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| Source // PlayStation |
I'm going to come right out and say it. I'm not playing The Beatles: Rock Band.
I'm not going to hunt down plastic instruments and multiple USB microphones - I don't even know how they'd all connect to the PlayStation 3 anyway. I'm not going to welcome people into my home to join me in clacking and bashing those instruments or wailing into those microphones. I'm just not going to do it.
(Insert record scratch here)
But part of me wants to.
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| Source // PlayStation |
Fun Times
While Guitar Hero was off with Metallica and friends, Rock Band was busy on their own band-centric release, and the first title wasn't just a banger, it was some sort of minor miracle. The Beatles. The actual Beatles. Nothing but The Beatles, because you don't need to pad out a game with inferior content when you've got The Beatles.
And I say all this when I'm in no way a massive fan of The Beatles.
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| Source // PlayStation |
Why have I changed my tune when it comes to Rock Band then, if not for The Beatles themselves? Well, having not played any of it, I can't say that's the reason. The thought of clacking away to mega-hits from these guys is still weird to me, but in skimming through some YouTube footage of the game in action, what I see is something that genuinely interests me.
You see, this is a rhythm game that is as much about letting players enjoy the music of The Beatles as it is about actually educating players about who they were. It is as much a museum piece as it is a game, full of photographs and videos of the band throughout their career, and it is that career that dictates the direction this Rock Band goes in.
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| Source // PlayStation |
Instead of having you feature in your own band, covering whatever songs come your way as you climb the ranks, you are The Beatles, starting as a little local band and blossoming into global musical juggernauts, or whatever expression best fits what I'm trying to get across here.
It's chronological, is what I'm saying, which means the song difficulty curve is all over the place, but the evolution of the band and their musical style can be followed song by song, all accompanied with period-specific background settings and band animation, from dark clubs to grey skies, to drug-fuelled dream sequences, and back to the recording studio to just carry on doing what you love to do.
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| Source // PlayStation |
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| Source // PlayStation |
The gameplay is the same old set-up far too many of you are familiar with, but this time whoever is the lead vocalist can be joined by a couple of backing singers filling in the harmony. That either means 6 players coming together to recreate The Beatles greatest hits and weirdest oddities, or you pulling double duty, like The Beatles themselves - you want to be in a band, right? Wouldn't be playing Rock Band if you didn't want that, surely...
I also get the impression that on the whole, this 45-song long setlist is easier than those found in other games, perhaps in part due to how damn familiar many of those songs are to people. This all results in a game that is as much a celebration and an activity to do with a few friends as it is a challenge, and I think that's a key reason why I've finally been swayed towards some tiny bit of interest.
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| Source // PlayStation |
Final Word
But to be absolutely clear, I've not played it, and will not be seeking out a bunch of plastic crap to allow me to play it, nor ask friends and acquaintances if they have it and want to play it. However, in a hypothetical ideal scenario, were the stars to be aligned and I woke up on the right side of the bed, I would be down for a game of The Beatles: Rock Band.
Does that mean I would be down for a song or two from the Rock Bands and Guitar Heroes of the past? Ehh, let's not jump to conclusions. What helps sell The Beatles: Rock Band to me is how they've been treated within this game, and how their story has been presented, even if you don't get to see half of it, hidden behind fretboards and lyrics.
They are the stars of the show, and this is all about them. They aren't here to be a well-known name on the box cover, this is a documentary in video game form, and I can think of no other set of people who that could even work for as well it does The Beatles.
And I really am not a huge fan of The Beatles. I don't even know most of the songs by name.
Fun Facts
Yoko Ono supposedly gave the developers a tough time on the finer details of John Lennon's appearance, even down to how his hair blew in the wind, but it was all for the sake of letting The Beatles shine in every aspect of the game.
The Beatles: Rock Band, developed by Harmonix, first released in 2009.