The Beatles: Rock Band (Xbox 360, 2009)

A trend you're probably seeing with bad reviews would be people complaining that it was too short or easy. I do have to admit, it's easier than any of of the Guitar Hero games or the other Rock Band games. I rented it and it took me less than three hours to beat story mode on hard while getting five stars on all the songs. Sure, they could have added some more songs but I just don't care. The game was just so good that it doesn't really matter to me. Plus, I think the fact that the difficulty level will make this more accessible to a lot more people.

Another thing I've seen a few complaints about are the graphics. Seriously? I mean, come on it's no Call of Duty but the graphics are on par with any of these types of games. To be honest I think the visuals are where this game shines. Just look at the outfits, the sets where they play, the instruments, and all the fans. It's all very accurate and I think that's simply awesome. Also, the visual interpretations of the Abby Road sessions were spot on.

Now, the audio is great, obviously. Granted, there were a few songs I didn't really like but that's a given for almost anyone. One thing I thought was really cool were some of the small nuances such as the sound bytes in the Abby Road sessions of the actual band members and things like the sound effects of the reel to reel and the audio boards. Very cool.

Overall, this was a very fun game to play and I honestly think it was a much better execution than Rock Band 2. There are plenty of songs to choose from for DLC and I that's one thing that will keep people coming back for more. Even if it doesn't take you long to beat it I think there's still a lot of replay value to this game especially of you're a Beatles fan. Think of it this way, you don't listen to a song you like a few times and then never listen to it again do you. I think this game is worth the retail price and is a must for a Beatles fan.

I should note that I only played through the guitar portion so the vocals and drums might add quite a bit of difficulty to the game and I personally just bought the kit and can't wait to give them a try.

We have Rock Band 1 and 2 and I love both of those games but for some reason I find myself to be an even bigger fan of Rock Band Beatles. I tend to lean more towards things being less customizable, so I really like the fact that you don't create a character or band. You just get in there and go. Plus, I can only play on Hard on the two regular games on maybe 1/3 of the songs, but with the Beatles game I am able to play on Hard on all of the songs so it's a lot more fun. I do consider myself a Beatles fan, however only for a few of their albums. I still really enjoy the game even with not knowing most of the songs. Another thing I LOVE about the game is releasing the Beatlemania (aka Overdrive) on drums...you get to play the whole song without the freestyle parts, they just throw the green cymbal in to release the Beatlemania power. Plus, they show the difficulty for each instrument everywhere that you select a song, not just in a "Create a Setlist" like Rock Band 2. I prefer to play on Hard but don't always know if it's a harder or easier song for the instrument I'm playing, so that feature is nice.

Overall I'm really glad we got the game and can't wait for all the complete albums, especially Abbey Road, to be available for purchase to add.

Here's our opinion thus far. My son (age 13) and I (age 51) have been playing Beatles Rock Band on xBox 360. I NEVER usually get involved in his xBox games, but I am a Beatles fan from long long ago and know all of the songs well enough to sing them. It's a lot of fun singing the songs and my family doesn't care if I sound terrible. My son has been playing the drum part. We have no one for the guitar part, so we can not comment on that.

Regarding the vocal component of Beatles Rock Band, it most definitely helps to be familiar with Beatles songs. You can't just sing them any way you want. During a song, there's a crawl along the top that you have to follow that shows the words to the song, how long each note should last, inflections, "yeahs" and "oohs" etc. If you don't follow the crawl at the top, your score will drop. The closer you can sing to the crawl, the higher the score will be. This is NOT just a casual karaoke sing. It's a bit of a challenge, so knowing the Beatles songs ahead of time definitely helps. For each song, there are Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert levels to choose from.

Regarding the drums for Beatles Rock Band, my son had a bit of a problem with them when we first played the game. There's an option in the game to calibrate the drums. Most definitely use that option! It turns out that he calibrated incorrectly at first and couldn't understand why the drumming wasn't working. We had to recalibrate. The resulting numbers were VERY different the second time around, but the drums finally worked correctly.

As I mentioned, we haven't tried the guitar component yet, so can not comment on that fairly.

ALL IN ALL, I WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND BEATLES ROCK BAND. My 13 year old is only a little familiar with Beatles music, but still enjoys the game. If you like the Beatles, you will LOVE this game.

Presentation
A unique experience to be sure, but it would have been perfect with a bit more history built into the Story mode.

Graphics
Stunning and imaginative. The venues are accurate, The Beatles are spot-on and the Dreamscapes are magical getaways from reality.

Sound
The Beatles have never sounded so good. The screams of crazed fans gives a sense of what it was like to play Shea Stadium in the '60s.

Gameplay
The same great Rock Band style, but with the addition of vocal harmonies. Rock Band aficionados may find some of it too easy.

Lasting Appeal
Its biggest flaw is the small library. Though you get 45 great songs, it's still only 45 songs -- many of which are under three-minutes long.

9.0 Presentation
A unique experience to be sure, but it would have been perfect with a bit more history built into the Story mode.
9.0 Graphics
Stunning and imaginative. The venues are accurate, The Beatles are spot-on and the Dreamscapes are magical getaways from reality.
9.0 Sound
The Beatles have never sounded so good. The screams of crazed fans gives a sense of what it was like to play Shea Stadium in the '60s.
9.0 Gameplay
The same great Rock Band style, but with the addition of vocal harmonies. Rock Band aficionados may find some of it too easy.
8.0 Lasting Appeal
Its biggest flaw is the small library. Though you get 45 great songs, it's still only 45 songs -- many of which are under three-minutes long.