So go figure we can't download the Fab Four's music on itunes but we can play as them in a video game. So when I first heard about the concept I have to say I was unsure there was so much that could go wrong and other than a big wad of cash in the producers hands seemingly little that could go right. However as release date crept closer and closer I began to get really excited this is the friggin Beatles after all, how could it possible suck, and it turned out for once my high hopes were justified; The Beatles Rock Band is quite simple one of the greatest games of all time. Now it may not rank on a tradition scale, and so much of what makes the game so brilliant doesn't match the standard critical criteria for a video game review, but we'll get to that in due course.
However we're actually going to start this review by looking at the games weaknesses and criticisms, they represent many of the fears that I had coming into the game. First there is the most obvious concern, that the songs aren't particularly hard, sure three part vocal harmonies are pretty damn tricky but George Harrison will never be confused with Stevie Ray Vaughn and only Paul McCartney's jaunty bass grooves present a real technical challenge. So for those Guitar Hero veterans like myself there's no real nightmarish solos to delve into and this is to be expected. However the true genius of the game is that much like the real Beatles your supposed to be singing while you play, no matter which instrument you play. Of course the songs are so ingrained in our memory that you don't totally have to focus on either the lyrics or the guitar part so doing both is both possible and very challenging and a hell of alot of fun. The real interesting contrast came when I switched from Beatles Rock Band to Guitar Hero 5.I was astonished that even though the guitar hero tracks were far more challenging, the music was just so much weaker. Smashing away on an uninteresting AFI track hardly compares to the musical journey of Within Without You/ Tomorrow Never Knows.
The next major criticism of the game is that it's not very gamer friendly. The Beatles are the heroes not you. And this is true, you can't mess around with anything, when you mess up the crowd don't boo The Beatles, if you do quick play you can't preform I Saw Here Standing There in Abbey Road or Drive My Car on the Apple Corps Roof. Every song must be performed where it was designed. I have to admit they did miss out on a bit of a fun factor here, but, as we'll discuss later the game has been so delicately and perfectly animated that to mess with the formula would be a tragedy. Now the criticism that holds the most weight comes in regard to the song list. There are only 45 tracks on the game, all by The Beatles, and of course some favourites are left out. Realistically it would have been impossible to please everyone, but 45 is rather paltry. I'd certainly argue that the song selection is bang on the money, but making us pay to download All You Need Is Love, Abbey Road, & Srg. Peppers is a bit of a rip.
Now on to what makes this game great! The Beatles Rockband is exactly what Guitar Hero Metallica & Aerosmith should have been; collectors items. The Beatles Rockband isn't just a throwaway to earn a few extra bucks, this is a game that has been made with a remarkable amount care, love and attention. Love is a big theme of this game, you really get a sense that the programmers understood how beloved this band was, and dived head first into the mythology to create the perfect historical document. Now make no mistake this is the saniticised rose tinted glasses history, but it's the right history. There's no deaths of managers, there's certainly no Yoko Ono, and oddly no George Martin. This is a simply story, girls scream, the Beatles become bigger than life, they discover drugs retreat into the studio and live high in the clouds and in their own imagination before coming back to earth for one last gig ontop of Apple Corps. The Beatles who are beautifully animated, are all smiles throughout, Paul and John even dance together in the studio, I've never seen them so happy. They are treated like mythical creatures. now this all sounds a bit much, but it sets the tone perfectly, you feel transported to the sixities, a time of burgeoning ideas and new optimism, a time of social revolution. The sixties will always be the most important decade in modern social history, and this game captures the essence of the period perfectly. The deft touch comes at the end, with the Apple Corps gig, the one moment of sorry, the song selection is sheer genius Dig A Pony, Me Myself Mine & She's So Heavy, its so sombre, it's the one time John Lennon looks truly right. It's a sad ending, an end of an era, a loss of innonence, the end of the sixties and the game designers to their great credit capture the moment sublimely. However, it then explodes into life with a giant elephant flowers, dancing penguins and the sublime choice to give you one last encore, the games hidden track, The End. One final psychedelic fling, rather than ending with sorrow it ends with a simple message "And In The End, The Love You Take, Is Equal To The Love You Make".
This game is sheer joy, the visuals are superb, they captured the artwork, and imagery of the Beatles and the sixties as a whole perfectly, and the intro video is among the best I've ever seen in a video game. Everything is so colour, trippy and shiny. They also manage to switch between realism and psychedelic hallucination perfectly, the contrast between The Cavern in Liverpool and The Octopus Garden is wonderful. It's the child like sense of joy and love that truly carry the game, this is a game that uplifts you and makes you smile. I frequently got distracted from playing guitar because I was taken aback by the rich colours and wonderful animation (or laughing at Ringo's face, honestly it's hilarious). The challenges and DLC give the game great longevity, unfortunately there is no porting of non Beatles songs, this is purely a collectors item, and a tribute, rather than an all purpose game. The extras are excellent whether its the huge collection of rare photos to unlock, the soundbytes from the studio, or the unlockable videos, this is the total package, they've judged everything to absolute perfection, I've rarely ever played a game where everything just feels right, everything is in it's right place.
This is a game of good times and happy memories, when I'm feeling down, or need cheering up, I think I'll stick this game on, I can't help but feel happy and smile playing this game, even if playing the chords to Yellow Submarine is ridiculously monotonous. This is a game with real charm, it's a well considered and perfectly made tribute. Metallica and Aerosmith aren't The Beatles and never will be, but had Guitar Hero put half the effort into those games that MTV Games and Harmonixs put into this one, they'd be all time classic. So The Beatles Rockband is one of the all time great games, it doesn't compare to Half Life or Zelda, you wouldn't even measure it on the same scale, it's something different, different even from Guitar Hero. This is a narrative, a story, a collectors item, and idealised memory, and a key part of Britain and the world's social history. I can't even imagine what the world would be like without this band, and yes just in case you haven't guess the first inductees into My Hall of Fame are John, Paul, George, Ringo & George Martin, The Beatles! This is an experience, not a game.
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