The Beatles: Rock Band Review

 (Originally published to Glitchwave on 11/7/2022)

[Image from glitchwave.com]

The Beatles: Rock Band

Developer: Harmonix

Publisher: MTV Games

Genre(s): Rhythm

Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3, Wii

Release Date: September 9, 2009

Since Harmonix was torn asunder from its parent company thanks to Activision’s interest in procuring the Guitar Hero franchise, Rock Band has always felt like it was competing against Harmonix’s former brainchild. Guitar Hero may have spurred the rhythm game craze of the late 2000s and became an era-defining phenomenon, but Rock Band’s enhanced number of peripherals made the experience a more well-rounded party machine. Guitar Hero was worried that Rock Band’s existence would render the former obsolete. Besides implementing the additional instruments from Rock Band, Guitar Hero started to flaunt its more recognizable brand name and reach out to many legendary rock acts to create games themed around them. Aerosmith, Van Halen, and Metallica are all legendary rock/metal acts with devoted, widespread fan bases with several recognizable songs in the popular music canon. How could Rock Band stand a chance to compete with Guitar Hero after being backed by so many rock and roll icons? Hilariously enough, Rock Band’s retort to Guitar Hero’s posturing was to theme one of their games around THE seminal rock band to end all other seminal rock bands: The fucking Beatles. Guitar Hero hung itself with a bass string upon hearing this.

I don’t think I have to explain why making The Beatles: Rock Band was a game, set, and match for Rock Band over Guitar Hero. As famous and critically respected, all of the band's Guitar Hero sought to commemorate them in the form of a rhythm video game, absolutely none of them hold a candle to the level of adulation and prestige of The Beatles. I speak with no sense of hyperbole when I say that The Beatles are not only the most popular, influential, and celebrated music act in rock music but across all music of the 20th century. Guitar Hero struck gold a few times, but Harmonix discovered some platinum-diamond hybrid. The appeal of a Beatles-themed Rock Band game is obvious. Every living, breathing person knows at least a few of their songs, and their music is accessible to people of all ages. However, I’d argue that the bands featured in their own Guitar Hero games fit more of the rhythm game demographic. FCing “Blackbird” on expert is less likely to impress your friends than, say, “Eruption” or “Master of Puppets.” Featuring The Beatles and their music might be quite the personal accomplishment for Harmonix, but how would their music stack up to the finger-tapping, face-melting shredders for challenging content? It turns out a Beatles game doesn’t have to. Harmonix revels in being permitted to license the Beatles' music and develops a game specifically for Beatles fans that tributes their unparalleled legacy.

The fab four was always a visually stimulating band, even if that’s not one of the most common attributes people give credence to. The Beatles were arguably the first music group marketed as a boy band. Three cute, seemingly inoffensive boys (and Ringo) playing pop music together on a stage was a stroke of marketing genius. Using this model has persisted to the same general effect in the pop music industry. Even if you were a heterosexual male that did not fit that demographic, one can’t deny the chemistry these four dudes had while playing music with one another. Every member played with each other with unbridled enthusiasm, and that “Beatles smile” is a mark of true physical charisma that no other band could match. Beatlemania wouldn’t have skyrocketed across the world if its appeal was niche. This time in the Beatles career is illustrated in the game’s introduction sequence, an animated segment meant to mirror the opening of the Beatles film “A Hard Day’s Night,” where the band is comically scurrying away from a roaring flood of ecstatic fans on the streets of London. The introduction then leads them to Shea Stadium playing “Paperback Writer.” After that, the band dons their Sgt. Pepper outfits as “Here Comes the Sun” and “I Am the Walrus” play while some vivid psychedelic imagery plays in the background, signifying the band’s critically acclaimed late period. The art style presented here is magnificent and carries over to the base game. The graphics pop with a vibrancy that matches the fab four perfectly. I’m glad the songs are easy enough to play because the visuals were often pleasantly distracting.

I wouldn’t talk about the introduction in such detail for most other games, but the one in The Beatles: Rock Band is indicative of what the game has to offer: an interactive Beatles experience that takes the player through the band’s history. The subtle story of every Guitar Hero/Rock Band game is a band’s ascension to superstardom. As prolific as The Beatles have always seemed, they had to climb the same rope and jump through the same proverbial hoops as any other band. The game will start the player at the dark, dingy clubs in Liverpool playing on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 to that rooftop event in 1969. Most of the late period between 1965-1968 takes place in the recording studios in Abbey Road, which featured eye-catching visuals that caused me to miss a few notes I previously mentioned. It’s as immersive as a Beatles documentary could be in the gaming medium. However, the game does gloss over some aspects, like the arrant stench of the piss from overly-excited girls of their early period, constant bickering over money, and being mean to Ringo of the late period. Curiously enough, if the player fails a song, a “failure” screen pops up with the option to replay the song. Normally, the band in the mainline Guitar Hero/Rock Band titles would get booed and heckled off stage and probably pelted with beer bottles. This would seem askew for The Beatles, so the developers prevented our good ol’ friend ludonarrative dissonance from adulterating the prime Beatles experience.

Because the game progresses with The Beatles' history as a band, the set list is also in chronological order and coincides with the Beatles era it was recorded in. For the most part, the setlist in the game is a diverse range of their most famous hits and a few selections from their albums that some may not recall as lucidly. The game couldn’t fit every Beatles song in the base game for brevity, so what didn’t comfortably fit was made available for DLC. One might state that relegating the rest of their music to the DLC shop is a greedy move by the publishers to squeeze more money out of players, but it’s the only tangible way to include the rest of their catalog in the game. However, the fact that Harmonix had the power to translate every conceivable Beatles song in the game and only took half-measures for a few more is a travesty. Why is the DLC selection so pitiful? I still lament that I cannot play “I’m Only Sleeping,” my favorite Beatles song, in any capacity. I suppose I should be grateful that I can play any of the Beatles' music as is.

Like the band the game is tributing, what can you say about The Beatles: Rock Band that isn’t blatantly obvious? Harmonix took Guitar Hero’s idea of theming a game on an iconic rock band and elevated it to new heights with the greatest rock band of all time. They made the premise less gimmicky by making the game a fully-fledged tribute to their history and beguiling aura that made them so alluring. The game most likely won’t please those looking to flex their button-pressing dexterity, but this game is a must for any Beatles fan.

...

Thank the lord that the developers put their foot down and stopped Yoko Ono from ruining the game with her fuckery. I fear the alternate timeline where she had her way and put her mitts on this game.