The Beatles: Rock Band

Yes, The Beatles: Rock Band is indeed worth the hype. It may just be one of the greatest music-related video games ever released. Its only flaw is the number of songs.

The best way to fully experience the game is to play it in "Story" (career) mode. Played this way, The Beatles: Rock Band begins with the group's early days at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, England and moves through the band's career. "Levels" are divided into specific periods in the band's history, and players can unlock photographs and audio clips throughout the game.

The graphics accompanying each song are nothing short of mindblowing. Designers Chris Foster, Sylvain Dubrofsky and Casey Malone did an incredible job designing John, Paul, George and Ringo's characters. The Beatles' clothing, hair styles and facial hair change with each "chapter" in the game's Story mode, synchronizing their images with history. When you play the songs from Magical Mystery Tour, for example, all four Beatles characters appear in the costumes they wore in the film, and are dressed in their Sgt. Pepper's attire when playing songs from that album.

But the 45 songs included in the game may not be enough for the Rock Band or Beatles obsessive. It's possible to blaze through the game in just a few hours if you play it on the easy or medium difficulty settings, and it perhaps would have been a bit wiser to include more songs, as it would have been more engaging. That said, it will take you much, much more time to get through the game on the hard or expert difficulty settings.

Nonetheless, Beatles obsessives, original Beatles fans, those who are new to the Fab Four and hardcore gamers in general will get a lot out of The Beatles: Rock Band. It's a 21st century multimedia experience because it makes the listener one with John, Paul, George and Ringo's music and actively engages them with it instead of leaving them passively sitting in front of the stereo or television. It also proves The Beatles will never cease to be relevant.