Rise to Fame: The Music RPG

If, like us, you've never actually wondered what would happen if Diablo and Rock Band had a saucy fling, prepare to have all of your unasked questions answered as developer Entertainment is My Life births its bizarre hybrid game Rise to Fame: The Music RPG.

It might look like a bland Guitar Hero rip-off in the screenshots, but Rise to Fame actually has some smart systems at play beneath its vaguely familiar hair metal exterior.

Conceptually, the game follows your burgeoning band from humble origins playing to uninterested patrons of dingy bars right through to world domination as your fame increases and your skills evolve.

Rock of mages

In practical terms, that means slowly working your way through stages themed around different venues - from burlesque theatres to windswept castles - using the game's RPG-style combat system to perform various rock-inspired tricks, wow the crowds, and fill a Satisfaction meter at the side of the screen.

Once your audience is suitably impressed, your Fame gauge rises and you earn a heap of money to spend on new stat-boosting instruments, outfits and abilities in the store.

Combat - for want of a better word - is simply a matter of selecting and tapping one of your four band members' currently equipped abilities at the bottom of the screen.

Each band member loosely adheres to familiar RPG character tropes - you'll recognise a healer and ranged combat specialist beneath the musical trappings - and abilities range from a successive bursts of guitar riffs that whip revellers into a Satisfaction frenzy to restorative powers that refill your Mojo and energy meters.

You can think of Mojo as magic, with Satisfaction-boosting abilities proving less effective as your supply depletes. Energy, meanwhile, is effectively health, falling as hostile crowds hurl detritus during performances.

In fact, there's plenty to fear from your audience - female fans, for instance, temporarily stun your crew by flinging their bras on stage, while persistent hecklers radically diminish your Satisfaction meter.

Of course, your various abilities (such as your drummer's assault-halting cymbal toss) can counter attacks and tip the balance of power in your favour - but with cast times, cool downs, and other RPG staples perpetually in play, eking out a high Satisfaction rating is always a studied case of timing, risk, and reward.

Indeed, Rise to Fame offers a remarkably solid combat core, delivering all the strategic deployment you'd expect from its familiar setup, albeit with an refreshingly original rock-based veneer.

Sadly, it's a solid core in a game that's otherwise structurally flat. While steady progress sees you beef up your band members and battle against increasingly unflappable crowds, there's little genuine variety between stages. Rise to Fame just trundles repetitively onward, offering no truly compelling incentive to continue.

Ultimately, Rise to Fame debuts with a solid premise, follows it up with enjoyable mechanics, but then fumbles its difficult third album with a lack of longevity. Soon it's on the slippery slope to obscurity with no chance of return.