One of the biggest draws at E3 this year has been Harmonix and MTV Games' upcoming release, The Beatles: Rock Band. After a short wait outside of the Harmonix booth, we were ushered into a small theater room that was decorated to look like Abbey Road Studios, complete with a full Rock Band setup on the stage. Members of the Harmonix development team treated us to some performances of a few of the new songs that will be in The Beatles: Rock Band intermingled with some info about the game. It was an excellent way to formally introduce us to the game before letting us loose into their by appointment only booth to get some time with The Beatles: Rock Band.



One of the first things that really jumps out about The Beatles: Rock Band is the artistic strength of the title. The members of the fab four are accurately recreated in the game, right down to their favored stances and performance mannerisms. In speaking with Jeff Castaneda of MTV Games, he said that the Harmonix art team worked closely with the surviving members The Beatles and their families to make sure that all visual creations and recreations in the game were authentic and faithful. Also, depending on the song you choose, the band members will look as they did during the time period when that particular song was released, and the environments will do the same. For example, if you choose to play "I Want to Hold Your Hand", you'll get the band decked out in their brown suits playing in front of a live audience of screaming fans, but if you play a song like "Octopus's Garden", there won't be any audience because this was during the band's more reclusive and studio-centric era. To make up for the lack of a stage, Harmonix has created what they call Dreamscapes, which serve to act as a sort of music video. In "Octopus's Garden", the band plays in and underwater setting. If you play "Here Comes the Sun", the band is standing atop a flowered hill on a sunny day. It's an amazing and touching tribute to the band each time one of these Dreamscape songs plays out.

In regards to gameplay, The Beatles: Rock Band is obviously very similar to what Rock Band 2 offers, but it does introduce support for up to three vocal parts. This allows for people playing the game to to harmonize their voices, just as The Beatles were famous for doing. Also, right from the start, all 45 tracks will be available to play, so you'll be able to jump right into whatever era you wish to relive in the band's history without having to complete the standard career mode first.

Harmonix also mentioned that the game will support DLC, with the full album Abbey Road coming not too long after launch and with more titles coming as regular as possible. The song "All You Need is Love" will also be DLC, and all proceeds for that song will be donated to charity.

The instruments were quite nice, with Paul's bass being the real highlight. It's quite a bit longer than the rest of the instruments, as it's an actual replica of what Paul McCartney used. All the instruments felt nicer than what came with Rock Band or Rock Band 2, so upgrading provides more than just a visual perk. If you're happy with your current instruments, however, The Beatles: Rock Band is compatible with all the current instruments on the market.

At the end of our time with The Beatles: Rock Band we came away impressed both with the title and Harmonix's devotion to the franchise and license. There's a lot of love being poured into the development of this title, and it should be immediately evident to gamers that give it a play when the game releases this September.