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| The Beatles Rock Band: Abbey Road |
Score: 83%
Publisher: EA Games
Developer: Harmonix
Media: Download/1
Players: 1 - 6 (Co-Op/Online)
Genre: Rhythm/Online/Party
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Graphics & Sound:If you already own The Beatles Rock Band, which you most certainly do or you wouldn't be interested in downloading content for it, you already have a pretty good idea of what the graphics look like. The Beatles Rock Band: Abbey Road is not much different from the original release, except that you get all new, trippy background scenery to go with your new group of songs from the album. Everything looks very hippified and somewhat drug-influenced, which, if you are familiar with The Beatles, comes as no surprise. I am happy that they chose to go with large and bright graphics that wrote out "Bang! Bang!" when "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" was playing, because although the song sounds so cute and happy, it's about a completely mad serial killer who bludgeons his victims to death. Wheeeee!
Abbey Road, with its cryptic album cover and rumors that surrounded its supposed "meaning," is arguably one of The Beatles' most famous records, so it makes perfect sense that it would be released as the first full album download for The Beatles: Rock Band. There are only 8 songs total on the album release, although The Beatles are famous for mish-mashing 2 or 3 songs together and that happens here as well. 1 song may actually be 3 small songs put together. I was glad to have "Carry That Weight," "Oh! Darling," "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" available to sing and got a lot of enjoyment out of those tunes. Some of the other ones, not so much. |
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Gameplay:The songs in The Beatles Rock Band: Abbey Road play just like The Beatles: Rock Band, with certain songs letting you sing in the three-part harmony that the group made so famous. Not every song has it, mind you, but even if it doesn't, up to three people can still sing at the same time, so these are great additions to your gatherings where various iterations of Rock Band might be broken out. I can definitely see this one getting some mileage at our holiday family gatherings, especially since my mom had the Abbey Road album and that's where I learned all of these songs in the first place.
Just as before, you can have a guitar player, someone on drums and someone on bass, if you like, in addition to the 3 singers, so a lot more people can participate than could in the standard versions of Rock Band. |
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Difficulty:Overall, the songs found on The Beatles Rock Band: Abbey Road aren't really any more difficult than those found on The Beatles: Rock Band, with the exception of the wickedly annoying "Her Majesty" which is hard to sing so quickly. I always really liked the song, "Oh! Darling" but actually found it tougher to sing than I thought it would be, simply because its a throwback to The Beatles' older stuff and its just got a lot of soul in it.
If you are up for a real challenge, try the 16 minute medley of B-sides that includes "You Never Give Me Your Money," "Sun King," "Mean Mr. Mustard," "Polythene Pam," "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window," "Golden Slumbers," "Carry That Weight" and "The End." I wasn't too crazy about it, but I got through it. |
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Value:
As for the value of purchasing the album, that is really going to be up to you. Look at the song list - if you really, really love all of those tunes, than go for it. For die-hard fans of The Beatles, the value will be terrific, even though the album rings in at 1360 MS points. However, if you only have a passing interest in most of these songs, then maybe buying the entire album isn't such a great idea for you. The songs are sold individually for those who want to pick and choose. As for the whole album, it's not a lot of extra content for the money, but what is there is solid. So, I hate for this to sound like a cop-out, but it's going to have to be a decision you make for yourself. Personally, I enjoyed my time with the album, but the first run of singing these songs was over very quickly. Sure, there is replay there, but only on the Quickplay game mode, so factor that into your decision. |
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-Psibabe, GameVortex Communications AKA Ashley Perkins |
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