The Beatles: Rock Band Hands-on
- Posted July 21st, 2009 at 09:18 EDT by Eric Blattberg
- 28 Comments
There are very few games we’d describe as magical. Some, like Ico and Okami, immediately spring to mind. Certainly we’d never rank a music game among those sensational few… right?
Wrong. The Beatles: Rock Band transports players to the past—back when a few fellows from Liverpool were rocking the world with their unique and inspirational music. To not only hear and see, but to create that music is undoubtedly a thing of magic.
Harmonix recently invited PSU to Cambridge to check out a build of The Beatles: Rock Band in action. After a quick tour of the studio (click here for pictures), we played all 10 currently announced songs: ‘I Saw Her Standing There,’ ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand,’ ‘I Feel Fine,’ ‘Day Tripper,’ ‘Taxman,’ ‘I Am The Walrus,’ ‘Back In The U.S.S.R.,’ ‘Octopus’s Garden,’ ‘Here Comes The Sun,’ and ‘Get Back.’
Obviously, The Beatles: Rock Band has an outstanding set list. After all, it features solely Beatles songs, which means no more scrolling through the track list to find “the good songs.” Admittedly, the game’s overall difficulty is easier than that of the first two Rock Band titles, but that’s because the Beatles don’t ‘shred.’ Still, those seeking a challenge will find numerous tricky tracks to tackle. Outside of offering support for up to three vocalists—allowing players to recreate those famous Beatles harmonies—most of the base Rock Band gameplay remains unchanged. One small exception: drum fills have been removed, in favor of a simpler system; overdrive is now activated simply by hitting the glowing green gem that appears in place of full fills. Other than that—well, it’s pretty much Rock Band. With The Beatles. What more could you want?
It’s not only the music that makes The Beatles: Rock Band so magical; the creative visual spectacles that complement each song are equally integral to the game’s undeniable appeal. Each member of The Beatles has been faithfully recreated in a stylistically appropriate way. The Fab Four don’t appear too cartoony, nor do they look too realistic, successfully bypassing the uncanny valley while retaining a charming and recognizable feel. Their appearance doesn’t remain static across the entire game, however; their attire and style within each song accurately reflect that point in their career. So John, Paul, George, and Ringo look young and snazzy while playing Lennon and McCartney’s 1963/64 single ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand,’ whereas they look like hippies while performing Harrison’s 1969 hit ‘Here Comes The Sun.’
The venues work much in the same manner as The Beatles’ shifting appearance. The locations on display span the entirety of The Beatles’ career, from their humble beginnings at The Cavern Club to their surprise rooftop concert atop Apple Headquarters, and everything in-between. Some Beatles music was never intended for live audiences, however, and the visuals in those songs reflect that. Instead of playing at a venue, The Beatles are initially shown playing in a studio, but they slowly slip into what Harmonix calls “dreamscapes”—essentially visual interpretations of the songs. The imaginative dreamscapes are funny, crazy, beautiful, and even a bit frightening (we’re looking at you, ‘I Am The Walrus’). Ultimately, it’s like The Beatles: Rock Band comes packed with 45 real Beatles music videos from the 21st century; as a result, simply watching the game is nearly as rewarding as playing it.
There’s no need to complicate the overarching message, so here it is, straight and simple: The Beatles: Rock Band does justice to the best band in the world, and you’d be a fool on a hill to miss it. Be prepared to smile, dance, and laugh come 09/09/09.
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bilbo_bobbins |
bilbo_bobbins- 11:57am BST - July 21st, 2009
- 7
@BlinkyEC
a land where your head is stuck in a very dark place more like.?
The Beatles changed music into something it is today my friend.
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Zolaman
- 12:05pm BST - July 21st, 2009
- 8
@1, of course people still like the beatles. Their music still sells very well, and the Beatles Cirque de soliel show in Vegas is still selling out. Their music is timeless, and many modern-day bands were influenced by their music in some form or another.
The arrogant and self-absorbed comment by #5 reminds us why words like "troll" and "tool" were invented for the English speakers in this world... :D
Looks like a pretty fun party game: Beer, Beatles, and friends!
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congressman94 |
cgdemon894- 1:49pm BST - July 21st, 2009
- 10
@5 you really don't know what you are talking about, they do know more than r chords and yes they are easy, but no one has ever made a song as visual than the beatles.
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BC1973
- 5:50pm BST - July 21st, 2009
- 11
Dont you just love the way people expect everyone else to like the same music as themselves..........The Beatles are and always will be popular it's like everything else it's generational and passes down. I like the Beatles and this is purely down to my dad liking the Beatles and growing up around listening to the music. Surely millions of people can't be wrong. It will be interesting to see how many of the current so called rock acts have a game made about them 40+ years from now...........
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Intervention
- 7:34pm BST - July 21st, 2009
- 12
What really needs to happen to make gamers chill out is to quit making so many stupid wannabe musician games.
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vipergts2207 |
D-Smitty- 6:49am BST - July 22nd, 2009
- 17
Lol at 1 and 5. Duh everyone. We should all be praising Nickelback like these two. That's where the real talent is at. Who cares if The Beatles have a game coming out about them 40 years after they broke up. That's besides the point right?
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Valhalla_96
- 9:35am BST - July 22nd, 2009
- 18
The Beatles are the greatest band ever. o you like Led Zepplin? maybe Metallica? Van halen? Guns and Roses you sa well guess what take all the bands i just listed add up all there record sales and times it by 2 and they still didn't sell as much as The Beatles. The Beatles not only revolutionized rock with songs like Helter Skelter and While My Guitar Gently Weeps, which created the sound that 70s Rock adopted, but it also revoulutionized culter.
and to Sonan if you knew anything about music and chords you would know that George Harrison, the lead guitarist of The Beatles, is probably the greatest guitarist ever maybe only second to Jimi Hendrix. Ringo Star is an unbelieavable good drummer. Paul Mcartney is the KING of base guitar. And John Lennon knew how to play the Indian Guitar which has more chords than you can count.
The Beatles are the greatest band ever.
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vipergts2207 |
D-Smitty- 8:02pm BST - July 22nd, 2009
- 20
HAHA at 19. He didn't deny liking Nickelback. What a dbag lol!
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Valhalla_96
- 8:33pm BST - July 22nd, 2009
- 21
@19 uhhh actually yea it does. here i'll give you a mathematical equation Band + Good Music = Popularity. thats the way it works you can say specifically you don't like The Beatles, hey everybody is entitled to their opinion, but you can't say a band or a musician that has millions of fans and sold millions of records (or in The Beatles case a billion plus records), is bad music.
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Large_Tonberry |
Jon_Bright- 11:10pm BST - July 22nd, 2009
- 23
I lol'd at "Mild Lyrics" and "Tobacco Referance" at the start.
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Valhalla_96
- 2:22am BST - July 23rd, 2009
- 24
@22 i agree with you, im just saying you said "just because someomes popular doesn't make them good." which would imply that popular music can be bad, and that isn't the case because it gained popularity because millions of people like them. you can't honestly say that millions of people are wrong, because there must be something to the music that makes so many people enjoy it. But if you don't like it, thats cool you're entitled to your opinion, but it doesn't make it bad.
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KennyBones
- 9:15am BST - July 25th, 2009
- 26
Some of you ignorant people who think The Beatles is simple music, you need to try to pick up a guitar and play alot of their songs. Even the oldest ones are pretty tough to play.
The thing is, what The Beatles did was revolutionize the way people arrange music and songs.
And one of the things that made their songs so great was the fact that their chord arrangements were somewhat "opposite" of what it normally would be. Or perhaps even "mirorred" compared to what was normal. That's why every song sound so familiar somewhat and is why alot of people misunderstand and think that the songs are easy and that they only play about three chords.This is so wrong. The Beatles's music is so goddamn complex and no-one ever since have managed to write music like The Beatles did. The only one who ever came close (over even over) was Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. His Pet Sounds album is goddamn amazing and the next album Smile, which was never released until 2004 is groundbreaking. Even today.
At the time these people wrote music, melody was in sentre. This is not the case with todays music. Nickelback to name one band (which I am actually allergic to) is a completely talentless band. They are the ones who can only play like three chords and the music is sooo NOT inspiring.
Open up Spotify and hear through the entire Pet Sounds album to be amazed. Really. Don't be judgemental, just start with the first song and work your way through to the last one, without switching at all.
Another thing about Pet Sounds, Brian Wilson could NOT read music. He singlehandedly wrote and arranged everything himself, in his mind. This is extraordinary really. He also had to hum what each instrument should play when the studio musicians was in studio to record. With that in mind, hear the whole album. This is groundbreaking stuff, even today. Speaking as a musician myself. Ignorant people who think The Beatles only knew like three chords, you so dont have a clue. Really.
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zonz
- 10:27pm BST - July 25th, 2009
- 27
um... so the fact that the beatles don't play minor pentatonic scales really fast with alot of distortion means its not music?... right....
First off, you don't have to be from the 60's to love the beatles. I'm 18 and Blackbird is one of my favorite songs ever, along with Something, and Glass Onion, Imagine (although technically that was Lenon so that doesn't count, but the sound is similar) and countless others by the beatles.
Maybe some people who write music have more in mind than making complicated progressions. And even so, the beatles used alot more than 3 chords thats for sure. And the solo in octopuses garden is more musical, although perhaps not as fast and crazy, than nearly anything that metalica plays. Something that is dificult and crazy fast doesn't constitute good music, which is why although the beatles often went for simplicity, they are famous still today.
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HavenAE
- 6:05am BST - September 23rd, 2009
- 28
@ 21
Dude, you're not serious?
Just because music is popular doesn't necessarily mean it's worth anything or even any good. Look at the over-saturation of music we have today. A LOT of it is VERY popular but A LOT of it is also crap.The beatles were okay, I think a lot of why they were so popular was because they were one of teh first few bands to be publicized to such an epic degree, plus the whole hippy things drug them way in. Beatles aren't necessarily BAD but I think people attribute them more for the evolution of music than is fair. Other groups have played just as an important role in the development of music as the Beatles did. Everyone treats them like they're gods but they really aren't.
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