Through the Fire

Through the Fire: Slot Overview

The next stop in South Africa-based NowNow Gaming's unpredictable journey sees the studio pitting humanity against one of its oldest fears, that of the wolf. Not just any wolf, either. This one stands upright, wears clothes and brandishes a stabbing weapon, instead of prowling round on all fours, only shredding flesh with its claws. Made in partnership with Hacksaw Gaming, the slot is Through the Fire, and as well as wild predators, a sticky wild, total multiplier, respin combo is another thing to look out for.

NowNow Gaming describes Through the Fire as a 'dark gothic fantasy where primal forces of nature and humanity clash' and this they do in two phases of play. In the base game, players square off against a wolf in a tatty suit, blade in hand, ready to shred in a dark, leafy, seemingly graveyard-type place. Buy or trigger the bonus round, and two brave human warriors appear during the cut scene before a red mist descends to dominate the colour scheme. The pair of warriors consists of a 'fierce lady' and a 'stoic man', who literally battle the wolf on the reels to create sticky wilds and more in a game that atmospherically brought the studio's slot Shadow Treasure to mind.

Through the Fire is a 5x5 slot with 19 paylines running through it, evaluating winning combinations of 3 to 5 OAK. When picking states, the lowest possible is $/€0.10 while the highest wager available is $/€100 per spin. Its highly volatile math model comes in two RTP variants, where 96.26% is the preferred return.

Five very spiky 10-A card royals are Through the Fire's low pays, awarding 1x to 2.5x the bet for 5-of-a-kind. The high pays are a cup, a vial, a cross, a Lady, and a Man symbol, worth 5x to 25x when 5 land in a winning combination. The Wild Wolf substitutes for all symbols on the paytable and can only appear on the reels from a successful Wild Wolf Battle. A line of 5 wild symbols pays 50x the bet.

Through the Fire: Slot Features

To push through this particular fire, the game delivers Wild Wolf Battles, sticky wilds, respins, a multiplier meter, free spins, and feature buys.

Wild Wolf Battle

When a Battle symbol lands at the same time as at least one Man or Lady symbol, a Wild Wolf Battle Occurs. Each Lady or Man symbol battles the wolf in its position with two possible outcomes. If the Wolf loses the Lady or Man symbol remains unchanged. If the Wolf wins, the Lady or Man symbol transforms into a Wild Wolf, which is a sticky wild that locks in place for the rest of the sequence. If at least one Wolf won a battle, a respin is triggered where sticky wilds remain locked. New Lady or Man symbols that land trigger new battles, which can continue to trigger respins until no new Wild Wolf is created.

Wild Wolf Multipliers

Sticky wild symbols created through a battle can come with a random multiplier of x1 to x500 for the Man symbol multipliers, or x1 to x50 for the Lady. During the Wild Wolf Battle, all multipliers from sticky wild symbols are first added to the multiplier meter before any payouts are made. When a multiplier is collected, the wild remains locked on the reels but without its multiplier. Any new sticky wilds that land with multipliers add their values to the meter before wins are evaluated. All payline wins are multiplied by the current multiplier meter value, while wins from subsequent respins are multiplied by the updated multiplier at the time of each respective respin. The meter activates when the Wild Wolf Battle begins, continuing to accumulate throughout the feature and does not reset between respins. It does reset when the feature ends, reactivating when the Wild Wolf Battle triggers again.

Inferno Hunt Bonus

When 3, 4, or 5 scatters land, they trigger 10, 15, or 20 free spins, respectively. The same mechanics as the base game apply, with the addition that the multiplier meter does not reset for the duration of the bonus round. Scatters do not appear, so the feature cannot be retriggered.

Feature Buys

BonusHunt Feature Spins make each spin 5 times more likely to trigger a bonus game for 3x the bet, while Wolf Battle FeatureSpins cost 50x to guarantee the Battle symbol, along with at least a Man or Lady symbol on each spin. The Inferno Hunt Bonus round can be bought for 100x the bet.

Through the Fire: Slot Verdict

After slots like Forbidden Fury, Street Knockout, and now Through the Fire, NowNow Gaming proves again it likes to inject a bit of confrontation into its games. In Through the Fire's case, this plays out on the reels when a Battle symbol hits to trigger fights on each Man or Lady symbol that also happens to be in view. Interestingly, you want the wolf to win these fights, rather than the other way around, in order to transform those symbols into sticky wilds. There was something of Hacksaw Gaming's VS symbols feel to the process at first, as each converted sticky wild can generate a multiplier as well.

However, the process is more echo than imitation of VS symbols, since converted Lady or Man symbols do not cover their reels, but remain regular-sized. Furthermore, they stay sticky for upcoming respins, which can technically create more sticky wilds to keep the respin sequence rolling and payouts occurring. At times, Through the Fire gave off hints of Yggdrasil Gaming's Vikings Go range, as well, but with more focused gameplay instead of all the rage, chests, and whatnot of the Viking slots. One thing setting Through the Fire apart is its multiplier meter, and given the up to x50 or x500 values possible from Lady and Man symbols, it can theoretically grow to an impressive size, aided in free spins by its persistent till the end quality.

All in all, Through the Fire is a pretty good game that pits man vs beast while loading the screen with sticky wild respins and multipliers along the way. It is a bit repetitive, as more or less the same action occurs in both base and bonus rounds, though this does mean the 10,000x max win can be won at any time. Maybe a higher-tier free spins round with an extra feature might have added greater depth and provided impetus to grind on in order to unlock it, but what's here is capable of doling out a bloody knifed rush.