Beatles Rockband

It's great!

Expensive but great.

I paid £149.99 for my big bad ass Beatles Rockband set, rushed home, unwrapped it, played it for a bit and now it's sitting ominously in the corner whilst work and a social life have taken over. Hurrah for me. Well not quite.

I'm a bit miffed at my almost non-existant drumming skills. I know what to do, and can move both arms independently of each other, and in time. Add a third movement, such as a bass pedal for my foot and it all goes a bit wrong! Ringo, you my friend were and still are a genius. Keith Moon however was just something else! I can't imagine trying some of his drum fills.

The sound, presentation and overall feel of the game are sensational. It is second to none. The quality of this product and package I think are brilliant. You do feel as though you really live out the incredible journey the Beatles took in their relatively short career. Even some of the songs have bits I've never even heard before thanks to the remasters being used, particularly noticeable on I'm looking Through You and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

The songs are an excellent mix, though I was very disappointed by some omissions such as Hey Jude, Let it Be, A Day in the Life and All You Need is Love but I guess too much piano and orchestration led to their cuts.

It does have other downsides though, the microphone for singing has quite a delay so hitting notes 'spot on' when singing is difficult and requires an unnatural amount of singing before you should. Also, the jump from easy to medium is far too high and even the easier songs are far far too hard.

I played Guitar Hero 5 tonight and the feeling of playing an actual instrument is far more prevalent on that than Beatles Rockband. You feel like your nailing the riffs, playing a similar finger movement to what you would on a real guitar. On the Beatles game I feel like I am hitting random notes because they are a bit louder at that point in the song.

As for expert mode. I tried to play While My Guitar Gently Weeps on expert mode and was almost rushed to hospital for a hand transplant. Far far easier and with less movement on a real guitar.

But, whilst continuing the comparison, Guitar Hero 5 is really dirty looking and not a very polished product though I must admit playing as my avatar (complete with aviator sunglasses and pale blue tuxedo) was fantastic. This feature is sadly not available and I have to persist with what I feel is a poor likeness of George Harrison

Anyway, back to to practice the drum solo to The End.

Ringo - you absolute beast!