The ruthless environment of the old Wild West is legendary in modern popular culture, so it’s no surprise that it has become a favourite theme in the online slot industry. The latest developer to try their hand at the genre is Hacksaw Gaming with this new machine Wanted Dead or a Wild. This is a 15-payline machine with a 12,500x bet maximum jackpot and an RTP between 96.27% and 96.43%, depending on the selected game mode.
The game includes a multitude of special features, which is a tad concerning considering that every one of them is triggered by its own unique set of scatter symbols. The problem with this setup is that you can easily end up with scatter symbols blocking your regular pay line wins, although Hacksaw has done its best to mitigate this by utilising an extended 5×5 playfield. There’s a standard free spins bonus, dubbed “Duel at Dawn”; a three-spin feature, known as “Dead Man’s Hand”; a “Great Train Robbery” free spin mode with sticky wilds; and, finally, a VS mode where two outlaws will face off in a duel to the death! There’s an option to buy a set of the regular free spins, but the remaining three features can all be purchased using the bonus buy facility.
Do you think Hacksaw has what it takes to compete with existing Wild West-themed juggernauts such as Money Train and Dead or Alive? Find out in our Wanted Dead or a Wild slot demo, available to play below!
| Provider | Hacksaw Gaming |
| Reels | 5 |
| Rows | 5 |
| Paylines | 15 |
| Bonus Rounds | 3 |
| Bet Range | 0.20 - 100 |
| Volatility | High |
| Max Win | 12,500x |
| Bonus Buy | Yes |
| RTP | 96.27% |
| Our Rating | 8.7 |
Wanted Dead Or A Wild Casino Bonus
Wanted Dead Or A Wild Slot Demo
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Wanted Dead Or A Wild Slot Theme, Stakes, Pays & Symbols
It takes a brave developer to step up to the competition in this mode crowded of categories! NetEnt were arguably responsible for starting the Wild West craze with the original Dead or Alive online slot before taking it to a whole other level with Dead or Alive 2. As if that wasn’t enough, many other developers have tried to emulate the success of the DoA franchise with varying degrees of success. This eventually resulted in the Money Train games by Relax Gaming – another behemoth of a franchise that will seriously take some beating!
The highest-paying symbol on the paytable is the barrel of a six-shooter – fully loaded with bullets, of course! – and will pay you 20x your bet for a full payline of five of a kind. A bottle of whiskey and a sack of cash are next, each paying 10x your bet for all five symbols, whilst the cowboy hat and mask return 5x the bet for a complete payline. All the low-paying royal symbols share identical returns of 1x the bet for all five symbols, whilst the wild shares the 20x payout of the highest-paying regular symbol.
The minimum/maximum bets are €0.20 and €100.00 per spin, respectively. The low end of the betting range has plenty of options available, but those with larger bankrolls may be unhappy with the huge jump between the available wagers at that end of the scale.
Wanted Dead Or A Wild Slot Base Game & Modifiers
The five reel, five row playfield used in Wanted Dead or Alive is highly unusual for a game with just 15 paylines and does make it a little difficult to score a win at times. This problem is further exacerbated by the presence of four sets of scatter symbols, which can often act as blockers to your regular line hits. It’s not a deal-breaker for me, but I can imagine some players wishing Hacksaw had implemented a huge number of payways instead of just 15 lines!
Vs Feature
These special symbols are easily identified by the huge “VS” text printed on top of two background revolvers. The VS symbols will expand if doing would form a winning combination elsewhere on the reel where they land. Next, two outlaws will be displayed, each with a different multiplier; after a duel, the multiplier assigned to the winning outlaw will be applied to all winnings from the current round.
Wanted Dead Or A Wild Slot Bonus Features
There are three main bonus rounds included in Wanted: Dead or a Wild, each of which is triggered by hitting three or more of the corresponding scatter symbols.
Duel At Dawn
Hitting three or more “Duel” scatters will award ten free spins featuring special reels containing many more VS symbols than the base game. Unlike the remaining two features, this one can be re-triggered by hitting three or more additional scatters whilst the bonus round is active.
Dead Mans Hand Feature
Hit three or more “Dead” scatter symbols to trigger the three-spin feature. In this mode, the goal is to collect as many wild and multiplier symbols as possible during the initial collection phase. Every time a wild or multiplier symbol is collected, your current lives counter will be reset to three. If you run three spins in a row without collecting any additional symbols, the feature will progress to the second “showdown” phase.
The showdown phase awards three spins that are played on the base game reel set. Before each spin, all of the wilds collected in the previous phase will be placed in random positions on the playfield. After each spin, the total multiplier collected earlier is applied to your winnings.
Great Train Robbery Feature
Those that know me will be aware that I’m a sucker for sticky wild features, so it’s no surprise that this has to be my favourite feature out of the bunch! The game will award you ten free spins, during which every wild that lands will lock in place for the remainder of the bonus round. Unfortunately, this feature cannot be re-triggered.
Bonus Buy
The three main features are all available to be purchased directly using the bonus buy facility. The Great Train Robbery is the cheapest of the three at 80x the current stake, whilst the Duel at Dawn and Dead Man’s Hand features cost 200x or 400x, respectively. I’m genuinely surprised by these prices – the former seems incredibly cheap, whilst the latter seems unbelievably expensive!
Pros
- Three awesome bonus rounds to trigger.
- Solid max win of 12,500x.
Cons
- Trigging some of the features can be tricky without the bonus buy.
Wanted Dead Or A Wild Slot Review Final Thoughts
I’m glad the bonus buy facility was included, as I didn’t manage to trigger the Duel at Dawn or Dead Man’s Hand features once without it! I suspect that you probably need a lot more than a couple of hours to get a true feel for everything this game has to offer, and I, for one, will definitely be spending that time real soon!
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