Eternal Duel

Eternal Duel: Slot Overview

Few beefs in the slot world are more titanic than that between the ancient Greek gods Zeus and Hades. What's interesting is that there is no known Greek myth recording a battle between the two gods. Rather, Zeus had the sky and kingship of the gods, Hades had the Underworld, and there the two deities reigned. But, creative license being what it is, has seen the two gods go toe to toe, Pragmatic Play's Zeus vs Hades for one, and thanks to software provider Hacksaw Gaming, the ruler of the sky and that of the Underworld are going at it again in the online slot Eternal Duel.

The first thing that hits like a lightning bolt to the eyeballs is Eternal Duel's rather beautiful looks. Where the previous Hacksaw Gaming Zeus slot, Zeus Ze Zecond used an unusual comic book style, Eternal Duel is all sweeping grandeur and ethereal majesty. Zeus swoops in from above, lightning bolt in hand, wrapped up in the cool blues of the sky, while his brother Hades, no less grand, peers up from below, bathed in reds and broken stone. If first impressions count for anything, it would seem players are in for a titanic tussle of the ages.

The arena in this duel is a 5x5 gaming grid, possessing 19 paylines evaluating wins left to right from the leftmost side. It stands to reason that Eternal Duel would be a highly volatile slot, where, from its four RTP variants, 96.42% is the most generous. Stake selection ranges from $/€0.10 to $/€50 per game round.

Pay symbols landing on the reels are bolted 10-A card royals, cups, skulls, Cerberus, Hades, and Zeus. Hitting 5 OAK winning combinations pays 1x when made up of royals, or 7.5x to 15x for the premium symbols. Wilds appear on all reels as well. They substitute all regular pay symbols and award 20x when landing 5-of-a-kind.

Eternal Duel: Slot Features

Time for the one-two combos to start hitting in the form of DuelReels, FS DuelReels, Hades Havoc, Zeus Fury, and Eternal Destruction bonus rounds, as well as feature buys.

DuelReels

When a VS symbol lands, it expands into a wild DuelReel if it is part of a win once expanded. A duel occurs on the DuelReel, and the winner applies his multiplier (x2 to x100) to the entire wild reel. The multiplier applies to wins connected to it. If more than one DuelReel is part of the same win, the multiplier values are combined.

FS DuelReels

When 3 or more FS scatters land, they expand into FS DuelReels. 2 free spins values (2-10) per symbol duel against each other. The winning values are added together to determine the number of free spins awarded for the bonus. When triggering free spins, there is a chance some FS symbols display an Upgrade. Getting 3 FS symbols and 1 Upgrade awards Zeus Fury, while 3 FS symbols and 2 Upgrades or 4 FS symbols and 1 Upgrade award Eternal Destruction.

Hades Havoc

Landing 3 FS DuelReels awards this feature with at least 6 free spins. During this bonus, a Reel Multiplier appears at the top and bottom of each reel, ranging from x2 to x50. When DuelReels trigger, the duelling multipliers come from the top and bottom values of the Reel Multipliers. The Reel Multipliers progressively increase through the bonus by landing Relic and Cyclops symbols. Landing these symbols on the top two rows affects the top value, landing them in the bottom two rows affects the bottom value, and landing them in the middle row affects both the top and bottom. Relics and Cyclops act before DuelReels. Reel Multipliers are capped at x999. Wilds count as x1.

Relic symbols add values to the reel they land on; Epic Relics add their value to all reels. Possible values are x1 to x50. The Cyclops symbols multiply values on the reel they land on; Epic Cyclops multiply all reels. Possible values are x2 to x10. Landing an FS DuelReel awards +2-10 extra free spins and can upgrade the bonus, transferring the current Reel Multipliers and free spins over. Landing one or more FS DuelReels with 1 Upgrade awards Zeus Fury, while 2 Upgrades award Eternal Destruction.

Zeus Fury

Landing 4 FS DuelReels awards Zeus Fury with at least 8 free spins, which keeps the mechanics of Hades Havoc. In addition, when wilds land, they receive a multiplier from the Reel Multiplier. From the top value if landing on the top two rows, the bottom value if landing in the bottom two rows, or both combined when landing on the middle row. Wilds count as x1. Multiple wild multipliers in the same win are added together. Each landed FS DuelReel awards +2-10 extra free spins, while an Upgrade upgrades the round to Eternal Destruction.

Eternal Destruction

Landing 5 FS DuelReels awards this round with at least 10 free spins. On top of the Zeus Fury mechanics, at least one wild, one Relic or Cyclops symbol, and one DuelReel are guaranteed on each spin.

Feature Buys

BonusHunt FeatureSpins cost 3x to make each spin 5 times more likely to trigger a bonus. Godly FeatureSpins cost 50x to guarantee at least 1 DuelReel, while Deadly FeatureSpins cost 1,000x to guarantee 4 DuelReels, though dead symbols may land on the rightmost reel. Hades Havoc may be bought for 80x or Zeus Fury for 300x the stake.

Eternal Duel: Slot Verdict

Eternal Duel is Hacksaw Gaming doing something it excels at, which is taking a time-honoured feature, then prodding and playing around with it to amplify the effect. Sometimes this can come across as uncreative tail chasing. Other times, this noodling around can actually elevate the experience. On the whole, the innovations that Hacksaw Gaming has brought to Eternal Duel are good ones. It helps that the game has been excellently presented. The particular art style brings a real gravitas to the situation, so even if Hades and Zeus never actually fought one-to-one, mano a mano in Greek myth, Eternal Duel helps visualise how such a battle might have played out.

There is no less of a battle taking place on the reels, as well. Eternal Duel furnishes players with impressive firepower - if it unloads it. DuelReels have proven their worth since back in the Wanted Dead or a Wild days, on several occasions since that bleak Western hit the scenes, and they can be devastating in Eternal Duel as well. The base game hints at the slot's capabilities before the three bonus round levels deliver escalating levels of potency. Hades Havoc introduces the Reel Multiplier element, Zeus Fury ups the ante by letting regular wilds inherit Reel Multiplier values, while Eternal Destruction pours on guaranteed effects. Basically, there is a lot of potential wilding and multiplying going on.

As for winning potential, this has been capped at 15,000x the stake, and can technically be achieved in any phase of play. To sum up, Hacksaw Gaming has designed an epic arena for two of the most powerful gods in the Greek Pantheon to do battle - the studio even composed a poem to celebrate the event, then honoured them with a selection of potent mechanics, both old and new.