Duel At Dawn

Duel At Dawn: Slot Overview

In the battle royale that is the online slot Wild Western category, many enter, few make it to the top. One Western slot which did make an impact on the genre was Hacksaw Gaming's Wanted Dead or a Wild. Moody oil painting visuals, exciting breadth of gameplay, and a powerful x-factor helped make it stand out from the rest. The studio revisited the dusty Ol' West again in 2 Wild 2 Die, and like a persistent hombre hopped up on sarsaparilla that just won't stay down, the studio is back for more pew-pew on the frontier action in Duel At Dawn.

Duel At Dawn don't make the friendliest first impression. That would be on account of the Outlaw pointing his pistol directly at the player, on a downward angle, as if the viewer is on their knees in the dust pleading for their life. The visuals are closer to 2 Wild 2 Die than Wanted, being more realistic than stylistic, and are in some ways less striking because of this art direction. Then again, the visuals are solid enough, and that gunman brings the menace as he accompanies players through all phases of the game.

A total of 19 ways to win are built into Duel At Dawn's 5-reel, 5-row gaming matrix. Wins begin on the leftmost reel and go across adjacent reels. 10 cents to $/€100 per paid spin is the stake range, and gamblers get five bonus buy modes to choose from if they prefer to play that way. With a medium-high 4 out of 5 rated volatility to be aware of, Duel At Dawn's highest available RTP clocks in at 96.3%.

Literal J, Q, K, and A playing cards are Duel At Dawn's low-pay symbols. They all award 1x the bet for a 5 OAK winning line. After the cards are cartwheels, skulls, hats, pistols, and sheriff badges, worth 3 to 10 times the bet for a 5 OAK win. Wilds may appear on any reel to replace any of the regularly paying symbols in a winning combination. An all wild 5 OAK pays 10x the bet.

Duel At Dawn: Slot Features

The heat Duel At Dawn is packing is DuelReels, The Outlaw Feature, a Wild Wild West bonus, a Dusk 'Til Dawn bonus, and bonus buys.

DuelReels

When a VS symbol hits, it expands into a wild DuelReel if it would become part of the win once expanded. After expanding, a duel takes place on each reel. Each DuelReel has two multipliers of x2 to x200 connected to the Outlaw and the Sheriff. Whoever wins the duel applies their multiplier across the whole reel, affecting any wins the DuelReel is part of. If more than one DuelReel is part of the same win, their multipliers are added together before being applied. Only one VS symbol may land per reel, and DuelReels are wild.

The Outlaw Feature

When an Outlaw symbol lands, it expands to become a full wild Outlaw reel, displaying a revolver with 1 to 6 bullets in the chamber. The number of bullets represents the number of wild symbols the Outlaw shoots onto the grid. If more than one Outlaw is on the reels, they cannot shoot wilds onto the same positions, and they can't shoot each other. Up to 2 Outlaw symbols may appear on a spin, one per reel. Each Outlaw reel also has a multiplier of x2 to x200, which applies to any win they are part of. If more than one Outlaw reel is part of the same win, their multipliers are added together before being applied.

Wild Wild West

Landing 3 FS scatters in the base game awards 10 free Wild Wild West spins. This feature has the same mechanics as the base game, but there is an increased chance of getting high-value multipliers on DuelReels and Outlaw reels. There is also a greater chance of landing VS and Outlaw symbols. Hitting 2 scatters grants a further +2 free spins, while 3 scatters grant an extra +4 free spins.

Dusk 'Til Dawn

Landing 4 FS scatters in the base game awards 10 free Dusk 'Til Dawn spins. In this feature, it is possible to earn 4 DuelSpins with guaranteed VS symbols. Each DuelSpin is unlocked by landing Outlaw symbols and shooting 6 wild symbols onto the grid. This doesn't have to be at the same time. Each DuelSpin is awarded after the spin it was unlocked on and doesn't count as one of the awarded free spins. Up to 2 DuelSpins can be unlocked on one spin.

Moreover, multiplier DuelSpins are awarded in sequence before moving to the next free spin. Each subsequent DuelSpin awards more guaranteed VS symbols. The first guarantees at least 2 VS symbols, the second guarantees at least 3 VS symbols, the third guarantees at least 4 VS symbols, and the fourth guarantees 5 VS symbols. Each unlocked DuelSpin also awards +3 free spins. VS symbols do not appear in this bonus, except during DuelSpins.

Bonus Buy

Duel At Dawn's arsenal of bonus buys includes the following: BonusHunt FeatureSpins (3x the bet) - Each spin is 5 times more likely to trigger free spins, Deadly Duels FeatureSpins (60x the bet) - Each spin guarantees at least 2 VS symbols land. FS scatters do not land in this mode, Lone Outlaw FeatureSpins (60x the bet) - Each spin guarantees at least 1 Outlaw symbol with at least 2 bullets lands. FS symbols do not land in this mode, Wild Wild West Bonus (100x the bet), or Dusk 'Til Dawn Bonus (200x the bet).

Duel At Dawn: Slot Verdict

Well, pardner, Hacksaw Gaming sure does know how to craft an engaging Western slot, no doubt. Looping back for a bit, one reason Wanted Dead or a Wild stuck out is because, till that point, Hacksaw Gaming had mostly pushed out cutey games like Cash Compass or Hop 'N' Pop. Since then, the studio has turned to the dark side on numerous occasions, Hand of Anubis and Rotten being two memorable examples, and the team has shown it is equally adept at making dense slots as it is at pushing out easy-going Pocketz stuff. Another thing the developer excels at is coming up with a good idea then finessing that idea over subsequent releases, which is something we've seen numerous times in the past and we see again in Duel At Dawn.

This is no bad thing because features like the return of VS symbols and shooting wild bullets can be quite a thrill. They're able to play their roles rather well in the base game, for starters, where the full reel wild multiplier Outlaw symbol, in conjunction with shooting wilds, can lead to a lot of wildness on the reels. If 2 Outlaws happen to land, which probably won't be a super regular occurrence, you best be diving for cover. VS symbols have proven their worth since Warrior Ways dropped them on the scene, and they work every bit as well here. The Wild Wild West bonus round stirs the pot by theoretically upping the chances of landing better stuff, while Dusk 'Til Dawn pushes things even further along the idea-finessing track. Key to keep in mind is that while 6 shot wilds are needed to win a DuelSpin, you don't have to fire all 6 in one go, but rather, the chamber-emptying progress is saved as it goes. No need to mention how desirable getting all 5 VS symbols on the reels would be.

A 15,000x the bet win cap is one of the final layers of icing on Duel At Dawn, but equally exciting is the way the game can drop into full shootout mode at any point. There is no guarantee it will do so, of course, but Hacksaw, being Hacksaw, has imbued Duel At Dawn with the sort of quick or the shot to bits features the studio is famed for.