The Beatles: Rock Band

Harmonix has worked closely with Giles Martin - son of Beatles producer Sir George - on the mixes, with the archives plundered for outtakes, quips and warm-ups taken from the original studio recordings used in-game, say, before you play "Here Comes The Sun". "You feel like you're in Abbey Road Studio 2 with them and playing the songs together".

I actually am, as it happens. In Studio 2. Murdering "I Am The Walrus" on stage in the very room it was recorded by the group in 1967. Harmonix has just played a three-song set in front of Giles Martin, Apple execs and journalists following the first play of the remastered music. Another big moment for videogames.

The animation that runs in the background of "Here Comes The Sun" is beamed onto a giant screen, as the Fab Four tune up in Studio 2, and a glance around at the real thing is a weird sensation to say the least.

In Career mode, the group's performances at the Cavern Club, on the Ed Sullivan Show, and in the Budokan Hall and Shea Stadium are recreated with pleasingly nerdy attention to detail. So once we reach the point where they quit touring to focus on the studio, Harmonix has created 'Dreamscape' sequences that begin in Studio 2 before morphing into unique, gorgeous animations for each relevant track.

Stylistically, then, every effort has been made to make this a complete Beatles 'experience'. But what about the gameplay? Beatles: Rock Band is, essentially and unsurprisingly, Rock Band 2 with a couple of important twists.

The main one is the inclusion of vocal harmonies for the first time. Up to three vocal parts can be performed in relevant songs in addition to all the regular instruments, meaning you can have six people rocking out at once if you have all the kit handy.

Picking out harmonies can be an immense challenge, however, even if you think you know a song intimately. And to perform them in unison for the untrained can prove exceptionally difficult when they are often closely packed together. So Harmonix is helpfully including a Vocal Training Mode designed to help players nail the harmonies - although we've yet to see this running.

Slagging off Ringo's drumming skills is the laziest of all music jibes, and what he may have lacked in technical proficiency, the left-hander makes up for with his unmistakable off-beat style, as distinctive as a Macca bassline. So, Ringo fans rejoice at the Beatle Beats mode - a drum trainer for battering away with actual Beatles percussion samples. Again, this sounds promising, but we haven't seen it in action.

Having said all that, as Lennon famously observed, never mind the best drummer in the world, ol' Ringo isn't even the best drummer in The Beatles. So those hankering after the stick-wielding skills of Macca are well served by "Dear Prudence" - performed majestically on record by Paul, who drilled out the genius fills of the outro.