I remember the first time I heard about Rock Band: The Beatles, and I thought, "Wait, are they taking the Guitar Hero route? They're just gonna make a bunch of games featuring a specific band with a bunch of songs by that band and sell it? Damn, Harmonix must need money bad!" Nope!


Let me present to you an example so this makes more sense. Guitar Hero has released many games like "Guitar Hero: (Hair Band name here)" The games feature some (not all) of the band members in the game as playable characters (ex. GH: Van Halen does not include Sammy Hagar or Gary Cherone) , put a lot of songs by said band in the game BUT include songs by other mostly unrelated bands (ex. GH: Metallica features Ace of Spades by Motorhead, GH: Aerosmith features Cat Scratch Fever by Ted Nugent, GH: Van Halen features bands blink-182, Judas Priest, Foo Fighters, Weezer, and many other unrelated bands). The songs are usually listed in chronological order, but nothing much else then a playable "Best Of" playlist sorted by "Year", which could be something someone would like, but it's the same formula over and over again, so it's not a real unique experience and brings nothing new to the table for Guitar Hero.

The Beatles: Rock Band is, without a doubt, very different! I will admit now that I am very Harmonix biased, but I swear I'm telling the truth that this is a much more enriching experience. Instead of adding a generic "Gibson SG" or "Gibson Explorer" or even the Rock Band basic "Fender Stratocaster", the package comes with some almost perfect replicas of the Beatles' guitars (if they were all plastic and had ten plastic fret buttons and...oh, you know what I mean...), John Lennon's "Rickenbacker 325", George Harrison's "Gretsch Duo Jet" and Paul McCartney's "Höfner 500/1".

Although the Guitar Hero: (band name here) games include real life venues, The Beatles: Rock Band includes many historically important venues and also venues created specifically for the game relating to the Beatles' history (ex. a recreation for the Ed Sullivan Show set for The Beatles' first live studio broadcast in America, a studio for the Beatles' for the time when they stopped going on tour and only spent time in the stuidio). And as you play through the "Career" mode, it seriously, and I mean seriously, is career mode, as you follow through the band's albums (and practically career) chronologically.

If you still don't believe that this game is different, watch some videos for yourself. Or better yet, see how the game would've come out if it WAS a Guitar Hero game...