I don't know about you, but I've always dreamed of knowing how to play an instrument, without ever having enough courage to throw myself into it body and soul. Thanks to video games, I was able to pretend to be talented somewhere. Thanks Guitar Hero, thank you Rock Band. Since then, a few scattered titles have been released here and there, but none before Ragnarock failed to rekindle that flame. It must be said that embodying a Viking who plays metal drums on a drakkar to motivate our troops, it still throws a lot. In early access for several months, the game from Lyonnais Wanadev Studios has just celebrated its release in 1.0, the opportunity to do a little overview against a background of Power Metal.
It should be said at the outset that Ragnarock don't invent anything. If you've played a musical game over the past 2 decades, it's a safe bet that you already know the vertical scrolling of notes, which must be played at the right time to earn maximum points. Chaining several triggers a bonus linked to the combo, and it is possible to activate a bonus via a small drum to temporarily double the point gain, galvanizing our troops who will go faster.
Nothing very original then, but the system has proven itself and is still proving to be just as effective, and this game is no exception to the rule! You may have missed something on the topline when I mentioned faster troops. Ragnarock is a game designed for multiplayer, since we race Drakkar! As a player, we will be at the end of the Drakkar, and we will bang on 4 drums to play the score. The latter will motivate the crew of the longship, which will advance more or less quickly, depending on our performance on the current title. We can of course play solo, where we will face our ghost and the ghosts of the bronze, silver and gold medals, but also, and above all, in multiplayer, up to 6.
Regardless of the game mode, the game is fun and very engaging to play. Like many Virtual Reality games, it will require some physical effort, and if the game is relatively simple in its first difficulty mode, it will get tougher very quickly as soon as you raise the slider a little. If someone had told me that I would sweat so much playing on virtual drums, I would not have believed it for a moment... and yet, it was tough on many occasions!
My first negative point probably comes from the feeling we have while playing Ragnarock. As you can imagine, when you hit the wind, there is no resistance. The developers have therefore "simulated" this feedback via vibrations in the VR controllers, and it is not entirely convincing. On several occasions, I missed notes due to vibration faults, or because the latter was not strong enough, or a little off. You can adjust that in the menus, and my gear must also have a role in that (Oculus Rift S), but it sometimes comes out of the experience creating frustration.
In terms of content, the game has been enriched with its release in 1.0, fortunately. At present, we have 30 tracks, and once we've done the trick, we can count on the import of our tracks to extend the gaming experience. Power Metal, perfectly in tune with the spirit of the game. In any case, I took my foot all along. Finally, a very small point on the graphic part: the game is not very demanding technically, thanks to the artistic direction chosen by the studio which avoids having too many polygons on the screen. We will therefore sail afloat in different rather nice atmospheres, but on which we will not necessarily have time to concentrate since our eyes will remain fixed on the notes which scroll on the screen.
With Ragnarock, VR once again proves its effectiveness with rhythm games, and the Lyonnais title can easily join the toy library and sit proudly next to the flagship games that are Beat Saber, Pistol whip or even Audic.
