Hands-on: The Beatles Rock Band

Posted on 15. Jul, 2009 by Mark Cullinane in Featured, Hands-on impressions, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360

“If you look at the band members, you can see that they’re actually smiling and enjoying themselves”, said John Drake, producer with Harmonix, at the Beatles Rock Band press event in London this Tuesday.

Be a Starr

It seemed like a throwaway comment at the time, but after some serious hands-on time with a 90% complete build of the company’s upcoming title, it quickly became clear that while this is every inch a Rock Band game, it’s also a title with an irrepressible feelgood vibe, and an infectious enthusiasm that somehow, unexpectedly, manages to capture the spirit of the band’s music. This is due in no small part, surprisingly enough, to the game’s vibrant visual approach that eschews the dark, grumpy aesthetic of other games in the genre. But more on that in a moment.

You could be forgiven for groaning when you heard that Harmonix, MTV and EA were releasing a standalone Beatles-centric edition of Rock Band. I certainly did. The rampant success of the plastic instrument/ rhythm game combo has resulted in a saturation of titles, special editions, expansions, sequels, DLC and more sequels, that have resulted in a pretty drastic loss of goodwill amongst many gamers. The frankly irritating and abrasive Activision CEO Bobby Kotick’s bald admission a few months ago that Activision were prepared to milk Guitar Hero for all it’s worth in 2009 smacked of the worst excesses of greed and only compounded the increasing sense that gamers were being taken for a ride.

What a nice surprise, then, to see that even though The Beatles Rock Band is a blatant attempt by MTV and Harmonix to grab a slice of what is still a pretty lucrative market, this marriage of a big gaming brand and an even bigger music brand is a meticulously crafted love letter to the legendary Liverpudlian group.

Here comes the sun

One of the most immediately obvious features of the game is the new visual style, which is nothing less than arresting. Both previous Rock Band and Guitar Hero games sported a dour, grungy look- with poorly-lit sets, angry-looking rock stars and a general rough n’ ready aesthetic that put off as many as it charmed. The Beatles Rock Band could scarcely be any different. Producer John Drake told us that the subject matter enabled the Harmonix art team to liberate themselves from their previous art direction- and it is clear that the heretofore untapped potential of Harmonix’s visual prowess is unleashed in this title. The representations of the legendary Cavern Club, Abbey Road studio and other famous Beatles locations are clearly, painstakingly an beautifully constructed, with an attractive blend of realism and stylised graphical design that is leagues ahead of previous efforts.
Although the background action in games like these never really amount to anything other than fancy visualisations, the vibrancy of both the beautifully rendered and animated Beatles and their surroundings makes this feel fresh and new- some feat indeed, considering that the core gameplay remains largely identical.

One of the most interesting examples of the fresh visual approach is the ‘dreamscapes’ concept. While the first half of the game focuses on the band’s rise to fame in their touring period in the early to mid 60s, the second half of the title is all about the group’s Abbey Road studio days in the latter half of the decade, where the group created some of their most timeless, original and experimental work. For these songs, like Here Come the Sun, I Am The Walrus, and Octopus’ Garden, the background imagery takes a turn for the psychedelic, with beautiful dream-like sequences inspired by the lyrics and feel of the songs taking the place of the bare recording studio.
They look and feel great, and the idea is demonstrative of the strong sense of reverence and respect that Harmonix have for the source material. They also make the title feel less like a lazy cash-in or expansion pack for Rock Band 2 and more like a fully-fledged standalone title.

And what of the new instruments?
Unsurprisingly, the title is being released alongside guitar and full band kit bundles. Yes folks, new licensed guitars and drums, in the design of those used by the Fab Four. As if pre-empting the inevitable criticism of yet another barrage of plastic instruments, Drake told us that there is no compulsion to invest in the new kit- and that while Beatles collectors and brand new players may be interested in the full set, the full compatibility with other Rock Band and Guitar Hero instruments mean that those using old controllers won’t be missing out. Drake also conceded that the new instruments are just reskinned versions of the Rock Band 2 controllers in any case.

Gameplay wise, veterans of the series will find that Harmonix haven’t tinkered too much with the formula laid down in the original Rock Band and then refined for the sequel. The major new gameplay feature the developers are touting is the addition of three part harmonies, bumping the maximum number of simultaneous players to six. Once again wary of the considerable hardware expenses involved in getting the full Rock Band experience, Drake was at pains to note that your existing microphones from the likes of the PS3’s SingStar, Xbox 360’s Lips and other USB microphones will work just fine with the game. In practise, it’s a nice new addition but hardly a revolutionary one- how often are you going to get six people in a room playing the game? Still, it should appeal to the casual, karaoke-friendly audience the title is clearly gunning for.

Indeed, accessibility is a constant refrain from the game’s promotional material and the Harmonix and MTV reps. It’s clear that all parties involved see this title as appealing to a much wider audience than previous entries in the Rock Band series. From the
simplified visual cues and the easy-to-navigate menus to the quickplay mode that has all 45 on-disc songs unlocked from the word go, it’s clear that this is intended to appeal to a more casual audience than other iterations of the series.

Harmonix made it clear that they have major plans to extend the game through the provision of downloadable content, starting with the entire Abbey Road album and a (timed exclusive) Xbox Live release of “All You Need Is Love”. The worrying trend for additional content to be made available for download immediately upon release notwithstanding, those itching for more than 45 tracks will be well served by Harmonix for some time.

If you’re not a fan of the genre, or of the group, then The Beatles Rock Band is just another guitar/drumming/singing game. Harmonix certainly have not set out to reinvent the wheel with this title. But what could so easily has been a cynical cash-in for EA, MTV, Apple Corps and Harmonix is actually a really good and well-produced cash-in.
After a series of tiresome Guitar Hero spin-offs, focusing on niche bands like Aerosmith and Metallica, the likes of which were already staples of the franchise anyway, The Beatles Rock Band demonstrates not only that Harmonix are the true kings of this genre, but that by creating a thoughtful, reverent and frankly joyous tribute to one of the greatest and most influential groups the world has ever seen, they should have a bone fide hit on their hands. On the basis of what I played, Harmonix’s delicate tightrope-walking between appealing to existing Rock Band fans and the potentially huge audience of Beatles fans means that the success will be not only assured, but deserved.

Goo goo g’joob indeed.