Hero Clash

Hero Clash: Slot Overview

Players join four heroes as they traipse across individual realms, triggering four different bonus rounds in Hero Clash, an online slot collab from Stakelogic and Hurricane Games. There won't be any heroes you will have heard of before, the developers hitting the drawing board to create four new ones by the name of Charger, Slade, Hot Shots, and Sonic Boom. Each one gets their own bonus round, bringing in different superpowers (modifiers), triggered by a rather unique and intriguing collection system.

Stick with the game long enough, and you'll cycle through four different spots. The starting location is in a forest, before moving to a rocky wasteland, then some lava-filled place, before ending up by the seaside. Next to the 5x3, 243 ways to win game grid, one of the heroes stands guard, and although they are all brand new, there is a Zelda, Daphne, Nickelodeon thing going on, in a good way, as it's all a bit of fun.

Taking a look at the numbers side of Hero Clash it comes with a wide range of RTP settings to accommodate all markets, the standard being 96.10%. In all instances, volatility remains high, rated 5 out of 5 by the developer. Stakes range from 10 p/c to either $/€50 or $/€100, depending on the casino. As per usual, Hero Clash also comes with Stakelogic's Super Stake feature. Engaging it doubles the bet, which in turn also doubles the chance of Hero Power scatters landing in the game, potentially leading to more features.

Providing 243 ways to win, payouts are triggered when three to five matching symbols land adjacently left to right from the first reel. There are 9 pay symbols to work with, 5 low pay 9-A card royals, while heroes make up the premium symbols. Landing five matching heroes is worth a payout of 8 to 14 times the stake. A line of five wilds is worth the same as the top premium, and wilds also substitute for any pay symbol.

Hero Clash: Slot Features

Hero Clash unfolds like Play'n GO's slot Gemix 2, where players travel through different worlds, changing location when bonus rounds are triggered. This occurs when the Hero Meter next to the reels is fully charged with 150 Hero Points. Non-paying Hero Power scatters land on any reel, and 2, 3, 4, or 5 of them in view add 1, 50, 70, or 100 Hero Points to the meter. In addition, 1 hero point is awarded on spins that produce no wins or land no Hero Power scatters. Also, landing 3 or more bonus symbols completes the meter, whatever level it's at.

Filling the meter awards 12 free spins with an x2 multiplier. Each character has a unique hero power modifier that can be used during free spins, depending on the stage triggered. There are 4 stages, played in a set order:

• Stage 1 (Charger) – the symbol in the middle of the reels is a sticky wild. Charger shoots arrows to add an x1 to x5 multiplier to it.
• Stage 2 (Slade) – Slade randomly adds a 2x2 wild block in any position on any spin.
• Stage 3 (Hot Shots) – Hot Shots can add 1-8 wild symbols in any position on any spin.
• Stage 4 (Sonic Boom) – Sonic Boom can fill up to three of three middle reels with wild symbols on any spin.

When bonus games end, players return to a different location for the base game. Lastly, if there is one feature Stakelogic and its partners go in for, it's a gamble feature. In Hero Clash, it's a standard pick the colour or suit of a face-down card to double or quad your winnings. Players can collect winnings, gamble them, or switch this feature off completely if it doesn't suit.

Hero Clash: Slot Verdict

When Stakelogic/Hurricane Games put their mind to it they can come up with some rather decent slots. The last one reviewed, Candyways Bonanza Megaways, was an unusual take on BTG's game engine that offered something a bit 'out there' for Megaways enthusiasts to sample. Hero Clash isn't bad at all either. In fact, there's quite a lot to like about it, such as the shifting worlds, providing changing background imagery leading to new bonus rounds. It can be risky to create a set of unknown heroes, but the slightly goofy yet loveable bunch add personality and features in equal measure. In many ways, Hero Clash has a similar spirit to Microgaming's Dragonz slot.

The features aren't exactly uniquely designed, mainly revolving around chucking wilds on the board, with the occasional multiplier thrown in for good measure. What helps is the pay ways system makes good use of the wilds that do end up in play. Add in the way features are triggered, and you've got a rather busy, fast-flowing game, where there is either something interesting going on or is not far away from triggering.

The Hero Meter is worth a mention. You get the instant free spins round when landing three bonus symbols, but the way the collection system works as a whole has been cleverly designed too. It provides extra incentive to keep on spinning because you can estimate to an extent when the next bonus game will trigger. With the Super Stake option engaged, that occurred very regularly. Even playing in normal mode, it didn't take long to move through all four bonus rounds. The final point is potential, and Hero Clash doesn't disappoint here, generating wins worth up to 5,000x the stake.

Hurricane Games has designed a straight-up fun slot in Hero Clash. They've done a commendable job of not letting the multitude of elements get mixed up or muddy; there's complexity, though not too much, so the game can breathe and get on with its main job of entertaining players. It's no world-beater, but the fun factor is high, there's plenty of discovery to be had, and it comes packed with plenty of charm.