Megaways of Rock

Megaways of Rock: Slot Overview

Are you ready to rock? I said, are you ready to rock? No, no, no, we want to hear the wallflowers down the back this time. Let's try again.. or, let's not and rather kick back to let Megaways of Rock, an online slot from developer Blueprint Gaming do the rocking for us. How's it going to do so? With the aid of some Megaways staples like mystery symbols, reactions, and free spins with a rising multiplier, plus less common parts such as the chance to get a greater than x1 starting multiplier in free spins and an even less common Megaways Wheel buy feature.

Possibly the first question a gambler might have when going into a rock-themed slot is what the music is like. Megaways of Rock's tunes are actually pretty rocking. Since this isn't a branded slot, the sounds naturally lean to the generic side, but they've got enough verve to get a toe or two tapping. The visuals are equally as loud, where a stage scene is displayed in the background bathed in rotating pink, purple lights, a little bit like Pragmatic Play's Hellvis Wild slot, though without the demonic main character. All in all, sure, it's a bit generic, yet relatively rockin', all things considered.

Lurking backstage like a groupie on the prowl is Megaways of Rock's highly volatile math model. It generates a return to player of 95.5% when playing normally or 96% when buying bonus features. Like a towering Marshal stack, Megaways of Rock is played on 6 main reels plus a 4 cell horizontally spinning tracker reel, producing up to 117,649 ways to win. Winning symbols are knocked off the grid by the cascading win mechanic and replaced by symbols dropping down from above. Cascades keep rolling until no new win appears. As for bets, they go as low as 10 p/c and as high as $/€10 per spin.

Pay symbols now, and some hella rockin' 9-A card ranks are used as the low pays, whereas a pick, a gold record, an amplifier, and a logo symbol are Megaways of Rock's premiums. Get lucky and hit a 6 OAK winning way, and the rewards vary from 0.8-1.75x the bet for the lows and 2 to 50x the bet for the highs. From the tracker reel, which is the only place they land, wild symbols help link winning ways by substituting for any regular paying symbol.

Megaways of Rock: Slot Features

For Megaways enthusiasts, this section will either be reassuringly familiar or a bit disappointing. The reason why is Megaways of Rock packs a lot of totally standard features such as mystery symbols, free spins with a rising multiplier and so forth. However, there are also a few new bits. Here's how it goes.

Mystery Symbols

Mystery symbols can appear in any position. When they land, all mystery symbols in view reveal a matching random symbol, though not scatters or wilds.

Free Spins

Landing 4 or more scatter symbols triggers the free spins feature. Before it begins, a wheel spins to guarantee a minimum number of free spins and a starting win multiplier. The number of triggering scatters dictates the options available on the wheel - 4, 5, 6, or 7 scatters award up to 10, 20, 25, or 30 free spins, respectively. During free spins, the win multiplier increases without limit by +1 following each reaction and does not reset till the round ends. Players collect 5 additional spins when 3 or more scatters land on the tracker reel or +10 free spins when 4 scatters hit.

Bonus Buy

Megaways of Rock's bonus buy has 2 options. One is the Megaways Wheel which costs 20x the bet to activate. Once bought, a wheel spins to award free spins with a minimum number of Megaways. This feature does not have a rising multiplier, but free spins can be triggered from it. The second option costs 100x the bet for a wheel to spin to award free spins and a starting win multiplier.

Megaways of Rock: Slot Verdict

One of the dangers of doing a generic music-themed slot is that you run the risk of ending up corporately soulless. It's not for nought a provider like Play'n GO stumps up the resources to join forces with big-name artists when designing its range of branded music slots – Lordi, Testament, Twisted Sister, Def Leppard, shoot even Kiss, one of the biggest bands of all time has had the treatment. It makes a colossal difference as well. Where branded slots have the added oomph of beloved soundtracks driving them, a game like Megaways of Rock has music hovering somewhere between 'actually not bad' and an out-of-the-box Garage Band backing track. It doesn't help Megaways of Rock's cause that many of its features are so common.

We're talking about pretty much as bog standard a list as it gets here – cascades, mystery symbols, and free spins with a rising multiplier. This stuff has been done since the dawn of Megaways, and by now, this combo feels about as fresh as that mouldy condiment lurking at the back of the fridge you've been meaning to throw out since you moved in. There is no doubt these features can theoretically pop and produce ludicrous results when the going is good. In Megaways of Rock's case, wins are capped at $250,000 or 50,000x the bet, whichever comes first. But, so many other games offer this feature set by now that it's hardly pulse racing, fist-pumping, shouting your lungs out exhilaration.

However, it's not all gloomy news. Megaways of Rock has a couple of features that might pique connoisseurs' interest. One is the way the free spins wheel can award a starting multiplier greater than x1. Not a bad touch and the 20x bonus buy might be of interest with its minimum number of ways element, despite lacking a rising multiplier. Technically Megaways of Rock functions well, and the theme, while about as own brand as it gets, has been done to a high standard. As far as music slots go, however, this feels closer to a decent warm-up act other than a festival headliner. To sum things up - it's possible three years ago this type of slot would have scored a solid 8, but times have changed and expectations are a higher.