group member's post-Beatles careers. Notice that "The Beatles" comes before "Rock Band" in the title; this tight focus on the band and not the franchise is clear throughout the game. If you don't like the Beatles, look elsewhere. But for diehard Beatlemaniacs, and even casual fans, there's a great experience to be had here.
It may seem cliche to refer to The Beatles Rock Band as an experience, rather than a game, but it really feels that way. An incredible amount of tender loving care shows in every aspect. From top to bottom, every single menu, graphic, and font is dripping with Beatles flavor. This is obvious from the first time you fire up the disc. The opening cinematic is brilliant, quickly and yet convincingly taking you through the history of the band. We found ourselves unable to skip it, and watched it every time we played the game. The transition videos that play when you clear a new set are not quite as impressive as the opening, but are extremely enjoyable on their own. It's worth playing through the game just to see all the videos, in my opinion.
In The Beatles Rock Band, you don't start a career, you begin the story. Different venues from Beatles history unlock in chronological order. The game starts in the Cavern Club, and follows up with the iconic performance on the Ed Sullivan Show. When you play your first song in this venue, you see a group of people huddled around a TV store window, and the camera zooms in on the screen as Ed Sullivan himself introduces the Beatles; then, the note tracks lay down and you begin. For someone who only heard about this appearance, and didn't experience it firsthand, it was the next best thing to actually being there. After this, the game moves on to stadium appearances before taking you into the recording studio at Abbey Road.
You might think a recording studio is a bit boring for a stage in a music game, but you'd be wrong. The band begins these songs in the studio, with headphones and microphones everywhere. But as the songs sontinue, abstract "dreamscapes" fill the screen. To put it quite simply, these are stunning. The environments are usually related to the lyrics, sometimes even including words in the backgrounds. You play, singing bubbly underwater in a yellow submarine, and flying in the sky, surrounded by countless diamond-like points of light. This is so far above and beyond the norm for other games, it just has to be seen to be believed. At times, I even found myself wanting to stop playing my instrument so I could watch the backgrounds.
I've spent quite some time covering aspects of the game that aren't related to gameplay at all. Usually, I would not do so, but all these things are done so incredibly well that they simply must be discussed. There are dozens of unlockable photographs, trivia, and even behind the scenes videos, including a feature about the ultra-collectable Christmas record. In some ways, these things are the best part of the game, as they are interesting and entertaining. After playing through The Beatles Rock Band, I have a much deeper appreciation for the Beatles, and this is true for my kids as well. My teenaged son told me he could really see why the Beatles were such a big deal after playing. And my youngest boy, after watching a few of the unlockable videos, said "they really are the best band, aren't they Dad?" I suspect that others would likely have similar feelings after spending some time in the game. The developers really put a huge effort and lots of love into the game, and it shows.
Back to the gameplay: the nuts and bolts of the game are based on the Rock Band formula. There are a few minor improvements, such as improvements to hammer on/pull off chords, that have also been patched into Rock Band 2. For the most part, though, the actual gameplay is the same, albeit with a shiny new coat of paint. This is not a bad thing by any means, but I'd like to have seen some of the more co-op friendly features of Guitar Hero 5 included in this game. There is one stellar new addition, a major innovation, and it easily makes up for any of The Beatles Rock Band's shortcomings in this area.
The innovation I'm referring to is three part harmony on vocals. These harmonies are one of the Beatles' trademarks. If you have three microphones, up to three players can sing these different vocal parts. The Beatles Rock Band supports the wireless mics from Lips, so we were able to play around with this a bit. Harmonies are represented by different colored lines on the vocal track. Each singer is given their own scoring information at the end of a song. Obviously, this adds greatly to the feeling of co-op. Strumming plastic instruments at the right time with a buddy is one thing, but actually harmonizing your own voice with to friends' is entirely another. Best of all, harmony parts allow for six people to play the game at one time. This is a major plus for parties where everyone wants to play, but there are only so many instruments to go around. Before the game was released, I didn't think this feature would make too much difference in my enjoyment of the game, but I changed my mind after hands on experience.
While this review has been glowing so far, there are a few negatives that prevent The Beatles Rock Band from being all roses and sunshine. Foremost among these is the lack of compatibility with other Rock Band games. You cannot export these songs to your hard drive and add them to your Rock Band 2 collection. This is true of DLC for The Beatles Rock Band as well. There are technical reasons for this, due to the harmonies, but I can't help but wonder if licensing was the biggest factor in this decision. Another issue with the game is the length. There are a mere 45 songs on the disc, which is quite short compared to similar games. It's more of a quality vs. quantity issue, though, and there are few if any bad songs in the entire list. I was genuinely surprised that some of my favorites weren't included; they were likely saved back for inevitable future DLC. We did not obtain any of the new instruments for review, but they do seem expensive, given the fact that they have nothing new to offer save cosmetic differences.
Really, though, these are very minor complaints. In the area of gameplay, The Beatles Rock Band is a major innovator, with the harmony mechanic. That alone makes it an amazing game. But when you add in the production values, historical significance, and all the unlockable content, The Beatles Rock Band becomes more than just a great game; it's an unequalled overall experience. I don't see how any future band-centric games can hope to compare to it. It may not have the long term, wide ranging appeal of Rock Band 2, but The Beatles Rock Band is the best new music game this year.