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First and foremost, you have to like The Beatles to even bother with the third iteration in the Rock Band series. After all, there are only 45 songs on disc, all of them coming from The Beatles' brief but prolific recording career. The Beatles: Rock Band can't interface with the previous two games and all upcoming Beatles downloadable content is only usable with this game. It is a singular entity -- a sort of private Hall of Fame for the greatest band that ever lived.
Limited Edition ContentThe $250 box set for The Beatles: Rock Band comes with the game (which retails for $59.99), a set of Ringo-styled drums, a wired mic, a mic stand, some postcards of The Beatles, and a very attractive replica of Paul McCartney's Hofner bass. It's basically what you get with Rock Band 2, only with a bonus mic stand and an extra $60 slapped onto the price. That's right, you get the same basic set for $60 more because it's got The Beatles license.Had the Limited Edition come with a second guitar or three wireless mics, perhaps the price would be justified. But this is plain and simple a rip off. Ringo's drums don't look that great and the lack of a wireless mic is a real shocker. The only thing commendable about this set is the amazing reproduction of McCartney's bass guitar. The body is absolutely gorgeous. This is, without question, the coolest looking plastic guitar so far released by any music game. It looks great, but unfortunately, it plays poorly.No advancements have been made from the previous Rock Band 2 guitar. The buttons are loose, the strum bar still feels mushy and it just doesn't feel right in my hands. The only smart thing done with this version is that tapping the Start button won't pause the game. Instead you have to hold the button for a few seconds, preventing accidental pausing during play. There are also a set of buttons at the base of the neck for solos, but they're hardly good enough to merit the cover price.Normally, Limited Edition packages receive the same score as the normal games. That's because the software is the star and these bonus items don't really change what is on disc. The Beatles Limited Edition breaks that standard. This set is so overpriced and the guitars functionality so mediocre, that I could not possibly leave this at the disc's original 9.0 score. I've dropped the final score on this set a full point, in hopes of warning people off. If you need instruments, consider purchasing some from Activision's Guitar Hero series, which are compatible with The Beatles: Rock Band.
