Hands-on review: 'The Beatles: Rock Band'

     A screenshot from "The Beatles: Rock Band." (Courtesy Harmonix/MTV)

There's no other way to put it. "The Beatles: Rock Band" is quite a different experience. Very different.  It's a whole new way of appreciating the Fabs. Maybe not as unique as "Love," but definitely something new.

"The Beatles: Rock Band" gives you a little perspective of being a Beatle. It's not a completely realistic simulation, but it puts you in the virtual role of a Beatle, even if it's a little on the artificial side.

You can sing, harmonize, play guitar, bass or drums at various levels of difficulty. On guitar, for example, playing in "easy" mode uses three frets, "hard" is using all five. On drums, easy mode is for drum amateurs. Hard mode definitely takes some skill and practice.

You can play individual songs individually, in story mode where you progress through the different scenarios -- the Cavern, Ed Sullivan Theater, Shea Stadium, Abbey Road or the Apple rooftop -- or challenge opponents locally or online.  (The online servers weren't available to reviewers.) Up to six players can play with three mics for vocal harmonies, guitar, bass and drums. 

As you progress and accumulate pictures, you win "prizes," which are the hidden items in the game. The first "prize" available is the audio of the 1963 Beatles Christmas record. The second is a video outtake from "The Beatles' First U.S. Visit."

Of course, the most important question to ask is is the game fun? After spending some time with it, the answer is most definitely yes.

If you're not a fantastic vocalist (and we're not), it's somewhat embarrassing to hear your voice on top of the tracks of the Beatles in karaoke mode, though maybe a few drinks will cure that. But playing guitar or drums is fun, even at the easiest levels. Playing bass is easier than guitar at the easiest levels, but everything takes practice and is more challenging at the higher levels.

One comforting thing is at the "easy" level there's a "no fail" mode that won't stop the song no matter now bad you're doing. (In the more difficult levels, the song will quit if you are not doing well.) The game has training areas for singing and for each instrument that are not only extremely helpful but highly recommended. The training areas give you instruction and a place to practice before doing it for real in the game.

You hit a bar and a fret to "play" notes on the guitar, so it seems, at least to us, like you're playing bass more than playing guitar generally in the game. Because of that, you get a real feel of Paul McCartney's role when you're playing bass in the game. You might even find yourself bouncing around like he does to imitate him.

However, being Ringo Starr and playing drums might be the most realistic part of "The Beatles: Rock Band". You have to hit drums, cymbals and bass drum in coordinated fashion. The drum training mode even has a "Beatle Beats" section.  If you never had an appreciation of what it's like to be Ringo, "The Beatles: Rock Band" gives you a little idea in very short order.

There is one difference between "The Beatles: Rock Band" and the regular "Rock Band" game. You can't get booed off the stage. You wouldn't want to see the Beatles booed anyway.

Another difference between this game and, for example, "Guitar Hero," is that your input in the game is strictly limited to what the Beatles played. You're not able to add your own notes to the Beatles' music.

The videos and animation are really good, but if you're concentrating on playing the game with the instruments, you won't be able to watch them and keep your mind fully on the game.  The easiest way to do this is if you're singing. Of all the videos we've seen so far, the most breathtaking was "Within You Without You"/Tomorrow Never Knows."

Diehard Beatle fans will notice a little historical revisionism in that several of the songs are done in venues they didn't play them in and that some songs are cut short to fit the game. The other side of that, though, is that the game is filled with studio chatter and stray notes that have never been bootlegged.

The game is compatible with past "Rock Band" instruments and most "Guitar Hero" peripherals. You need a minimum of a Logitech microphone to play the game. The instruments, especially the new Beatle-styled instruments made for the game, are not required, though they certainly add to the realism.

An online music store will have additional songs and albums for downloadable content. The first three albums --"Abbey Road,"  "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "Rubber Soul" will be available in October, November and December, respectively, with more added as time goes on. One song, "All You Need Is Love," will also be available for Xbox 360 only on 9/9/09 as a charity download with proceeds going to the Doctors Without Borders charity.

And in the end, as we said above, "The Beatles: Rock Band" is good fun. Forget all the talk about how the game will bring different generations of Beatles fans together. The bottom line is that "The Beatles: Rock Band" makes you a virtual Beatle. Even for someone like us who had never spent time with a "Rock Band" game and were skeptical before trying this one, we think a splendid time is guaranteed for all no matter what age you are.

And you know that can't be bad.

• Beatles 101: Our complete coverage of 'The Beatles: Rock Band'