Ragnarock VR Review

Get the hype up by smacking the drums

 Amanda BlainPosted:September 1, 2021
Updated: June 3, 2022

Beat the drums to Viking death metal while your Vikings row in VR. Let’s get started on this Ragnarock VR Review.

What is Ragnarock VR?

Ragnarock VR is a rhythm VR game. It lets you take the head of a Viking ship. Notes float towards you in a Guitar Hero style and when they go over the drums you hit them. The more notes you hit the faster your Viking boat rowers row.  Your score is determined by how far you get.

This is not Ragnarok, it is RagnaROCK.

Who Makes Ragnarock VR?

Ragnarock VR is developed by Wanadev Studio. They are a developer from France. They have made a few other VR experiences including Propagation VR and Yucatan.

Which VR Headsets is Ragnarock VR On?

Ragnarock VR is available on Steam VR and Oculus Quest 2. The game is currently available in the apps lab on Oculus Quest 2, so it may have some issues. One time when I loaded the game in Oculus, for example, the notes did not float towards me. Other times the game has loaded in Oculus Quest perfectly fine.

The Steam version and Quest version look and behave pretty similar overall.

Ragnarock VR Review Gameplay

There is no shortage of VR rhythm games. We have many with lightsabers, cardio, and dancing. Adding in a Viking drumming game to the mix might be just what your workout routine is looking for.

There is no way to fail in this game. Anyone can pick it up and get the concept very quickly.  This makes the game very good for anyone new to VR. That being said the difficulty to master the game is there. It will probably take you a while to get your technique down to the point where you will be getting even a bronze medal in a game.

You can hit the drums in any combination that you prefer, as long as you hit them. So you could use the right hand to hit a note on the left side for example. The focus is on hitting in the middle of the drum at the right moment.

There is also a large number of customizations built into the game. You can change the height of the drums, or the tilt of your hammer to get the perfect preference for you.

As you continue to hit the notes you will build up energy. Crashing the symbols on the sides when the energy is built up will cause your Viking rowers to let out a yell and do a speed boost. This is important if you want to get farther.

There are various runes on the graphics that show when the notes are supposed to be hit. All of the same rune shapes should be hit at the same time. Different symbols will never be hit at the same time. This part is not actually explained very well, but it is there to help you with the timing of the notes.

There is also a good amount of haptic feedback where you feel you are actually hitting the drums. You can adjust this in-game to your liking as well.

Ragnarock Graphics

The graphics used in Ragnarock are a low-poly simple texture experience. As the focus is really on your drumming, I don’t find this distracting. It kind of goes with the overall power silly theme of Viking rowing races.

What Songs are available on Ragnarock VR?

There are currently 30 songs available on Ragnarock VR. Here is the Ragnarock VR Song List.

• Alestorm – Chomp chomp
• Alestorm – No grave but the sea
• Alestorm – Mexico
• Alestorm – Tortuga
• Celkilt – Dewey
• Celkilt – Next One Down
• Celkilt – Whaole
• Feuerschwanz – Metfest
• Feuerschwanz – Kampfzwerg
• GloryHammer – Hootsforce
• GloryHammer – Masters of the galaxy
• GloryHammer – Universe on Fire
• Manaberry – Welcome to Asgard (an exclusive creation for Ragnarock!)
• Nanowar of Steel – Valhalleluja
• Niklas Johansson – Call of the North
• Paddy and the Rats – Join the Riot
• Sabordage – Au petit matin (an exclusive creation for Ragnarock!)
• Sabordage – The Great Pirate Bottle (an exclusive creation for Ragnarock!)
• Saltatio Mortis – Loki
• Saltatio Mortis – Löwenherz
• Sons Of O’Flaherty – Dead and Gone
• Sons Of O’Flaherty – Red Wine Teeth
• The SIDH – Heroes
• The SIDH – Iridium
• The SIDH – Nitro
• Ultra Vomit – Evier Metal
• Ultra Vomit – Kammthaar
• Wind Rose – Drunken Dwarves
• Wind Rose – Mine Mine Mine!
• Wind Rose – To Erebor

These songs are a mix of Celtic rock, Viking power metal, and overall heavy metal. This is a very unique genre of music and it certainly is not going to be for everyone. Some of the songs really grew on me as I continued to play. As many people can’t stand Beat Saber songs, Viking power metal might not be your cup of tea either.

Ragnarock VR Custom Songs?

Yes. There currently is the ability to create custom songs for private use on both the Steam and Oculus Quest 2 version.  There is a very detailed walkthrough on Steam if you want to create a custom map here. There is also a small 3rd party, not an official community site, of custom songs here. Once you have a custom song, here is where you put them

• On PC, navigate to your default ‘Documents’ folder. Create a folder named ‘Ragnarock’ there and another folder named ‘CustomSongs’ inside. Place your custom songs folders inside of it. The full path will look like [pathToDocumentsFolder]\Documents\Ragnarock\CustomSongs\MySong.
• On Oculus Quest, connect your headset to your computer by cable. Make sure you enable USB transfer to your device by validating the popup in your headset. Open up the Oculus Quest folder on your computer’s file explorer and navigate to Internal shared storage > Android > data > com.wanadev.ragnarockquest > files > UE4Game > Ragnarock > Ragnarock > Saved. Create a folder named ‘CustomSongs’ there and place your custom songs folders inside.

Custom songs allow you to increase your replayability of the game.

Ragnarock VR Multiplayer Experience

There are a few different multiplayer modes. You have the ability to join a public game with random people by selecting Quick Play and choosing your level. You also can play solo for a while while you wait for someone to join at your level. Your friends can also join a private mode with a code where you can compete against each other.

There is also the ability to set “ghost ships” to compete beside you for every game you play. These ships will go beside you to see how well you are doing. You can use your previous scores, friends of yours scores, or even the best player in the world. It is like multiplayer without having multiplayer. I found I used this a lot and pushed myself to do better than last time by beating that ghost ship!

Party Mode in Ragnarock VR

While there isn’t a party mode per se, Ragnarock does offer the ability to play against a ghost version of yourself. You could pass the headset back and forth in your house and use the ghost versions of other people playing to see who is the best!

Can you work out with Ragnarock VR? Is Ragnarock VR a Fitness Game?

Ragnarock VR allows you the freedom to hit the notes in whatever way you want. This means you can hardly move and just tap the notes or you could lower the height of the drums slightly causing you to do a minor amount of squats and really go to town hitting things.

You will be rapidly moving your arms up and down. No seriously. More than any other VR game I’ve played. My arms workout ache after playing this every time.

My fitness watch tells me that this game is equal to a game of Tennis or roughly 6 – 8 calories per minute.

Does Ragnarock VR cause motion sickness?

You play Ragnarock VR in a stationary environment notes come towards you and you hit the drums. Although the Viking ship moves in the game, there is no actual in-game walking or teleportation so motion sickness is unlikely.

Ragnarock VR should not cause any motion sickness issues.

Final Thoughts On Ragnarock VR Review