The Beatles: Rock Band is a game that my family and I have been anticipating with bated breath for nearly two years, and it was definitely worth the wait. This game is full of lovingly rendered and beautifully crafted scenes that makes the die-hard Beatles fans cry tears of joy.

From the opening the sequence to the ending credits, the entire game follows the 10 years The Beatles recorded and performed as a band. The animation style is appropriate to the era of each chapter and even reminiscent of the 1968 feature film, Yellow Submarine - right down to the Blue Meanies. The concert chapters are flawless, sometimes even shot for shot identical to the original recordings (trust us, we checked with a witness who saw some of the broadcasts live.) The in-studio chapters are beautifully rendered music videos that borrow elements from Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine, creating some awe-inspiring scenes – and some that make you wonder if they aren't digitally delivering contact hallucinogens through your controller.

The track list is a very well-rounded collection. Each chapter features at least one song sung by each band member. The difficulty doesn't gradually increase as in previous Rock Band games since it's based on linear time rather than song complexity.  During regular play, we only really had trouble with two songs on the guitar. Despite the excellent track list, the game was much too short. There is a XBL achievement for completing all the chapters in a day, which was not difficult to obtain.  While the ending was fulfilling, it did leave us wanting more.

A great bonus is the promised DLC on all platforms. For obvious reasons, TB:RB is not cross-compatible with your other Rock Band content; however, releases are planned right through the end of 2009 to “round out” the track list, which should greatly increase the replay value of this title. It's also a huge first, since before now no Beatles song had been legally available in a digital release.  It's also great to see Harmonix took the effort in remastering a lot of the songs which all sounds great.

The Beatles: Rock Band was a labor of love on the part of everyone involved and that work has definitely paid off in the form of a gorgeous video game. Fans can rest assured that the game takes care to honor the Fab Four in a way that only modern technology and true fans can. I really look forward to the DLC for this title and possibly other treasured rockers hopping on the bandwagon of rhythm games. How awesome – or disturbing - would a Pink Floyd: Rock Band be?

ED: For the complete Head to Head Cage Match between The Beatles: Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5, check out this previous piece written by Amos.