So while Nicole and I were at Myrtle Beach The Beatles: Rock Band made its debut without us.  Nicole was positively rabid about playing it and I had high hopes for the game after reading interviews and updates for months about all of the care that had gone into preserving it as a grand entry into The Beatles legacy.  So, as soon as we got back we ran down to Gamestop and picked up our pre-order.  While I can’t speak for Nicole, here are 5 observations about The Beatles: Rock Band.

1. The setlist is fantastic

Are there a billion Beatles songs available in this game?  No, silly!  That would ruin the opportunity for the inevitable The Beatles: Come Together expansion we’re sure to be treated to once the hype has started to die down.  Actually, Come Together is included in the set list.  However, while there’s only 60-some songs included, it’s The Beatles, meaning save for maybe one or two songs they’re all fantastic and incredibly fun to play through.

2. The difficulty is manageable

For you Guitar Hero fanboys/girls you’ll notice that TB:RB actually maintains the Rock Band difficulty curve quite well.  While expert is no cakewalk, it’s certainly easier to handle than many of Guitar Hero 5‘s tracks.  In fact, for people who just want to enjoy the music all the way through regardless of how bad they suck at wielding a plastic axe, there’s an included no-fail mode.  Now the whole family can enjoy no matter how inept Dad is at curling his fingers around a plastic musical instrument while he rocks out to Helter Skelter.

3. The production values are epic

I’m not even joking.  I used to think the animated cut-scenes in GH3 were cool, but TB:RB pretty much makes Guitar Hero its bitch in the production values department. There’s plenty of eye candy in the menus, between sets, songs, and at the end of the game that are positively jaw-dropping if you’re a Beatles fan.  Even if you’re not a Beatles fan the veritable feast of visuals is almost overpowering, especially in the Abbey Road Studios sets where The Beatles enter very vivid, trippy ‘dreamscapes’ whilst playing their instruments and performing.   It really is amazing to watch even if you’re just on the sidelines and have a respect for the music.

4. Artistic changes were not made lightly

I rarely read instruction manuals because A) I’m awesome and B) nary a game gets released nowadays that doesn’t put you through the obligatory, coma-inducing ‘here’s how to not suck ass at this game’ introductory tutorial.  The only reason I cracked this one was because I was curious if there were any special notes left by the devlopment team regarding the collaboration with Paul or Ringo.  As fate would have it, there was a very nice note from the developers near the back of the manual explaining that every facet of the game’s presentation, gameplay, and most importantly, music was very carefully reviewed with Paul, Olivia, Ringo, and Yoko.  Seeing a hype-machine of this magnitude actually backed up by a solid product that was crafted with passion by its creators (and their evil overlords) really made me all warm and fuzzy inside.

5. It really is at its best with 4 players

At some point or another we’ve all belted out Twist and Shout whether we were on our morning commute, watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, or sitting at home alone in our underwear and a conductor’s hat on a Tuesday morning taking an ill-gotten sick day and playing with our model trains… uh, but anyways, it’s much more satisfying to really enjoy the music with 3 friends playing guitar, bass, drums, and singing all at the same time.  Sure this isn’t a new idea, but TB:RB is just so well presented and playing as The Beatles is an absolute blast and a fantastic new way to experience the music for die-hard fans.

Nicole and I will discuss this further on our podcast tonight, but suffice it to say if you’re on the fence about this one, I can say with confidence that Beatles fan or not you’ll definitely have a great time with this.

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