Playstation 3 The Beatles: Rock Band Limited Edition Premium Bundle

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Being a long time RB fan as well as growing up with the Beatles had to have the new kit. Here are our thoughts after playing the whole game only took about 2 hours with all of us playing on Expert. I'm mainly hoping to help anyone trying to decide if it's worth coughing up the cash for the new instruments.

DRUM KIT (WIRELESS)

If you have a Rock Band 2 drum kit already don't bother with this one. If you are still using a wired set or none at all, then this is definitely a cool addition/upgrade. The only complaint I have is that the pads are much harder and LOUDER than previous kits I had to stop after the first set and go get some silencer pads. I highly suggest this accessory, especially if you hit your drums a little hard like I do. One nice feature is the pedal has a metal reinforcement already. Other than the white color, it's a RB2 drum set (you can add the cymbol extensions). There is a 'kick drum head', which is a flimsy wire circle with wrinkled up nylon that looks absolutely terrible. I highly recommend getting some hickory 7A sticks at a music store (light ones).

HöFNER VIOLIN BASS (WIRELESS)

To me, this is what I was pumped for, Paul's replica bass. It does look very cool, and is much quiter than the Fender guitar, but the neck is really long (as a bass should be) and it strains your hand in no time. If you are a couch-player (like my son), you may find that the lower side button can be pressed by accident a lot. Other than that, it's a really nice addition to any set, and I always suggest using a real guitar strap instead of the punk strap that they give you. $10 at any music store and you're pimpin'!

Of course it's right-handed, which I understand, and ironically it's not very lefty-friendly. I have a hard time finding my way back on the frets when playing, the original Fender has easy to feel ridges that keep you on track, on this bass however they've smoothed out the frets a bit and stiffened the buttons so hard & expert players may have a little trouble. Easy & medium players should have no problems.

MICROPHONE

Same as previous mikes, nothing new here. And yes it is wired. I've seen all over that this kit is supposed to have a mike stand. Mine did not have it.

*Update thanks to a user comment, I did find the microphone stand buried in the package, it was in an unmarked small box that looked like packing material.

GAME

The screen is much busier, but the images and actual sound clips from the studio & concerts is very cool. If you are a Beatles fan, definitely go for the Story mode, it goes in chronilogical order of their career. The drumming fill 'tunnel' to activate your star power has been replaced with a one-note shot to the green pad. I miss the fills already, but the game does seem much more generous with the star power for drums. Guitar & bass is about the same in that regard.

There are several enhancements to the game play & options, too many to list but know that you can't play RB/RB2 songs with this game, and you can't play Beatles songs with older RB editions. The volume drives me crazy the menu part is twice as loud as when the songs play. I think the graphics and extra enhancements are great though, glad to see improvements there.

DIFFICULTY

If you're an expert player, or even hard, you won't find any challenges here other than singing. Our resident singer found herself out of breath after several songs. #2 in difficulty is the bass section surprisingly. I have a whole new respect for Paul! There are some songs that will keep you busy on drums, but not many. If anything, Ringo's beats are different and awkward to get the hang of. Many songs have little to no snare, or some crazy patterns, but overall they are really easy songs.

SINGING

By far the biggest change of the game is the multi-singer capability. You can have up to 3 mikes hooked up, and join in singing harmony or you can have everyone singing lead and the game takes the best vocals and uses that score. I have had an absolute blast singing while playing guitar/bass. Since I know most of these songs by heart it's easy & fun.

OVERALL

Beatles fans will find a lot of cool things in this game, but serious rockers will be yawning after the first set or two. The equipment is cool, but if you have a wireless kit and guitar you like, you may be better off just getting the software. It really is a gem for Beatles fans. I'm glad to expose my kids to these legends and it's always a pleasure to hear those songs. I think the hype is a little over-rated, Beatles fans will understand, I don't think non-fans will though.

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Before I start this review, I'd like to state (for the record) that I'm a pretty big Beatles fan. I'm also a big fan of the "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" series of games. With that said, I have to admit that I really enjoyed this game. I bought the "limited edition" bundle that comes with the Hofner Bass Guitar, Drums, Mic, and Mic stand. It also comes with some collector's Beatles postcards.

Hardware:

All of the instruments that came with this bundle seems to have a high build quality. Even the mic stand seemed surprising 'sturdy as hell' :) The MCcartney Hofner guitar especially stands out. It's beautifully made and looks very much like a real guitar. The details in the paint-job was a pleasant surprise. It even has a little light sensor on it that can automatically calibrate screen timing and response time of the guitar.

Game:

The game itself is a brilliant tribute to The Beatles. It's beautifully rendered with details and nuiances that were well thought out and executed. The intro video to the game is probably one of the best I've ever seen. Even the menu transitions in this game are beautiful and creatively done! A lot of love and care was taken to make this game... and it really does shine through. The music itself was painstakingly remastered and just sounds amazing! I liked that all the songs were available to play (in quick-play mode) right away without having to unlock them. The game features 45 Beatles songs spanning their whole career. Of course I would've liked more songs... but I also understand that they couldn't fit every single song onto the disc. I heard that more songs will be available for purchase at a later date through the online store though.

Gameplay:

In "Story Mode" you can play individually or in a band and it basically follows their career. The graphics are done really well and there is a lot of attention to detail apparent. For example, the guitars they are holding look really detailed and when they are strumming the guitars, they are strumming the real chords and notes. The concert halls seem like they have been rendered to look exactly like the venues they played. Some of the songs start out with them recording it in the studio... but then zooms them into a music video that was especially made for the song. The 3D rendered videos of these songs are just amazing and it's hard to concentrate on strumming when you're trying to look at the music video at the same time :)

Quickplay mode lets you pick any songs you want to play (either solo or with a band) or create your own set-list of songs from the compete list of songs. There is also an online play option for both Story mode and Quick-play, though I haven't really tried it out yet. As always, here is a quick list of Pros and Cons I found while playing this game:

Pros:

-Graphics, videos, and Styling of game is done right!

-The re-mastered music sounds great and is offered in surround sound option.

-Wide array of songs that span their career

-Instruments and hardware seem to be of high build quality

-Game-play is fun and Menus are easy to navigate and understand... plus, beautifully rendered.

-There is a nice surprise when you beat the game... but I'm not telling! :)

-Setting up the instruments was pretty easy.

Cons:

-Medium difficulty mode on Guitar and Bass seems too easy, while "Hard" mode is a big leap from "Medium"

-No expansion song packs available at launch.

-Limited Edition bundle is pretty expensive (retails at $

-Missing some great songs... like "Hey Jude", "And I love her", and "Strawberry Fields" to name a few.

Conclusion:

If you are a fan of The Beatles music, this game is a must! The music is better than you've ever heard it, and it looks visually stunning! If you can't afford the limited edition bundle (I would recommend that you buy just the game itself because it's compatible with many of the guitars and instruments of the older Guitar Hero and Rock Band games. My guitar from my 'Guitar Hero World Tour' worked great for this game. My tip is to buy a complete band bundle from one of the previous games (like Rock Band 2 or Guitar Hero World Tour) and buy just the Beatles game. That way you'll have a complete band of instruments and 2 games to play instead of just one. In a word, I have to admit that this game "Rocks" :)

Buy Playstation 3 The Beatles: Rock Band Limited Edition Premium Bundle Now

Everyone's done the review of the GAME itself, which is stellar, I thought I'd use this review space to actually assess what comes in the premium bundle and whether it justifies the additional $190 as opposed to just buying software.

The premium bundle comes with the game disc, the Hofner bass controller, Ludwig drum set, 1 wired microphone, a microphone stand, and some postcards.

Hofner Bass controller:

Absolutely beautiful replica instrument, definitely the best-looking peripheral I've seen yet for RB or GH. I like the action on it, it plays just as well if not a little better than the RB2 Fender Strat. Also like the RB2 guitar, it includes the camera and mic for auto-calibration. New to this model (at least over my RB2 guitar), the PS button is located on the bottom of the guitar instead of the face, and the start button has a slight delay on it to reduce accidental pauses. Other people have complained about the neck of the bass being too long and straining their fret hand I haven't had problems with this, but my STRUMMING hand gets strained, I guess due to the somewhat awkward rounded edge. Unlike the Fender Strat, I can only use this guitar for an hour or so before it starts to hurt my strumming hand. So a very nice-looking instrument, but for me at least, not appropriate for extended play sessions.

Ludwig Bass controller:

Identical to the RB2 wireless drum kit except for some cosmetic changes (white pattern around the rings of the drum pads, the actual pads themselves look a little different, includes the Beatles kick drum head, purely for aesthetics). It may be a smidgen louder than the RB2 drum kit, but I didn't notice that, it's definitely quiter than the original RB1 kit.

Microphone:

Same one that comes with RB2. That is all.

Microphone stand:

Pretty nice single-arm mic stand. We've had some minor issues with the mic dropping a bit if you rock out too hard, but generally speaking it's pretty stable, and folds up nicely for storage/portability.

Postcards:

Meh. Cute, I suppose the Beatles completist would have to have these.

Bottom Line: Since the premium Beatles guitars are going for about $100 by themselves, I suppose the price tag of this package could be justified. But that's up to the individual consumer to decide. Personally, I feel like the $250 price tag is a mite high, and I knocked a bit off my rating to show that. If it were selling for even $200, I'd have no qualms giving it a perfect rating. Still though, the game is stellar, and if you're uncertain about buying the full bundle, at least give the software a try.

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If you are a Beatles fan and you get this game, you'll think you've died and gone to heaven. If you aren't a Beatles fan and you purchase this game, you'll quickly be enthralled. Just watching the intro to this game is like taking some Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and listening to, well, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. The animations are superb, the audio is top notch, and the extras are so numerous that you'll be screaming and crying to come back for more. Every aspect of this game has been tweaked to perfectionI can't personally imagine a better music game. Satisfy your urge for Beatlemania with Beatles Rock Band.

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If you're a Beatles fan, you will love it.

If you're a beginer at rock band titles, you will love it. It's very easy to learn on that game.