Dead or Alive is a popular online slot machine developed by Net Entertainment (NetEnt). It’s set in the Wild West theme, immersing players in a lawless world where cowboys and outlaws roam free. This review delves into every aspect of this high-volatility game, analyzing its features, mechanics, and overall experience.
Theme dead or alive and Design
The Dead or Alive slot machine is designed to transport players to the gritty Wild West era. The game’s background displays a dusty, sun-scorched terrain with two saloon doors swinging open in anticipation of newcomers. The reels themselves are set against this backdrop, adding an immersive element to the gameplay experience.
Symbols used throughout the game reflect its theme, featuring various lawmen and outlaws, as well as standard playing card icons (9-A). However, there’s a unique twist with these symbols – they’re divided into two distinct sets: men and women. Each set has its own payouts and multipliers when landing in winning combinations.
Symbols
There are several types of paying symbols on Dead or Alive slot machines:
- Wild : Represented by the golden sheriff badge, this symbol can replace any other symbol to form a win.
- Scatter : The saloon doors act as scatter icons and award free spins when two or more appear anywhere in view.
- High-paying symbols : Each character (men and women) offers significant payouts when landing three or more matching symbols.
Payouts
When landing winning combinations of the high-paying characters, players will be awarded according to their specific pays:
- Men: Pay from left to right across adjacent reels.
- Women: Pay for any number of consecutive appearances on adjacent reels (right to left).
The payouts are quite generous, with the maximum win during normal gameplay being 2,500 times your initial bet.
Wilds
The golden sheriff badge acts as a wild symbol. When it appears in conjunction with other symbols or characters from one specific set (men or women), any winning combinations are doubled in value.
Additionally, when this wild combines with the same type of high-paying character, its presence multiplies wins by 5x.
Scatters
The saloon doors scatter is a unique feature. If two or more scatters appear anywhere on screen during normal gameplay:
- A free spins bonus is triggered.
- The number of free rounds awarded depends solely on the total value wagered:
- Bet per spin 20 coins – get 12 free games
- Bet per spin 30 coins – get 16 free games
During free spins, all wins are multiplied by x15.
Bonus Features
Dead or Alive offers an innovative bonus round, ‘The Re-Trigger.’ The game can re-trigger during the Free Spin session up to four times. In such cases:
- Each time you land three scatter symbols in any order within a single spin:
- A new set of free spins is awarded according to your initial bet.
Free Spins
The re-trigger function adds an extra layer of excitement, allowing players multiple chances at increasing their rewards during the bonus round. During the Free Spin feature:
- The maximum amount you can win with this slot machine remains 2,500 times per spin.
- As previously mentioned, your wins are multiplied by x15.
RTP and Volatility
Dead or Alive features an extremely high RTP of 98.88% (96.48%) when the low volatility option is selected. In most cases however, players can expect a higher value between 97-98%. This comes as no surprise given its Wild West theme – such environments often harbor uncertainty.
Its extreme Volatility setting contributes to this by causing games to sometimes produce multiple big wins consecutively and others barely any at all; though not an official max win (2,500x) is always achievable when playing on Dead or Alive in the long term it does come out fairly evenly spread over players so you do get your share of payouts.
Betting Range
For those who love risk-taking and high-stakes gameplay, Dead or Alive supports bets as low as 1.00 per spin up to a maximum bet of 50.00.
This adaptability makes the game suitable for both casual slot enthusiasts and experienced gamblers seeking to test their mettle in the Wild West arena.
Max Win
When playing at its maximum coin denomination (betting between $30-$60), your max win potential per single spin is capped at a staggering 2,500 times.