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Music acts that deserve their own 'The Beatles: Rock Band'...
Developer: Harmonix (“Rock Band 2”)
Publisher: MTV Games/Electronic Arts
Available On: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii
Reviewed On: Xbox 360
In theory, a Beatles version of “Rock Band”—or a Beatles version of “Guitar Hero,” for that matter—shouldn’t work. As previous “Band” and “Hero” installments have shown quite conclusively, pop music, like the kind the Fab Four made in their early days, just isn’t as much fun to play as rock music in these kind of games, since simple melodies and predictable time signatures don’t make for challenging gameplay.
So how does “The Beatles: Rock Band” end up being better than its should? By finding the complexity in their early tunes, and by emphasizing their later, and somewhat rockier, tunes.
Much like “Guitar Hero: Aerosmith,” the story mode in “The Beatles: Rock Band” chronologically follows the Fab Four’s career. Except that by doing so, the game doesn’t start off strong if you’re playing guitar, bass, or drums, since such early tunes as “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “I Saw Her Standing There” are such simple pop tunes that there’s nothing challenging, and thus engaging, about playing along with them.
Thankfully, things get way more interesting about a third of the way through the story mode, when we get to the point in the band’s history when they spent more time in the studio than on stage. It was then that the band’s music got more complicated, both melodically and musically, and the complexity of such tunes as “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band/With A Little Help From My Friends” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” makes them more challenging, and thus more fun. And things get even better when the band put a bit more muscle into their music on such rockin’ tunes as “Revolution,” “Get Back” and especially “Back in the U.S.S.R.”
The exception to this early period/late period disparity is the singing. While the music of The Beatles’ early pop tunes was elegant in its simplicity, their vocal harmonies were deceptively complex, making them more fun to play than your average karaoke tune. Further complicating matters, the game actually supports up to three mic controllers, in case you and your friends are stupid enough to try and replicate the three part harmonies of such songs as “I Wanna Hold Your Hand.”
But while “The Beatles: Rock Band” is better in practice than it was in theory, it’s hardly perfect. Forty-five songs may be par for the course with these kinds of band-specific music games, but it’s still a bit thin. (In the near future, players will have the option of adding the albums “Abby Road,” “Revolver” and “Sgt. Pepper's”... for a fee). There are also some glaring omissions—“Hey Jude,” “Yesterday”—but unless the game included every Beatles song ever recorded, no one would ever be happy.
Still, we do like how, as with Metallica’s and Aerosmith’s respective “Guitar Hero” installments, the game does dig deeper into the Beatles’ catalog, going beyond the requisite hits to also include such relatively lesser known tunes as “Boys” and “Hey Bulldog.”
Oh, one note for those wondering about the controllers: you can use whatever “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero” controllers you already own. Though if you don’t have any, or just want Beatles-looking ones, you can get a replica of John Lennon’s Rickenbacker 325 or George Harrison’s Gretch Duo Jet guitars for $99.99 each, or a limited edition bundle that includes the game, a Paul McCartney’s Höfner Violin bass controller, a Ringo Star’s Ludwig Pearl Finish drum controller, and a mic controller with a mic stand, all for $250.
Bottom Line: Though flawed, you’ll still get blisters on your fingers from playing this game so much.
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