Gladiator Slots (Playtech)
Based on the movie Gladiator, with all the highs and emotions from the old Roman the days this slot has just as effectively brought out the surge of emotions that made this screenplay a major box office hit. Set against the backdrop of the Coliseum where many of the brutal fights for survival took place, symbols that form winning combinations flash through scenes from the movie, some with even short quotes that made it famous. The bonus rounds, too, contain well recognized snippets and the characters are brought to life on the reels once more. The music has a soundtrack playing subtly in the background while you wait for wins and bonus rounds. During the bonus rounds the music changes giving a sense of reality to the overall experience.
Fighting to stay alive
Activating anything less than 25 lines could mean losing out on the entertainment value of so many more animations. During normal spinning it is the animations that make this game a hit. Each line can have as many as 10 coins loaded. The more coins per line the more times your coin wins are multiplied. The value of the coin also affects the size of the bet. Starting from just 1c the value can go as high as $5. What it comes down to is a minimum bet covering all lines can start at 25c and reach the skies with $1,250.
By no stretch of the imagination does this mean that you have to bet max, this game simply provides players big and small with a betting range that suits them.
The bonus rounds are certainly worth waiting for so even if it means reducing your overall bet so that your balance can cover more spins, then do it just to increase your chances of coming across the combinations that you need. There are no penalties for lower bets, all wins are proportional. Betting low just means playing for longer.
Leading roles
The masked gladiator is the wild symbol. As he stands in for the other symbols to form winning combinations he animates zooming out and right in to just his mask. Only appearing on the middle three reels he is also the trigger for the gladiator bonus round.
The Coliseum as seen from the outside in all of its former glory is the scatter symbol. As a scatter it need not be grouped on the same line to pay out scattered wins which is a multiplication of your bet. Two of them pay your bet back to you while 5 scattered on the reels will multiply your wager by 100 times in payback wins. A bet of $20 for example will win you $2,000 in an instant. Lucky enough to get three or more of these scatter symbols and you have a say in determining the free spins round by taking part in the Coliseum Bonus Round.
The characters from the game are all here in full color, remember Emperor Commodus? He pays the jackpot of 5,000 coins for all five on the same payline. At max bet this is the equivalent of $250,000 in one shot. Lucilla is the next high value symbol and the rest include the likes of Juba and Senator Gracchus.
Extra weaponry to turn the tables on the enemy
All you need is the three wild symbols on the centre three reels at the same time without needing to be on the same line to trigger the Gladiator Bonus Round. The middle nine reels black out and one by one they are randomly awarded a mask of either silver gold or bronze, each with a different value. The masks are replaced with their relevant values and a short video is shown with a soundtrack matching the emotional high of the win as the money that trickles into your balance.
The Coliseum Bonus Round is very interactive. You find yourself in a dungeon and four rows of stone laid out in front of you. From the bottom row up you can choose one stone from each layer. The first layer will determine how many free spins you get, the layer above that is the multiplier, which is the number that all wins from the free spins are multiplied by. The top two layers are extra bonuses in the free spins games. One is an extra wild, doubling your chances at getting a substitute symbol to complete a win. The top layer is an extra scatter to add to the coliseum scatter to increase scatter pays.
To add to this each row had an added bonus block with one of three possible extras. Either you can pick another block from the same row to add to your first pick, or you have the option to pick again from the row above it or if luck really is on your side you can collect the entire rows pickings.
You can double your wins by clicking the gamble button. The card face down can only be either red or black. Make your prediction by clicking either the red or black button to the sides of the card. Choose correctly and your wins are instantly doubled, choose wrong and you forfeit the whole lot.
Replay the action again and again
This slot effectively brings back memories from an exceptional movie with incredible actors and awards too many to mention. Experience the thrill of a long lost era, love story and the desire to stay alive by downloading the software and start playing.