Parent's Guide: The Beatles: Rock Band - Age rating, mature content and difficulty

The Beatles: Rock Band is a music game based around the music of the Fab Four, that lets you step into the shoes of John, Paul, George and Ringo with the help of some plastic guitars and drums. Featuring a collection of 45 of the Beatles most famous songs, from Get Back, to Yellow Submarine, to Octopus's Garden and Come Together, it's up to you to pick up an instrument (or mic) and play along with some of the most famous tunes of all time.

If your child's played a Rock Band or Guitar Hero game before, they'll be in familiar territory here. Following the coloured notes that come down the screen towards you, it's up to you to hold the relevant button on the neck of your guitar controller, and strum as the icon crosses over a line at the bottom of the screen, which triggers the note to play. With four difficulty levels on offer, each of which adds more notes and extra complexity to your track, and three instruments to choose from, there's something for players of all abilities to get stuck into - although younger children may struggle with both timing, and use of the guitar controller, which can be a bit on the large side for young hands.

Letting you play using either an instrument controller or a microphone, you'll need at least one compatible controller to start playing, although guitars and drums from earlier Rock Band and Guitar Hero games are all fully compatible with The Beatles: Rock Band - and there's even a handy bundle available that includes everything you need to get going if you're coming to the game fresh. If you can, you'll ideally want to have access to two guitars, a few mics and a drum kit, because it's in multiplayer that The Beatles: Rock Band really comes into its own. Playing along together with your friends and family is incredibly cool, and as each player can choose their own difficulty level, you can raise or lower the challenge as much as you want. The added "No Fail" mode makes this a great place for beginners to get started without the risk of losing, while the added support for vocal harmonies, which lets three people try and sing together, and harmonise with each other, rounds off what's a fantastic music game for the whole family.

In terms of questionable content, there's surprisingly little for parents to be concerned about in The Beatles: Rock Band. While you may imagine there could be some pretty suggestive lyrics lurking in here, it's actually a pretty wholesome affair, with any questionable references being so cryptic in nature it's questionable whether children would even really notice ("Lucy in The Sky with Diamonds", for example, or a reference to "California grass"). Other than those, there's very little for parents to be concerned about here - although as everyone's different, you may want to give the songs a once over before you let your child sing them.

Age Ratings

Format Reviewed: Xbox 360