A Day In The Life (First Impressions)
Short review: If you like The Beatles and you like playing with fake plastic instruments, you'll love The Beatles: Rock Band.
- The first thing I noticed taking the manual out of the case was that there was a serial number printed on the back. Whoa, could this mean that the songs of B:RB might be exportable at a future date despite previous statements to the contrary? You see, while it was cool that Harmonix made (most of) the songs from RB1 exportable for use in RB2, I imagine they kicked themselves for not restricting it to a one-disc-for-one-account basis, which made it so that gamers who jumped into the franchise with RB2 merely have to rent or borrow RB1, pay the $5 export fee and get a lot of songs for super cheap. Guitar Hero World Tour saw this, and put a serial number on the back of its manual that is required for exporting songs for use in GH5. I figure I'm not the only one who wondered if that was the case here, as Harmonix quickly issued a statement proclaiming the serial number "doesn't do anything", though I don't see a flat-out denial for future possibilities in there. Tomorrow never knows...
- Speaking of GHWT, it's nice to see the Harmonix can also steal a good idea when they see one. Namely, adding a three-second countdown after unpausing before the song starts again. They also made it much easier to turn on "No Fail" mode, if you're so inclined. I do wish they made it easier to switch instruments without having to go back a few menus, but that's more an annoyance when playing solo when you wouldn't have friends to swap with. Also, load times are much faster than RB2.
- I love the load screens. For the live venues, you'll often hear a Beatle introducing the song you're about to play for the crowd. In the studio, you'll hear them warming up for your song. This is an awesome little touch that makes me want to hug the game a little more.
- The Beatles don't get booed if the stage if you tank a song as in the other RB games; the song just stops and a "Song Failed" screen pops up. In other words, The Beatles didn't fail, it is you who have failed The Beatles. Mighta been funny if after failing a song they all turn to the "camera" and give you a very disappointed look.
- One "award" I forgot to present in my post on the setlist was the "They Picked That Over This?" award which easily goes to the inclusion of "Boys" over "She Loves You".
- They removed the freestlye fills used to activate Overdrive (called "Beatlemania" in B:RB) on drums, and instead cue activation to designated green notes. I like this idea as it better preserves the rhythm of the original songs and I hope it carries over to future RB games (maybe allowing fills as optional).
- Hammer-ons and pull-offs are much easier here than in RB2. I've read that RB2 will be patched soon so its HOs/POs will act similarly.
- When playing vocals, you have the choice of selecting "Solo" or "Harmonies". Harmonies displays the two or three, uh, harmonies of a song, any of which can be sung for points, while Solo only displays the main vocal line. I recommend Harmonies even if you're the only person in the room. I chose Solo for "If I Needed Someone" and was totally thrown off when I went into the higher pitch of John and Paul's backup vocals but the game wanted me to stay in George's lower pitch the entire time.
- In a few songs ("Helter Skelter", for one) the vocal track actually moves up and down onscreen when major octave changes happen. Though weird at first, it's a good confidence booster (and maybe a gentle reminder that as long as you hit the right note, it doesn't matter if your vocal range is not as good as Sir Paul McCartney's).
- I find that I really enjoy singing George songs. I think it's because his range is not as great as John or Paul, but a bit more melodic than Ringo. Just right. I'd get "I Need You" from Help! if they put that up as DLC. Help! has a number of songs that would've been great for the game and it's odd that only one ("Ticket to Ride") was included here.
- I share the main gripe of every review I've read: 45 songs is not enough. It's a great selection, and there really aren't any any duds (even songs I'm iffy about like "Good Morning Good Morning" are kinda fun), but it sure don't last long. One of the game's trophies even encourages you to blow through the story mode (which means playing every song) as quickly as possible. Yes, I earned it late last night. DLC will gradually, and profitably, fill the gaps, but in many ways, B:RB feels like a tease, that first taste to get you hooked. I think it worked.