Spin that reel – Vikings slot review

Another big title gets its own slot. This time we review the Vikings slot, based on the successful series with the same name and produced by Netent. Playable on all devices, players can bet between €0.20 to €100 per spin. The 96.05% return to player is pretty standard.

Vikings is a historical drama television series written and created by Michael Hirst for the History channel. Filmed in Ireland, it premiered on March 3, 2013 in Canada. Vikings is inspired by the sagas of Viking Ragnar Lothbrok, one of the best-known legendary Norse heroes and notorious as the scourge of England and France. The show portrays Ragnar as a farmer who rises to fame by successful raids into England, and eventually becomes a Scandinavian king, with the support of his family and fellow warriors.

It was during the iGaming conference earlier in 2018 that NetEnt presented not only one but two massive blockbuster titles: Narcos and Vikings. At the time when the information was first made public, the launch of Yggdrasil’s third Vikings slot was just around the corner. It turns out that NetEnt made an entirely different games than Yggdrasil, so no rip off there.

impressive intro

The awesome visual production by Netent was something we expected with a title like Vikings but we have to admit that the intro is totally awesome and immediately sets the right mood from the start, boosting our expectations. The bombastic audio is also definitely contributing to this. If you’re familiar with the series, you will understand what we are talking about. If not, you’re still likely to appreciate the work that NetEnt has put into the visual production with the reels set against a gloomy, dark Norse landscape made out of imposing hills that slope towards an icy stretched lake.

Vikings is a slot without pay lines. The 243 ways setup ensures that you win if 3 or more identical symbols land anywhere on subsequent reels. In the main game, Vikings is played on a 5×3 reel set but in the free spins rounds the game switches to a 7×5 setup, expanding the win ways to a whopping 78,125 ways.

The base game

The game comes with a set of 10 symbols, 5 of which are of low-value symbols represented by 10, J, Q, K, and the A made out of steel and covered in blood. The premium sybmols are represented by characters known from the series although the Vikings logo has been chosen as the top paying symbol worth 0.5x for 5 of a kind. The premium symbols appear stacked on the reels in both the main game and the free spins feature. Interestingly, there is no Wild symbol to be seen, which likely had to stand back for the extra premium symbol. The game also has several different features.

Hotspot feature

Included in the game is something known as the Hotspot feature. In the main game, reel 3 is illuminated by an electric flow to highlight its presence. When a stacked Viking symbol lands to fully cover the third reel, all the other Viking symbols will transform into that particular symbol. The beauty here is that the Viking symbols don’t have to connect. All Viking symbols will be taken into consideration when wins are evaluated.

Shield Wall

A random feature known as the Shield Wall Feature has also been thrown in. It can activate at any time in both the main game and in the free spins feature and appears as a cluster of 3×2 or 5×2 shield mystery symbols on random areas of the reel set. The shields will then go on to reveal a premium symbol and wins are evaluated. This feature won’t activate when the Hotspot feature is in play.

Raid Spins Bonus with 3 scatters

Players receive 7 free spins upon landing 3 scatter symbols on reels 3, 4 and 5. The bonus cannot re-activate as scatter symbols have been removed during the free spins game, but there is still a decent amount of potential packed in the Raid Spins as it’s referred to. You basically get more of the same here, with a reel set that has been stretched out to substantially improve the potential. The 5×3, 243 win ways reel set has been transformed to a setup of 7×5, 78,125 win ways and the sole Hotspot reel now covers the three middle reels.

Just like in the main game, if a Viking symbol lands in any of the Hotspot reels, all other Viking symbols will be transformed into that symbol. If 2 different Viking symbols cover the Hotspot reels, the one furthest to the left will be chosen as the transforming symbol. With the help of the Hotspot feature it’s possible to land wins of up to 10,000 times the stake per single spin which is quite impressive!

Our Verdict

Vikings has the potential to become one of the better NetEnt game we have seen in a long time. It does seem that it is pretty hard to get the bonus game and this could be a set back in for this game because that is what players are after despite the Megaways potential in the base game. Vikings is definitely a mega potential slot that is as volatile in comparison to – for example – Merkur slots. Again Netent manages to deliver a very nice slot with awesome visuals and and great audio.

Specifications Vikings

  • Developer: Netent
  • Reels: 5×3 and 7×5
  • Win lines: no winlines, instead up to 243 ways in the basegame (78,125 megaways in bonus)
  • Bid: € 0.20 – € 100
  • Jackpot: Yes, 10.000x in a single spin
  • Volatility: medium/high
  • Bonus Feature: Yes, Shield Wall, Hot Spots Scatter Pays and Raid Spins
  • RTP: 96.05%

 

Read other reviews such as Gunslinger Reloaded and Iron Girl.