I zipped through the Story Mode in about six hours and while that may not seem like a long time, it was a wonderful six hours and replaying the songs over and over again isn’t going to get old anytime soon. Story Mode takes you on a journey through a truncated tour of the history of the group from their clean cut early days to the mop top days, all the way to the studio days of Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road. The story is brilliantly executed by a design team that knows its subject matter. I simply did not want it to end, and when I hit the rooftop concert I knew it was almost over, and was actually somewhat saddened by it. I knew the journey was just about complete. It’s what great games do – they leave you wanting just a little bit more.

Aesthetically the game is spot on perfect and a bit different from previous music games. Each “era” of the band is represented by various venues from the dungeons of the Cavern Club in Liverpool to the legendary Shea Stadium concert to the studio days when the game’s Dreamscapes kick in – these are simply amazing and just as fun to sit back and watch as they are to play in, but as a dreamscape song concludes the band is brought back into the studio – the trip is over. And, unlike other games in this genre, these studio sessions are not followed by roaring and cheering crowds: just The Beatles nodding to each other as if to say, “that was perfect.” Of course the game glosses over the notion that in the latter days of the studio sessions these four legends could barely stand to be around one another, but hey, it’s a game and why spoil it?

Quibbles are few, but still worth noting. The new 2 and 3-part harmony sections, which are ridiculously entertaining to do if you have multiple microphones and willing singers, cannot be taken online over Xbox Live or the PSN. It’s a real shame that this couldn’t be pulled off because it’s such a vital component to the multiplayer Beatles experience. This is, without question, a game that while you can play online, is best served by playing in the same room with your band mates.

In addition, you can’t emulate playing as The Beatles, which strikes me as a bit strange. Since this was built basically from the ground up as a game about the band you’d think you would be able to play with two guitars: one lead and one rhythm, but you can’t. If you have four people ready to go one person is going to sing and not play an instrument which sort of goes against what the band was all about.

Finally, it isn’t terribly difficult. As a certified Beatlemaniac I could care less as I enjoyed singing and playing the songs regardless of the challenge but if you are the type of player who can 5-star Painkiller on Expert then you will find little challenge even with some of the trickier tracks (drums being the exception – some of the late songs are really tough). Still, the real challenge is playing and singing at the same time, and if there was ever a music game that almost demanded that you sing—it’s this one. It’s just not the same feeling sitting back and playing guitar; you need to belt these songs out.

Once again the developers at Harmonix have shown the gaming industry how it’s done. The company took on a monumental challenge in taking on the best band of all time and building a music game around them—and they pulled it off by treating the music and the band members with the respect that they deserved, and in the end have crafted a game that should be the blueprint for how you approach band-themed games from this point on.