Rising Star 2 is an undiscovered gaming gem on Steam. The game is a mix of simulation and role-playing game. You control a hopeful up-and-coming musician and his band. You dream of big hits, collect particularly good instruments, level up, and when your band is about to break up, you wreck hotel rooms.
What is Rising Star 2? In Rising Star 2, you create a character and start in a city of your choice in the world. Your goal is to become a rock star.
You start a five-member band with a drummer, guitarist, keyboardist, bassist, and singer, and begin by mowing the grass in the park of your city, setting up a guitar case, and playing for spare change.
But soon you can travel the world, give concerts, and wreck hotel rooms. And write hits – oh, that one big hit that changes life forever. When you play Rising Star 2, you will learn to dream of it.
Sweet Home Alabama or the 6 Million City Frankfurt
This is how Rising Star 2 starts: The game has grown over 4 years like a service game and has become increasingly sophisticated and clever. The game has thought of a lot:
- You can, of course, start in a “big city” and try to make it there. The map is then very expansive, and it takes a long time to get from A to B. It may have 6×6 blocks.
- Or you start like typical rockstar legends do, somewhere in the province of Alabama, where the map only has 3×3 blocks and everything is clear. You then work your way into one of the major centers of the music industry like Atlanta.
I spent 18 hours in Rising Star 2. On my first run, I was in big Frankfurt, but my hits “Bankfurt,” “Why is it so beautiful on the Rhine,” and “Offenbach” just wouldn’t take off. On the second run, I made my career in Sweet Home Alabama.
At first, you go to the local music store and look for your musicians on the bulletin board. Not everyone wants to play with you – the aspiring musicians have their standards.
Then you mow the lawn of the local park for $250 and can jam there as a band for spare change, which brings in a little money for instruments and especially ideas and inspiration that you need for your first songs. But above all, you make a name for yourself in the city.
If you have put together 6 songs in the studio of your humble starting house, you can begin to perform in the local pub as the opening act for a band that is already a few steps above you in the band hierarchy.
Your first goal is now to win a “Battle of the Bands,” then fame, fortune, and the big city await.
The Music Business is Simulated Like a Role-Playing Game
This is what makes the game’s charm: Rising Star 2 reflects some of the pitfalls of the music business but functions like a classic role-playing game:
- You collect loot in the form of instruments, processors, and amplifiers – you buy them in one of the countless music shops in every city.
- There are consumable resources that you need to renew regularly, such as guitar strings or drumsticks.
- You can take on smaller tasks (like quests) to earn your first money and deal with all sorts of problems.
There is the “Ego” value for band members. If it’s high, the musician becomes unhappy if your band does not play enough of their songs and threatens to leave the band.
One way to alleviate this is to include the diva’s songs in the lineup, but one can also wreck a hotel room. Here, the rule is: the more expensive the item that is broken, the more inspiration you draw from it.
Especially at the beginning, you can also make good money by buying broken instruments cheaply, repairing them, and selling them – or you keep the best parts, which give you various bonuses.
Later, you have a manager who books tours for you, secures advertising deals, and negotiates record contracts. But until then, it’s a long way.
A Song is Either a Hit or Not – And Most of the Time It’s Not
This is particularly clever: The songs are created through an abstract system, where you assemble a song from 4 components that must fit together like puzzle pieces. You also always have to stay on trend and address the themes that the audience currently wants to hear.
But quality alone is not enough for a breakthrough. There is a hidden system in Rising Star 2 that ensures with a slight chance that one of about 15 to 30 music pieces you compose has that “certain something” and has the potential to be a hit. However, this is not really predictable – just like in real life.
I had about 100 songs and had two hits, one “big” and one smaller. The quality of the songs is not as decisive as the “buzz.”
Rising Star 2 Offers a Great Learning Curve and You Learn Why It’s Important to Destroy Hotel Rooms
And is it fun? Yes, a lot. Rising Star 2 is, on one hand, like a classic role-playing game, and gives you the feeling that you are making progress, filling larger venues, earning more money, and living in increasingly lavish homes. But it is also a clever explanation of the music market, and after playing Rising Star 2, you will understand much better why …
- Rock stars wreck hotel rooms
- Bands break up
- some bands just have one hit and never again
Rising Star 2 has a very satisfying learning curve. Everything in the game feels logical and self-consistent. I kept catching myself thinking: Ah, clever idea.
Undiscovered Gaming Gem on Steam
How is the game received? Rising Star 2 is practically unknown on Steam and has never had more than 107 players since its release in August 2020. However, those who discover it seem to be happy with the game. The reviews are extremely positive at 95%.
I spent 18 hours with the game in 2 days, and for me, it was worth the money.
Rising Star 2 costs €20 on Steam – but there is also a free demo that lets you get a taste of being a rock star.
Again and again, we have discovered individual games on Steam that have unjustly stayed under the radar at MeinMMO. In November 2023, we presented Infested Fortress: No one knows the new strategy game on Steam with high addiction potential – despite 92% positive reviews
