The Beatles: Rock Band – hands-on

In terms of bands that could headline a music game, it’s pretty tough to top The Beatles. And considering that The Beatles have one of the most beloved songbooks of all time, fans like us are bound to scrutinize every little detail.

Good news, then! From what we’ve seen, The Beatles: Rock Band is shaping up to be a Beatles fan’s dream come true. From the extraordinary attention to detail to the respect paid to the original artists’ work, the game is positively swimming in Beatles love. And really, that’s all it needs (Buh-dum psh!).

For those of you keeping score at home, take a gander at our updated track list:

I Saw Her Standing There
I Want To Hold Your Hand
I Feel Fine
Taxman
Day Tripper
Back In the USSR
I Am the Walrus
Octopus’s Garden
Here Comes the Sun
Get Back
Twist and Shout
Do You Want To Know a Secret
Can’t Buy Me Love
I Wanna Be Your Man
Eight Days a Week
Paperback Writer
And Your Bird Can Sing
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
With A Little Help from My Friends
Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows
Yellow Submarine
Revolution
Birthday
Dig a Pony
I’ve Got a Feeling

Admittedly not a ton of surprises, but what did you expect? Every track is golden. But hardcore Beatlemaniacs should take note of the recently released mash-up “Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows.” The track was originally part of “The Beatles Love,” a fantastic Grammy award-winning album of Beatles remixes released by George Martin (the Beatles’ producer) and his son Giles. Quite frankly, we’re thrilled that songs from “Love” are making it into the retail game – maybe there will be more surprises coming via DLC? If so, will we complain about being charged for them? Perhaps, but then again, if every Beatles tune we wanted to play was included in the initial roster, then we’d be playing multiple discs worth of content. We prefer to look at the DLC as a “glass half full” issue, but only time will tell how excited we’ll be if we have to plunk down ten bucks to sing along with “Revolution 9.”

Next up: Hands-on impressions and video!