IMO Gamers.Com

This game seems like the perfect fit.  One of the most iconic bands of all time with one of the most iconic music games of all time.  The Beatles: Rock Band brings the music of the Beatles into the world of Rock Band.  This game seems new but very familiar.

The formula is the same, you have two guitars, one drum, and singing.  In terms of playing guitar/bass, the note paths are not difficult, but feels exactly right.  It feels like there are not any extra notes placed in there for difficulties sake.  Drumming is surprisingly difficult especially on some of the later songs.  However, the thing you will want to pick up this game for is singing the iconic songs of the Beatles.  Not every song is here (Thank you DLC), but some of the most popular songs are here.  In addition, one of the newest editions to this game is harmony singing.  You have the lead singer, but you also have the option to add two additional microphones to allow for the harmony parts to be sung.  It is not required, but it does add an added depth to the Rock Band experience and is something that I hope that add to Rock Band 3 in the future.

In terms of song selection, you cannot get any better than the Beatles.  Even if it seems like you haven’t heard the song, you have likely heard it or have heard somebody else cover it.  Thankfully, they are also original tracks so you can turn the Beatles up while you try to drown out your singing.  They also work the song selection beautifully into the story mode that goes through the major points in the career of the Beatles.  You can tell through the presentation of the story of the Beatles that it was handled with the up most of care.  In times where the story was going through exact locations, like the Ed Sullivan Show, it beautifully recreates those moments.  In other times where the story was going through moments that would typically be boring in a music game, like the Abbey Road sessions, they create some of the most visually stimulating graphics to tell the story of the songs.

This game, like all of the Rock Band games, can still use the instruments from Rock Band or Guitar Hero.  The game is also available with the special instruments for The Beatles: Rock Band, but I do not feel that it is worth picking these up since it will be a lot cheaper to use your current plastic instruments.  If this is your first time playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band, pick up Rock Band 2 bundle and pick up The Beatles:  Rock Band.

One of the other inexcusable things with this game is it is not transferable to Rock Band 2.  While I understand it is the Beatles, this is coming dangerously close to other music games that do not allow the transfer of songs between games.  I would honestly pay $15 to transfer these songs to regular Rock Band 2 just to prevent myself from changing disks during parties, etc.

Overall, I would say this game is a no question purchase for people who are fans of the Beatles.  This is a collection of some of the greatest music around.  Plus it has enough extras with pictures and videos of the Beatles to make it worth your while.  If your not a fan of the Beatles, you may be asking whether this is a necessary purchase.  However, even if you are not a fan of the Beatles, this game has enough new additions to still make it worth picking up this game.