Sword of Ares Slot Review
Get ready to battle alongside the Greek God of War in Pragmatic Play’s latest release, Sword of Ares!
The battle we’ve all been waiting for is upon us in Pragmatic Play‘s latest addition to join Gates of Olympus and Starlight Princess, where the pay anywhere mechanic is back in full force once again.
Although Sword of Ares shares similar traits to the pair, the way in which it plays is quite different. Pragmatic Play has swapped out the cascading Multipliers for a Multiplier reel that unlocks after so many Cascades. This is certainly an interesting change and one we can’t wait to tackle, but is it just as good?
Let’s get stuck in and find out!
Sword of Ares Base Game and Features
Sword of Ares is a 6 reel slot with a Pay Anywhere mechanic. Winning combinations are formed when 8 or more of the same symbols are present across the reels.
The minimum bet available to players is £/€0.20 per spin and the maximum bet available is £/€100 per spin, with plenty of other betting options in between the two. Looking at statistics, Sword of Ares has a theoretical RTP of 96.40% and a maximum win capacity of 10,000x.
Like its sibling slots, Sword of Ares feautres Cascading Reels. Each time a winning combination is formed, all winning symbols will be removed from the reels and new symbols will drop down, filling all empty positions across the reel set.
In terms of symbols, the highest paying regular symbol in Sword of Ares is the Helmet, followed by the Chariot, Shield and Sword. Low-paying symbols fall to Light Blue, Pink, Green, Dark Blue and Purple Gems. There are no Wild suymbols present in Sword of Ares.
Multiplier Collection Feature
Situated above the reel set is a Multiplier Collection feature that holds 3 locked Multiplier values. During the Free Spins round, the Multiplier Collection feature holds 6 locked Multiplier values.
During the base game and after each Cascade, the number of winning symbols are collected. At certain thresholds, after so many winning symbols are collected during that spin, the Multiplier values will start to unlock which are then applied to your total win for that particular spin.
- Multiplier 1 – Awards a Multiplier of x2, x3 or x4. This mutliplier will unlock once 20 winning symbols are collected.
- Multiplier 2 – Awards a Multiplier of x5, x6, x7 or x8. This multiplier will unlock once 50 winning symbols are collected.
- Multiplier 3 – Awards a Multiplier of x9, x10, x11, x12, x13, x14 or x15. This multiplier will unlock once 100 winning symbols are collected.
Bomb Symbols
There are 4 types of special Bomb symbols in play during both the base game and Free Spins round.
Whenever 1 or more Bomb symbol lands, they will Explode and remove all symbols in a Horizontal, Vertical, Cross or X pattern on the reels. The removed symbols will then be added to the Multiplier Collection meter and new symbols will drop down from above, filling all empty positions.
If new winning combinations are formed because of this, the Cascade sequence will continue. Please note that Bomb symbols will only explode in the base game if at least one Cascade has happened prior to this on the same spin.
Sword of Ares Free Spins
Landing 4 or more Scatters across the reels triggers the Free Spins round, awarding 15 Free Spins.
During Free Spins, the Multiplier Collection feature is in play and the total number of locked Multiplier values increases to 6 with progressively higher Multiplier values available.
- 1st Multiplier – Awards a Multiplier of x2, x3 or x4. This will unlock when 15 winning symbols are collected.
- 2nd Multiplier – Awards a Multiplier of x5, x6, x7 or x8. This unlocks when 30 winning symbols are collected.
- 3rd Multiplier – Awards a Multiplier of x9, x10, x11, x12, x13, x14 or x15. This unlocks when 45 winning symbols are collected.
- 4th Multiplier – Awards a Multiplier of x16, x18, x20, x22, x25, x30 or x32. This unlocks when 60 winning symbols are collected.
- 5th Multiplier – Awards a Multiplier of x35, x38, x40, x45, x50, x60 or x100. This unlocks when 100 winning symbols are collected.
- 6th Multiplier – Awards a Multiplier of x150, x200, x300 or x500. This unlocks when 225 winning symbols are collected.
Sword of Ares Bonus Buy
For those of you who are outside the UK, you will benefit from a Bonus Buy option.
Pragmatic Play has granted players access to the Free Spins round for a total cost of 100x your current bet. The RTP when purcasing Free Spins decreases slightly from 96.40% to 96.39%.
Sword of Ares: Our Verdict
Sword of Ares is a Gates of Olympus type slot with a few significant changes to make it stand out.
We’ve all been there to bear witness to the sheer potential of such games, but the frustrating nature of absent multipliers persists here as well.
A collection type feature is used in place of random multipliers, so in theory the board should be freed up for more winning symbols as opposed to multiplier symbols that were as much blockers as they were gifts, and through testing the game ourselves we saw a fair few decent hits.
Pragmatic has pushed the boat out here with 10,000x winning potential, which is double what they usually offer.
We think Sword of Ares will be a very attractive game that’ll leave a lasting impression, but it’s by no means a blockbuster title.
