If you, like me, thought The Beatles: Rock Band game would be like any other Rock Band game, just with Beatles songs, well, you'd be right ... and wrong. You're right because, like all other Rock Band games, you'll play well-known songs with a full band (guitar, bass, drum and singer) by pressing/hitting the colored buttons/drum heads as they flow down a note highway on screen. Singers will also be graded on hitting the right pitch as they mouth the words as they pan across the screen, karaoke style.

The Fab Four in their early years.

The Beatles: Rock Band isn't like other Rock Band games because, well, the simple fact that you'll be playing along to The Beatles -- classic songs that are familiar to the oldest guy and the youngest kid in the room. Paul, John, George and Ringo have all been recreated into animated characters that play along in the background -- and will look different based on the song you're playing. In 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' the guys sport their signature mop tops on a set from the Ed Sullivan Theater and for songs from the later years, such as 'Here Comes the Sun,' the foursome revert back to their hippie days with lots of facial hair, complete with psychedelic cartoons in the background.

Based on the 10 tracks revealed so far, The Beatles: Rock Band seems to be sticking to the hits, and will, most likely, offer deeper cuts as downloadable content later. Case in point: as soon as the game comes out, you'll be able to buy Abbey Road in its entirety and 'All You Need is Love' as a single (Xbox Live only) and all the proceeds from the single will be donated to Doctors Without Borders. Whether that's good or not depends on your expectations for this game's soundtrack -- but I fully expect that Apple Corps., The Beatles' holding company might finally be ready for digital distribution, but it isn't going to give away the proverbial cow for free.

The new guitars created specifically for the game look absolutely fantastic. At first, we sighed at the thought of adding three more guitar controllers to our growing collection, but after getting a close look -- we'd rather buy the mock Rickenbacker, Gretsch and Hofner bass guitars and toss out our other plastic axes. We played along using the Hofner bass guitar -- and the controller feels like it can stand up to some hardcore thumping. Of course, until we won't know until we can really give the guitar a workout. The Ludwig replica drums were less impressive -- they look like any other Rock Band drums with a so-called faux "pearlized" finish (it kinda just looks like a messy paint job) and a flimsy kick scrim with "The Beatles" and the Ludwig logos on the front. They almost look out of place next to the trio of slick guitars.

Biggest change in the game is that the vocals now include a harmony, which you can choose to use or ignore. After each song, you'll be able to check a detailed menu that will let you know how well you sang on the harmonies, so you can practice it to perfection before your next Rock Band house party. After all, nobody said it was easy being The Beatles. Look for this game on shelves on September 9 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii.