 Do we love it? Yeah, yeah, yeah! |
| Review Date: September 9, 2009 |
| Reviewer: PT Cruiser, CA USA |
First off, I have to admit to being a huge Beatles fan. I was 15 when the Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and it was love at first sight. These "lads from Liverpool" with their long hair and fab British accents were the grooviest musicians we'd ever seen. Within a year a major portion of my allowance was spent on Beatles magazines and records and my bedroom wall was covered, floor to ceiling with Beatles pictures. My friends and I also developed a distinct Liverpool accent. (Were we dorks, or what?)
So when a friend of mine who lives nearby called me last week and asked if I wanted to come over and try the new Beatles Rock Band limited edition Wii game the day it came out, I was right on it. We all took the day off of work. She, two other friends and I who are all big Beatles fans from way back, met in her living room as she brought in the box containing the game, ripped it open and amid lots of jumping up and down and oohing and aahing, got everything set up. The drum set with the Beatles logo and the replica of Paul McCartney's Hofner bass are just beautiful! There's a microphone and stand included as well. I wondered why they didn't have a wireless mic, but I guess they wanted to keep it authentic to the time.
Now I've not a big Rock Band or Guitar Hero fan. I bought my Wii for the exercise games so I've only played Rock Band a few times at the homes of friends but never really got into it or expected to buy it. But this edition changed my mind - big time. This edition is more about the Beatles than it is about the game itself, at least compared to other Rock Band games I've played. I think the graphics look better on this one, almost like it was custom made for the group. For Wii characters, they did great job on all four of them. Now you can't dress them in weird clothes like you can with some other games, but their appearance changes as you play through the story to reflect the times. The sets, from the Cavern in Liverpool where they got their start, to the top of the Apple building, are all beautifully done. You can tell that a lot of thought and work went into the creation of this game. For any die-hard Beatles fan, it's a beautiful thing!
The game can be played in the Quickplay mode or the Story mode, and either on or offline. There are 45 songs to this game which doesn't seem like a lot, but there are supposed to be more available to download in the future. Partway through the story mode they switch from being in different tour locations to being in the studio. They have all these short video graphic scenes, some of them kind of psychedelic, to keep things interesting while you're in the studio. Before most of the songs you hear audio of the Beatles that brings you right in as though you were actually there at the time they were doing these recordings. I thought this was a great bit of personalization. Playing the different instruments is pretty much the same as the other rock band games I've tried. You also hear the girls screaming in the background when they're on tour. (What would a Beatles concert be without the screamers?).
The thing that's different about this game is the vocals which are done either solo or in harmony. Now this isn't as easy as just singing along, although you can connect up to three mics and you can either harmonize (harder) or all sing the lead to get ahead in the game. You choose either "Solo" or "Harmonize". With solo, you see just one line or with harmonize you see three lines, one for each singer to follow. Fortunately, the game includes Vocal Trainer which gets you into the different parts of the songs. None of us were very good at harmonizing in the first hours we played. It's much harder than you might imagine. (Or maybe we're all tone deaf!)
In the Training mode there's another thing that's kind of cool and I think different from other games. .There's training for what they call "Beatle Beats". With this you can learn all of Ringo's drum rhythms. There's something like 80 of them. To complete each section you have to be able to do them at the expert level, which is really difficult. This is something that will make the games replay value last a lot longer for most people. I think you'd probably have to be a professional drummer to get through all of these perfectly.
Another thing that makes this game more challenging is the Chapter Challenges. For each section when you're playing in the Story mode you have to beat all of the chapter's songs in one go and get 5 stars on each of the songs to collect photos. You can do it on easy or hard. For beginners like me you can still get through on the easy mode without any errors in this lifetime. Later you can move on to higher degrees of difficulty. My friend's grandson who is in his teens and has played several other Rock Band and Guitar Hero games thought this game was pretty easy right away. I would like to think that this is simply a gifted child rather than all the rest of us are slow.
I really hadn't any intention of buying this game myself when I could play with it at a friend's. But now, having seen and played it, it's on my Amazon wish list.. It brings back all those memories of the Beatles and standing in line to see "Hard Day's Night" for the 14th time or the hours listening to Beatles LP's on my old record player. I have no idea where I'm going to store Paul McCartney's Hofner bass controller and Ringo's drums. But just seeing those drums with "The Beatles" written across the front is enough to transport me back to 1964. Hopefully my husband won't have me transported off to somewhere else when he sees the small-refrigerator-sized box arrive! And maybe after all the head shaking and eye rolling I'll be able to recruit him to play the part of John or Ringo when I get my band together. Yeah, yeah, YEAH!
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Overpriced bundle, can't use the instruments for Guitar Hero games
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| Review Date: November 16, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Raivyn, CA |
This is a review for the bundle, which includes the game, one microphone, one wireless guitar, and one set of drums.
The bundle is pretty expensive. You are paying $$$ more for this bundle because it includes the instruments, which granted, are very cool, well made, look like what the Beatles used, etc. If you are a Beatles fan who likes to collect all things Beatles, this would be good for you. The fit/finish of the instruments are top notch.
However, you can't use these instruments for the Guitar Hero games. If you don't care about that, then read no further. However, for my money, I feel this bundle is a rip off because you can't use the instruments for other games. You can purchase Guitar Hero World Tour AND the Rock Band Beatles game only, it will cost less than this bundle AND you have two games instead of only one (so you can play Beatles AND current rock songs). Unfortunately, it doesn't work the other way around. You can't buy this bundle and then pick up Guitar Hero games to play.
If you MUST have the Beatles instruments, this is what you want. If you don't care, and frankly you shouldn't because you'll need to purchase additional guitars and microphones to maximize the # of players, it would be more cost effective to buy Guitar Hero World Tour and the Beatles Rock Band game by itself, and twice as much fun to play.
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The Fab Four In Your Living Room
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| Review Date: September 17, 2009 |
| Reviewer: thedeadlyhandsofkungfu, City of Lost Angeles |
Like many others who live on a budget, I waited to read and hear everything I could about this bundle. We bought Guitar Hero for the kids and let's face it the graphics don't really connect with the parents or the kids that much, there are a few good songs among a bunch of random clunkers. The kids tried it a few times and since they actually play real instruments, they found it less challenging than trying to make "real" music. So, I waited because I thought how different could this version be from the original Guitar Hero or the countless singing/Karoake games that we bought along the way--and I mean quite a few: American Idol I and II, High School Musical I and III, Disney Sing-It, etc.
Then, the reviews started trickling in. I picked up a copy of Entertainment Weekly which gave it an amazing write-up. Same thing with the New York Times. Game reviewers started saying that this could be the only game that could actually surpass the Wii Fit in terms of accessibility, design and most importantly, the content. I finally gave in and pre-ordered it thinking, well, at least this should be a best-seller by Christmas and I don't feel like hiking it countless Toy Stores and video game stores in search of it. If you're a parent like me, you remember what a pain it was to locate the Wii or a Wii Fit.
It took me less than an hour to properly set the game up. The instructions are written in a dozen languages and really don't clearly state how to put it together well. So, here are a few helpful hints. First, the drum set legs are actually inverted. So, you'll need to actually pull one leg out of the other and then set the smaller tube inside the larger one so that the plastic ring serves as a stopper inside the larger tube. Then, the legs will fit properly together. The rest of the set-up is a pretty straightforward until you get to the mic.
There are two devices that come with the set that are supposed to plug into ports within the Wii Console (that means the white box machine itself). At first, you might think that you have at least three devices that require port connections and you would be correct. Go ahead and plug those two white connectors into the main unit. Remove any existing connections to do so. Here's the helpful hint: one of the two connectors actually has two additional ports built into it. So, if you're going to use an extra guitar (we bought both the John Lennon and the George Harrison instruments), you can accomodate them or additional mikes. The extra guitar sets also come with these white connector units.
Okay, so you turn the unit on. And, if you're like me, you're thinking "this better impress" or else I'll feel really bummed. And, you'll need to enter a user name. I tried my first name. Already taken. I tried "Paul" thinking I'll just enter each Beatles first name until I get one. Again, taken. So, be prepared not to be stymied by this preliminary step.
When the game boots on, hold on to your hat. The opening sequence is amazing. The graphics, the familiar scenes from their historic roots to their trip to the US, it's all there. Then, the game really starts and the magic begins. I tried singing to familiar songs as a "solo" setting it to Easy. The graphics were astounding. The clips they chose against the familiar "Karaoke" sing along bar that flashes at the bottom of the scene are so exact, so thoughtful, so impressive, I found my mind wandering.
I started thinking about these four music icons as real people. What a fantastic, surreal journey it must have been for these four young lads from Liverpool. What it must have felt like to have experienced such a journey--and that it actually happened within our lifetime makes it even better. This is such a great game. What makes it so terrific is that my kids will learn to sing along to this music, to visually spot the experience as it unfolds on-screen with historic accuracy. Most of all, the music---the music, the music, the music. It's so special. Nothing like it since, maybe nothing ever again.
I'm hooked. This is the one I've been waiting for to share and explain the music to my kids. To play along myself. To just pause and enjoy the fact that interactive entertainment has reached this new plateau. I'm playing music with the Beatles in my living room. They are here. And it's only up to you to let your imagination now play out on screen. Fantastic game. Run to find it. I hope you get the limited edition copy. The Bass that Paul McCartney played is included as a replica. This thing is just so cool. If you've seen the picture, it's even better when you're holding it in your hands.
What an astounding package. It's expensive. It's really worth it. Really. |
Shocking truth: I've never played RockBand/Guitar Hero
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| Review Date: September 14, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Amazon shopper, OC, SoCal |
| I own a Wii but I've never played RockBand or GuitarHero and I wasn't a Beatles fan. You ask: Which planet am I from? Well, you'll be glad to know all has changed as of last night. I am now hooked, so is my 4 y/o daughter who has somehow learnt to bop her head and toss her long hair around like a rock star when she has the bass guitar strapped on. She heard Yellow Submarine last night for the first time in her life and was already singing along like there is no tomorrow. My husband who is mostly tone deaf and has no musical sense whatsoever (sorry honey!)is also secretly going through the training sessions for the bass and drums. He thought I was asleep but oh yeah I heard him alright. I can't wait till I get home to the Beatles tonight! |
Did The Beatles finally get back together?
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| Review Date: September 10, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Wayne T. Simpson, |
This game is well worth the hype. The accuracy and small details will impress even the most casual fans of the band. Every venue of the game which includes The Cavern Club, The Ed Sullivan Show, the Budokan, and the Rooftop of Apple Corps, is extremely accurate to the smallest detail. Since The Beatles quit touring in 1966, Harmonix compensated for this with a unique approach. For songs (I am the Walrus, Revolution, etc) that The Beatles released after they stopped touring, the band starts out in Studio Two at Abbey Road and then the game evolves into a magical dreamscape with flowing colors and images.
The Beatles themselves are also finely detailed to the smallest nuance. One thing that particularly impressed me as a Beatle nut was the accuracy of the on screen guitar playing. The computer generated Beatles actually play the same chords and in the same position that the actual song calls for. The producers of the game could have just used generic hand motions and strumming patterns, but this extra small touch was much appreciated. All of their actual movements are faithfully reproduced and at times it feels like you're watching the actual band as opposed to computer generated characters.
The song selection of 45 songs (the albums Abbey Road, Rubber Soul, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band will be released for download after release) is quite varied and diverse. It covers their early career and goes through to their final songs. One criticism I have is that there is only one song from Help!, but other than that the catalog is very well rounded.
Another critique I have of the bundle is the overabundance of plastic, stickers, and the lack of a good instruction manual for building the drums. After I fully unpacked the bundle, it looked like a disaster area with a lot of excess plastic, cardboard, plastic wrapping, and stickers securing them to the box. I am sure that they had a reason for this, but it creates kind of a headache. The instruction manual was generally decent, but constructing the drums was difficult. Note to readers: the drums themselves were not complicated to construct, but if you went by the instructions you would be left wondering what to do next. Some steps are completely skipped over. So be prepared.
All in all, this is a fantastic game. If you're a Beatles fan, casual or insane, you'll love it. But this isn't the best for people who have never listened to The Beatles. If you are already not a fan, this will not make you like The Beatles, but perhaps it would make you like them even less due to the high level of detail. I will say though that novices and experts alike should find great enjoyment in this game. One of the drawbacks for me on previous games of this nature was the level of time it took to get "good". I have played real guitar for 13 years, but I sucked it up bad on Guitar Hero. With this, the songs (I would recommend starting on medium for even the most rookie of players except on drums) are challenging, but the pace is such that it is easy for a newcomer to the series to blend in and become a member of the Fab Four. You can play bass, drums, guitar, or sing. The many choices make this a game that will keep you coming back.
In closing, the game (or bundle) is well worth it and it exceeds all the hype. Any fan of The Beatles would be out of their mind not to own this. The Fab Four are back. |
Oh to be a Beatle!
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| Review Date: October 21, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Ivan K. Samuelson, OH USA |
I just received my Limited Edition Beatles Rock Band bundle this week and all I can say is it's a blast to play. Harmonix worked diligently with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Dhani Harrison (George's son), Olivia Harrison (George's former wife) and Yoko Ono to painstakingly recreate the Beatlemania experience and they've done it. Of course, this took time, money and a lot of work to make the game that they have released. This included working with George Martin's son who used new software to help single out each Beatle's voice and instrument from the musical tracks given to them by Apple Corps. Considering that tapes were the result of stacking the music from various tracks, this proved a difficult and arduous task, but something that they were able to do successfully.
With the Limited Edition bundle, you get the Rock Band 2 drums with the pearl finish that Ringo's Ludwig drum set had. Since this is the RB2 drum set, it's wireless, quieter than the RB1 drums, and you can add the Cymbal expansion set to it. I did and it definitely enhances the drumming experience. You also get the bass drum skirt with the Beatles logo on it and that helps finish it off.
Next, you get Paul's Hofner bass. This has been built to scale and I can definitely say that younger children with smaller arms may have a hard time reaching the normal fret buttons. You still have the solo fret buttons as well, so it may not be all bad. Still, the bass looks awesome and normally, I don't like to play bass, but with this, it just doesn't seem right to play lead guitar with it.
Along with the drums and the bass, you also get a microphone and a mic stand. There is no USB hub like with the RB1 set, but any USB hub will work. You MUST have a USB hub in order to have the drums, 2 guitars and 3 mics hooked up to the console. Why three mics? So you can have 3-part harmonies just like how the Beatles sang their songs. This means you can have up to six people playing the game.
The game itself is great to play. Right off the bat, you already have access to all the songs, so no unlocking is required to play any song you want. Easy mode automatically turns on the no-fail mode. Also, you can turn this on or off within the game itself. To make it even more challenging, you can turn off the words as well as the rest of the on-screen patterns to make it even MORE challenging. Turn on the no-fail option and then you can just sit back and watch the Beatles perform.
As for no unlocking necessary for the songs, playing the story mode still allows you to unlock various pictures. You can also unlock various treasures in the "Theatre". The first one I unlocked was the Beatles Christmas album. I never heard this before but it is the entire 45-rpm that the Beatles released to their fan club. It has the band having fun singing "Rudolph The Red-nosed Ringo" and you can hear each of them goofing off and having fun as they wish their fans a Merry Christmas.
The story mode painstakingly recreates avenues that the Beatles performed in during their touring days from the Cavern, Ed Sullivan's show and all the way to Shea Stadium. Post touring songs are recreated using what Harmonix calls dreamscapes which are trippy and psychedelic but very effective. These had to go through various approvals from the Harrisons, Paul, Ringo and Yoko. Nothing made it into this game without their approval. In fact, Paul went over EVERY fact that is mentioned in the game to ensure it's accuracy and authenticity.
Even though there is a whammy bar on the bass guitar, it doesn't change the sound of the note you're playing. However, when you are playing notes that are "energized", hitting the whammy on the sustain notes does help increase your "Beatlemania" power.
With the drums, the "fills" are gone so you don't overstep Ringo's beats. Instead, there is a single, glowing green note you hit to start "Beatlemania". However, you don't have to hit it and hitting anything else does NOT reduce your multiplier until you get to the next note. This has definitely enhanced the game play for the drumming.
Also, the spoken parts of the songs do NOT ruin your vocal score as there are some challenging spoken parts with many Beatles songs. Even with all these changes, the core Rock Band playability is still there.
Gone is the character creation mode, but then, why would you want to NOT play this game as the Beatles? Harmonix has done an excellent job of rendering each member of the band down to their on-stage movements. The Beatles still live!
There are total of 45 tracks released with the game. Starting October 20th, the Abbey Road album was made available for downloading. In November and December, you will be able to get Sgt. Peppers and Rubber Soul respectively. For the Wii owners, pleased be forewarned that playing Side 2 of Abbey Road as a medley is not available. Some of the songs have been grouped together (Sun King/Mean Mr. Mustard, Polythene Pam/She Came in Through the Bathroom Window, and Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End) where they need to be, but unlike the other consoles, side 2 is not available as a complete single download to play as a medley. However, don't let this deter you from getting the album. It's still worth it and you can set up your own playlist to play the medley.
Also, this game has been updated so that it can handle SDHC cards. I installed an 8 gig card and it saved my content without question, so if you're scared about losing out on space, fear not as Harmonix updated the game to handle SDHC cards.
For those that are really into it, you can shell out more money to get John's Rickenbacker 325 guitar and George's Gretsch Duo guitar.
Overall, if you're a Beatles fan, this is a must-have. For those that are not Beatles fans, this could either get you into them or it just won't be your cup of tea. |
This is it!
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| Review Date: September 14, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Matthew Kunka, Canton, MI USA |
For all the band specific games that have come out (Metallica and Aerosmith) they have other bands on there too. This one is 100% pure Beatles. This is the game I've been wanting. Totally worth the hype, you have such a wide variety of Beatles songs from their beginnings as a LOVE ME DO band to the end where drugs took over and gave some great GOO GOO GOJOOBing songs.
An advantage to the Wii version of the game (not really advantage, just cool feature) is the wireless drums on top of the wireless guitar. It was so much easier to hook up and move around. The "bass drum" cover is just icing to the cake.
If you're a Beatles fan, get this game. If you're not a Beatles fan.....why are you reading this? |
Get this game!
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| Review Date: September 13, 2009 |
| Reviewer: P. Hall, Beaverton, OR |
| Since I was a kid, I dreamed of playing songs by The Beatles. This game does not disappoint. If you have played any previous Rock Band/Guitar Hero game, you are already used to the game play. The training modes help you learn the game quickly if you haven't played a game like this before. The artwork is amazing! Often I found myself looking at what was going on in the background instead of following the notes. I have a guitar controller and microphone from Guitar Hero - both of those work with The Beatles Rock Band. There is an initial 'calibration' that they recommend before playing the game. I don't necessarily recommend it. I found it easier to set the delays to 0 ms and the game played just fine (using a sony lcd tv). |
Great fun!!
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| Review Date: September 14, 2009 |
| Reviewer: David Bucci, Ashtabula, OH |
I purchased this and have played it for about 60 minutes at this point. Very impressive! I tried the bass, microphone and the drums and really had a blast, especially as I got more comfortable with the songs. Tutorials are really good for newer players as well.
Playing this is just incredible. I found myself really getting into the music, feeling almost as though *I* were a real part of the group. It probably really helps that you should be a Beatles fan to get that extra "feel" of the game and its music.
If you are a Rock Band fan, you'll love this addition. If you are a Beatles fan and are considering Rock Band for the first time, you won't go wrong. You'll be addicted from the first moment this game starts up. |
Worth the wait
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| Review Date: September 12, 2009 |
| Reviewer: S. M. Ostrander, NY state |
I do not like video games,my kids do. I wanted to try this just to see what it is like,and I cant get enough of it!
It is incredible.This game will create a whole new generation (or generations) of fans. |
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