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The Beatles Rock Band: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Score: 76%
Publisher: EA Games
Developer: Harmonix
Media: Download/1
Players: 1 - 6 (Co-Op/Online)
Genre: Rhythm/Party/Online

Graphics & Sound:

Although there are new backgrounds created for each new album release of The Beatles Rock Band, there's only so much you can do with the Beatles and their trippy 70's iconic look. The latest album to be released, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, brings with it a new collection of songs and corresponding videos. A lot of the really popular songs from this album are already included on The Beatles Rock Band, so the 8 songs that remain are what you get.

Although several of the songs sounded familiar and I had definitely heard them before, only one was a must-have for me and that's "When I'm Sixty-Four." It's classic stuff and I was really pleased to have it available to play. "She's Leaving Home", "A Day in the Life" and "Lovely Rita" are songs that had a fair amount of popularity, but "She's Leaving Home" is so damn sad. "Fixing a Hole" was just okay and "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" and "Within You Without You" didn't do anything for me at all. In fact, "Within You Without You" is one I could swear was already on the playlist or maybe just a part of it was. Either way, with all that sitar music, all it managed to do was make me want Indian food. Lastly, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" is just that, a redo.


Gameplay:

Once again, you've got the classic Beatles' 3-part harmony in effect here. Some songs may take a while for it to kick in, but all songs can be played with up to 3 singers, plus an instrument, or the typical Rock Band setup with 1 singer, drums, guitar and bass or any variant thereof. The Beatles Rock Band was quite a hit at our Thanksgiving gathering with family members of all ages, but the only song from this album that anyone wanted to play was "When I'm Sixty-Four," probably because it was the most well known tune.

Difficulty:

Each song has varying difficulty, some with maxed out difficulty on vocals, some on the different instruments, while others were quite easy in their own right. As always, each player can adjust their own difficulty to their liking on each song, so it makes things incredibly flexible. We were able to set the game on Easy when our parents were playing and it wasn't the least bit obvious. That way, they could enjoy the game without the fear or embarrasment of failing out. Overall, a number of these songs are lesser known, so it's always more difficult to play a song you aren't familiar with.

Value:

The Beatles Rock Band: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band runs 1080 MS points and you are only getting 8 songs, since some of them already appear in The Beatles Rock Band. Once again, unless you love all the songs on the album, you may do better by purchasing individual tracks. Personally, I wasn't too crazy about the selection found here. I loved "When I'm Sixty-Four," but the rest of the songs were just okay and "Within You Without You" was just grating. You'd be wise to check the entire song list before buying the whole album, but if you are a serious Beatles' fan, you'll probably want the whole shebang.

-Psibabe, GameVortex Communications
AKA Ashley Perkins

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Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated