The Beatles: Rock Band (Xbox 360) review "People will no doubt complain about omissions, but the songs on the set list are the ones that best suit Harmonix’s vision for The Beatles: Rock Band. Not only do the forty five tracks capture the band at various stages of their career, but they also serve as a reminder of how special The Beatles were as a group, with entertaining and varied note charts for each instrument. The Beatles: Rock Band is not really about being a guitar hero or a drumming virtuoso because The Beatles weren’t guitar heroes or drumming virtuosos."

When Ringo Starr and Sir Paul McCartney came on stage during Microsoft’s E3 press conference for The Beatles: Rock Band and told the crowd that “the game is good, the graphics are very good and we were great” it was tempting to view the whole event with cynicism. After all, you haven’t really played the game, have you Ringo? Given that we’ve already seen two uninspired titles based around the songs of famous bands (Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Metallica), it was easy to dismiss The Beatles Rock Band as another money-making exercise, designed to squeeze the last few pennies from a worn-out format. However, there’s one very important difference between those branded Guitar Hero games and The Beatles: Rock Band – this particular title was developed by Harmonix.

Unlike Activision, makers of Guitar Hero, it seems that Harmonix still care about the music. The Beatles: Rock Band is an affectionate tribute to the songs and history of a band adored by generations of music-lovers across the globe. It certainly isn’t a half-hearted cash-in. Harmonix has gone to great lengths to celebrate the career of The Beatles, rewarding in-game success with photos, trivia and archive film clips. These are not throwaway extras of the “did you know, George Harrison liked jelly babies” variety, either. Carefully selected material from deep within the Apple Corps archives offers an illuminating insight into the life and times of The Beatles. From grainy snaps taken in The Cavern to videos of the fab four goofing around on their first US tour, this is the sort of material that rewards those who want to reminisce as well as those who want to discover more about the reality behind an iconic band.

This treasure trove of hidden material is more comprehensive than the “extras” section of just about any other title I can think of, and yet The Beatles: Rock Band is no dusty museum. The central attraction is the excellent career mode, which puts you in the shoes of John, Paul, George or Ringo (depending what instrument you decide to play) and takes you on a chronological journey through the 1960s. Each chapter of the band’s career is represented by a certain location, with a set list of between four and seven songs that are associated with that particular venue. So down in the cramped Cavern Club you’ll be performing exuberant early-Beatles tracks like “Twist and Shout,” while in Shea Stadium you’ll play hits like “I Feel Fine” and “Paperback Writer” for hundreds of thousands of screaming girls!

There are forty five tracks altogether. Unlike Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Metallica, which included about thirty of the band’s tracks and then filled the set list up with artists who are a bit like Aerosmith or Metallica, every one of these tracks is a Beatles song. Harmonix has selected a diverse, interesting set list that is representative of the band’s entire career. Well-known hits are combined with popular album tracks as the selection traces the group’s development from a simple Merseybeat band into something much greater. You may even be reminded of a few classics that have faded from your memory over time, such as “Do You Want to Know a Secret,” a lovely little tune sung by George Harrison.

People will no doubt complain about omissions, but the songs on the set list are the ones that best suit Harmonix’s vision for The Beatles: Rock Band. Not only do the forty five tracks capture the band at various stages of their career, but they also serve as a reminder of how special The Beatles were as a group, with entertaining and varied note charts for each instrument. The Beatles: Rock Band is not really about being a guitar hero or a drumming virtuoso because The Beatles weren’t guitar heroes or drumming virtuosos. Fills and improvisations, prevalent in Rock Band 2, are abandoned for the simple reason that The Beatles didn’t do fills or improvisation. Everything about this game has been designed to celebrate the band as a whole, so while there are some terrific individual contributions (Ringo’s singing on “Yellow Submarine,” for example), the overarching emphasis is on team-work. It’s possible, for instance, to have three singers, which makes vocal harmonies and unison bonuses a dominant feature of the game.

Guitar Hero veterans can still show off their skills with an expert rendition of the arpeggiated lead from “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” but their efforts will be one part of a greater whole. It’s unlikely that there will be any fights over who gets to play the guitar either, given how compelling the lyrics are and how fun it is to become Ringo Starr! The Beatles were not a collection of superstar musicians, but they were a damn good band. The Beatles: Rock Band reflects that, and in doing so realises the original concept of a “rock band” better than perhaps any other title in the series.

Ringo Starr may not have spent ages playing Rock Band, but his words at Microsoft’s E3 press conference carry an element of truth. The game is good. Very good. And The Beatles were great. By letting fans become The Beatles, Harmonix have celebrated and preserved the spirit of the band, their music and their history in a way that has never really been possible before. This powerful experience takes the devoted fan on a journey from those early performances beneath the streets of Liverpool to worldwide success at the Shea Stadium and the Nippon Budokan. Then there are the years spent behind closed doors in the Abbey Road studios -- rehearsals and recordings that evolve into “dreamscapes," imaginative scenes that embrace a kaleidoscope of surreal images and pyschedelic colours. You can’t get much more ‘60s than that! “I Am the Walrus” even ends up with Ringo dressed as a walrus! As you progress through the decade you see The Beatles change, both physically and musically, culminating in their iconic gig atop the Apple Studios building in London. And yes, John Lennon’s sarcastic remark about passing the audition is present.

The Beatles: Rock Band is a cultural milestone. It uses the interactive form of video gaming as a means of bringing fans, young and old, together in celebration of the music and history of The Beatles. For some it will be nostalgia. For a few it will be a captivating introduction to a band that they may not be very familiar with. For others… well, it'll just be a whole lot of fun! After all, who wants to read another biography or watch another documentary when you and three friends can actually perform “Can’t Buy Me Love” on The Ed Sullivan Show circa 1964?

Freelance review by Tim Ayre (September 12, 2009) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.