Customer Reviews

Playstation 3 WarBeast Guitar

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

I finally pulled the trigger on this, and I'm glad I did. It is a great looking, full size guitar controller that works with all the rhythm-based guitar game genres.

Pro's:
1. Look and feel is great. Just giving it a casual glance would make you think it is a real guitar, until you notice there are no strings. There was a definite attention to quality here.
2. The frets are good, too. Much like the Rock Band guitars, you can't see the colors on them unless you are looking down on them from the side, which gives it a very authentic look. Regular and solo frets. Some people complained about a sticky green fret, but mine has no problem at all.
3. Strum bar is perfect. Some said it was loud, and it is louder than the Rock Band strum bar, but not as loud as the Guitar Hero strum bar. It has a click feel like Guitar Hero, as opposed to the Rock Band "springy" feel and sound. Also feels much more solid than the others, as I've had to send my Rock Band guitar back because it broke during a fast section of a song.
4. Ability to disassemble for portability is a huge plus, especially for such a large controller.

Con's:
1. Based on the way it is assembled, my green fret button occasionally doesn't work. I initially thought it was a deal breaker, until I called Dreamgear's customer service. The told me to take the neck apart, and then reattach it. It did fix the problem, but was very worrisome right out of the box.
2. The star power button next to the strum bar doesn't work. I've only played it with Rock Band 2, which is what I have seen online. Not sure if this is going to be fixed somehow, but it is kind of a bummer.
3. Lifting the guitar activates overdrive, as opposed to my Rock Band guitar that never activated properly, but it may work too good. I thought overdrive was randomly activating, but it was because I was tilting the guitar ever so slightly up.

I just purchased this about a week ago, and after reading so many bad things about this I was skeptical to get it. As I have learned from this and many other items, take peoples comments with a grain of salt. Many factors can influence someone's take on a product and everyone has their own opinions. What someone calls junk is another man's treasure. Anyway on to the review...

The guitar was shipped amazingly fast ... I ordered it with standard shipping and it arrived one day after it was shipped. It comes in three parts which are easy to snap together. Similar to the Rock Band guitars... once you snap on the headstock it is almost impossible to remove it without breaking it. But there is a quick release on the neck for storage. (I purchased the Rock Band 3 Guitar Stand here also and it works with this guitar and my others perfectly) Also I believe the face plate comes off but why you would want to remove it without another style plate to put on is beyond me. While it does take 4 AA batteries there is an off switch to save batteries unlike the other guitars which, to me, seem to eat the batteries unless you remove them. I don't care for the whammy bar as much, but I can deal with it (I like the one on the Guitar Hero WT best). The reach is exactly like a real guitar and after playing this and going back to my old GH/RB guitars it really gives you a sense of how small they really are. There is a heaver feel to this but it is still pretty light. The frets seem to be a bit bigger than what I am used to but it didn't take long to adjust. (By the way I have all Guitar Hero and Rock Band games + Expansions and I play on Expert on them all in case that influences my review.) The buttons and strum bar are clicky like most people say but I don't find them all that loud as I play the game loud with friends on drums so you really don't notice after a while. The clickyness on the frets actually helps me to feel if I actually hit a note or just thought I did. (Also my GH WT guitar was clicky too and it was my favorite until this.) The tilt sensor doesn't seem to be a problem on mine. I think most people hold their guitar at an angle so that's probably what is causing the unwanted star power activation. I have noticed however when I do tilt the guitar it doesn't activate your star power until you tilt it back down at times. Not really a problem for me since I don't hold my guitar at an angle. Also my star power button on the bridge works perfectly, unlike some others have reported. I did have a problem with the blue fret not working but after people's comments about unplugging the neck and plugging it back in that seemed to have fixed it and I have had no other problems. As far as the d-pad, mine works perfect, no problems as other have described. The toggle switch for Rock Band pedal effects works perfect too although I never use it. I have also not had any problems with the dongle not working when you play a game. I have left my dongle in and I can switch to any of my games and just change the switch on the guitar to RB or GH and it works perfect, no need to unplug the dongle and re-plug it back in.

Over all it's a really nice guitar and I get lots of comments from people at my college about how they thought it was the real thing at first sight hanging on my guitar stand until they noticed it had no strings. Even then they comment on how amazing it looks for a video game controller.

If you like the Rock Band frets with a Guitar Hero style strum bar, and assuming you get a non-defective model then you will not be sorry about this purchase. Considering how much walk-in game stores charge for replacement guitars for GH and RB this is pretty much equivalent to the price. Not only that you are saving about forty dollars off of the MSRP.

I too have the same problem with the green fret. The fret is slow to pop back and has to be pushed dead center for it to register. I am returning my Warbeast, as I continually miss notes because of problem with the green fret. I am sad to bring it back because I really like how the frets span the width of the neck like the stock rockband guitar. I haven't been able to find any other high end 3rd party guitar that has this same fret configuration.

Also, the click noise from the strumbar is "incredibly" loud. It is in no way a slight click sound. The guitar is hollow plastic in most parts and due to this construction it seems to act like an amplifier of the click noise, which is quite annoying. I can hear the loud clicking noise while strumming even with the games music volume turned up loud. I considered putting some sound dampening padding inside around the strumbar, but to take off the screws holding the backing on the guitar requires a special star key tool which I don't have. All in all it's a great idea for a PS3 guitar, but it has some serious quality/construction shortcomings. I really wanted to love this guitar, but sadly, back to the store it goes. :(

My husband is an avid player of Rock Band II for the PS3. For this birthday I decided to purchase the Warbeast Guitar. The shipment from Amazon came in undamaged but when we hooked up the guitar to the PS3, it wouldn't sync up. We went through the instructions and looked online but we were unable to get it to work. We contacted the company in California were advised that it sounded like the "dongle" that comes with the guitar was bad. We paid to send the dongle back to the company and a week 1/2 later I received one that was tested as working.

I hooked up the dongle and turned on the guitar and everything came right up. My husband then turned on Rock Band and just when he was entering his band, the guitar turned off. We would turn it back on and then after a few minutes, it would lose its sync and turn itself off again. I purchased this product off of Amazon.com and I was able to send it back to them. They then sent me another Warbeast to try.

The good news was that the dongle worked but the guitar kept losing its sync. Whenever we exited or entered the game, the dongle would turn itself off. Whether we were done with the unit or not.

After doing some research online, I found that many users were experiencing these same two issues. The guitar itself is pretty awesome but the dongle just seems to be flimsy. In the end, I tried two different Warbeast guitar's and 3 dongles and still we couldn't keep the unit working.

If you do decide to purchase this, I hope that you have a better experience. My husband was pretty disappointed that we couldn't get this working. Perhaps the company will take a look and upgrade the equipment so that it is a little more stable.

Got home, opened it up, plugged it in....

I was so excited that I put the batteries in backward, So it took me a second to connect to the PS3. Once I flipped the batteries around, it connected just like it should..no problems.

I put the guitar strap on the guitar, went to sling it over my shoulder and heard the sound of "something loose" inside the guitar. Sounded like when you drop your pick inside of your acoustic. Just something shaking around inside the main body.

Then, at the main selection screen of Guitar Hero 5, I noticed the the strum button did not work in the up direction. "Too easy, I'll just play strumming downwards"..right?

Started my first song...Green button sticks (just like other reviewers have mentioned)..and yellow button doesnt work at ALL!!

So, with something shaking around inside the body and 2 buttons not working at all, and RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX!! I'll be trying to make time to send this garbage back.

Hope this was helpful...

And yes, I was thinking (like you may be thinking now) "I usually have good luck with things" and "It wont happen to me"

Dont buy this product.

I have to say that I am a experienced costumer and very objective about consumers reviews. I am a 35 years old gamer and I promise that this review is honest and serious. I know that what you are about to read sounds ridiculous but it happened...
When I saw this guitar at the first time, I liked it so much even though I was a little worried about the negative reviews but unfortunately I decided to buy this item.
When I received the Warbeast guitar, I was very excited and impressed because it looked great but immediately I noticed a few things that made me anticipate the enormous failure that this product is.
The guitar is made in plastic and it twists and bends awkwardly when pressed. The buttons are stiff and noisy and the neck of the guitar sounds like something is inside. Nevertheless I began to play but the buttons suddenly lost sensitivity. The rest of the story was more of the same. The guitar began to have problems with dongle sync and the power button began to fail...
I only used this guitar for one day and when I tried to turn the guitar on after switching it off for a break, it suddenly ended up working and didn't turn on again.
I replaced the batteries and waited for a significant period of time but the situation remains and the guitar did not respond. Only one day?? Come on!!!

I asked Dreamgear (fabricator) for support, but is useless... they don't answer e-mails or phone calls.
Since I live overseas, it is more expensive to send this piece of garbage back so I'll keep it and will smash it and break it in a Jimmy Hendrix tribute.

Now seriously, please, don't buy this piece of cr@p. Don't believe in naive good reviews here at amazon. I did a little research online and I found that the quality of this product is more than questionable.

Don't waste your money in this mediocre and defective garbage.

Only one day...This is ridiculous.!

Pros:
1. This looks fantastic. This guitar is the exact same size as the actual Warbeast.
2. Hangs great on the strap. The neck balances itself right where it should. No more having to hold the guitar up with your hand while playing.
3. Strum bar has a good *click* to it and seems responsive.
4. All of the buttons are in a good place and easy to reach while playing.

Cons:
1. Sticky fret keys. I am not sure if this will change after a break in period, but the green fret button is slow to return to its neutral position.
2. Questionable star power button. I might have just not used it enough, but the added star power button where the real guitar's bridge would be does not see to work in RB2. Great feature though if it actually works.
3. USB dongle has to be un/re plugged every time the game or main menu is accessed on the PS3. Turn on the machine, plug in the dongle, access the game, unplug, and then replug the dongle.

All in all this guitar feels really solid and playable. I am hoping the keys will break in after a bit and stick less. If not for the sticky fret, questionable star power button, and the funky dongle I would give this 6 stars if I could, but as it stands 4 will have to do. One of the best aftermarket controllers out there, but still not perfect.

I bougth two controllers,both failed, same quality problem: the arm does not fit well to the body, after some hours using it, the problems appear and you start to miss notes, you have to push forward the armcountinuosly and finally you end putting more attetion to the controller than to the playing itself.

May be it is caused by my own playing-style, but i have read other reviews not only here at amazon and it seems to be a common issue AND A DEALBREAKER too.

DO NOT BUY THIS ITEM.

I have had 5 WarBeasts. My first lasted over a year and it was my favorite controller. When I replaced my first, because of a broken strum bar, I had a series of guitars with flaws: sticky green button, connection with the neck and body, fail to connect after a few days. The quality has actually gotton worse overtime in my experience. The neck connectors have been redesigned and the strum bar is now different - no more GH3 like click. I have hated to love this guitar. It is full size, the buttons generally are good and the original strum was fantastic. Now the buttons are subpar to RB2 guitars (or Beattles) and the strum is somewhere in between the GH3 design and RB guitars. My current guitar works, but now I no no longer want to play it. This was my "go to" guitar for over a year, now the RB/Beattles guitars are better. I play expert guitar, however I can't beat the hardest songs in the game/DLC, but can beat most.

Some love the look, I really don't care for it but used it for its better performance. In my experience Dreamcast's customer service is non-existent. If you buy one, get it through Amazon or some other seller that has a good return policy. Good chance you will need it.

I bought three for resale that were supposedly new in original packaging... All were missing recievers, apparently these are the "Achille's heel" of the product.
I attempted to email, then telephone DreamCAST support offering to pay for new receivers. I have heard nothing from them... Extremely poor support department, does
not bode well for the longevity of this supplier!!!