Unusual Suspects Cartel Cash

Unusual Suspects Cartel Cash: Slot Overview

Games Global partner Northern Lights Gaming is onto a good thing, huh? The studio hit a measure of success with the cops 'n robbers slot Unusual Suspects and has since hit back with More Unusual Suspects, the fishing version Unusual Catch, plus a Western titled Wanted Unusual Catch. The team seems to be striking while the iron is hot, as it has designed another instalment in the form of Unusual Suspects Cartel Cash. Cue the sepia filter because this one moves the action south of the Rio Grande to Mexico, where detective Max Spinwell faces off against the infamous cartels and has swapped the free spins feature for a Link&Win 4Tune round in the process.

Actually, forget the sepia filter, as Unusual Suspects Cartel Cash presents quite a colourful view of the country, moving from an urban setting to a swanky palatial villa - crime does pay in this instance. Well, not really, since Max is here to bust the baddies. Unusual Suspects Cartel Cash is a vibrant game, assisted in its vibrancy by a lively band, which is apparently the first time Northern Lights Gaming has used a live band in production. Quite a fiesta of sights and sounds it is, too.

Up to 4 matrices are possible in the bonus round, but in the base game, just one, and it's been put through a downsizing process. This time, the matrix utilises 5 reels in combination with 10 paylines for landing line wins. Of the three RTP available configurations, 96.09% is the highest return model and is medium volatile. As well as two bonus buys, bet choices range from 20 c to $/€20 a game round, noting that Sticky Frames and token collection are saved per bet.

Ten to Ace royals are Unusual Suspects Cartel Cash's low pays, awarding 1x the bet for a 5 OAK hit. Then there are dice, guns, dynamite, and loot as the 4 high pays, awarding 2 to 10 times the bet for a 5-of-a-kind winning combination. Wilds appear in the base game only to substitute for any paying symbols. Hit 5 wilds on a winline to collect 10 times the bet.

Unusual Suspects Cartel Cash: Slot Features

As usual, Unusual Suspects Cartel Cash is chock full of features such as Coin symbols, Sticky Frames, multipliers, Detectives, Big Bosses, Outlaw symbols, a Drive-By Bonus, and instead of free spins, a Link&Win 4 Tune round, plus buys. Silver Coins land with a multiplier value of up to 2.8x the bet, and Gold Coins land with a multiplier value of over 2.8x. Silver Coins can be upgraded to Gold by a Coin Modifier. Coin symbols hit in the base game and in the Link&Win 4Tune feature.

Frames

In the base game, Coins and wilds that land leave behind an x1 Sticky Frame. The Sticky Frame multiplier can increase up to x5 by landing the relevant symbols in them. Two Oversized Gold Frames are present on reels 2 and 4. During the Link&Win 4Tune feature, each set of reels has its own Oversized Frames.

Detective Coin Bonus

The Detective symbols only appear on the second reel Oversized Frame. When it hits, it adds Coins to Sticky Frames without Coins. Any multiplier values are applied to the Coins. The Detective then collects and awards all Coin values. Following this, all Sticky Frames are removed at the end of the feature. The Detective is also wild.

Big Boss Wilds

The Big Boss symbol only appears on the reel 4 Oversized Frame. The Big Boss adds wilds to all Sticky Frames. Any multiplier on a winning line is applied to that win. All Sticky Frames are removed at the end of this feature. The Big Boss is wild and only appears in the base game.

Outlaw Symbols

Outlaw symbols appear on the reel 4 Outsized Frame and only during the Link&Win 4Tune feature. Outlaw symbols are Coin modifiers:

• Multiply All - multiplies all Coins on its reel set by x2 to x10.
• Multiply One - multiplies 1 Coin on its reel set by x2 to x10.
• Adder - increases 1 coin on its reel set by 0.2x to 10x. On following spins, the Coin's value increases by the same amount.
• Collector - collects and combines all Coins on its reel set into 1 Coin. Does not apply to Adder Coins.

Drive-By Bonus

The Drive-By Bonus randomly triggers in the base game, respinning an Oversized Frame for a chance to land a Detective or a Big Boss symbol.

Link&Win 4Tune Boost Bar

When Diamond overlay tokens appear on the reels, they are collected by the Boost Bar. Filling the bar with 50 tokens starts the Link&Win 4Tune feature with reelset 1 and 2 unlocked. The bar resets after the bonus round has played out.

Link&Win 4Tune

Landing the Detective and the Big Boss in the base game triggers the Link&Win 4Tune feature. It starts with 1 reel set active, but reelsets 2 to 4 can be unlocked. A total of 3 respins are awarded to each unlocked reel set. Only Coins, blanks, Detective, and Outlaw symbols may land. When any non-blank symbol lands, the respin count on that reelset returns to 3. Landing the Detective and an Outlaw on the same reel set unlocks the next one: Reelset 1 - x1 multiplier, 20x Mini Jackpot, Reelset 2 - x2 multiplier, 50x Minor Jackpot, Reelset 3 - x3 multiplier, 500x Major Jackpot, and Reelset 4 - x5 multiplier, 5,000x Grand Jackpot.

When the bonus ends, the reelset awards are multiplied by the corresponding jackpot. Filling a set of reels with Coins awards its respective jackpot, though only one jackpot may be awarded.

Bonus Buy

It is possible to buy entry to the Link&Win 4Tune for 100x the bet or the enhanced version, which has more Coins and more wins for 200x the bet. Tokens are not used when buying the feature.

Unusual Suspects Cartel Cash: Slot Verdict

Fans of Northern Lights Gaming's Unusual Suspect slots have been well served to date and should be happy with the latest instalment. Thematically, the range has diverged from its downtown cops 'n robbers setting of the first slot through fishing, a Western, and now a Narcos-style battle against the cartels. Through them all, certain gaming elements have remained the same or at least similar, linking the series together, such as Sticky Frames, multipliers, and so on, but Unusual Suspects Cartel Cash has fired the Big Bass Bonanza-esque free spins round in favour of a Link&Win round, boosted by 4Tune.

Till now, the 4Tunes slots we've crossed paths with, Break Da Bank Again 4Tune Reels, Mega Moolah 4Tune Reels, Genie's Link&Win 4Tune, for example, haven't exactly wowed. They seem to offer basically the same gaming experience but spread over 4 sets of reels instead of one. Unusual Suspects Cartel Cash puts an enticing spin on the mechanic by applying a total win multiplier to each unlocked grid and making it so that you need to unlock reelsets to get to the higher jackpots. In other words, there was a stronger than usual compulsion to progress through the Link&Win 4Tune feature. Winning potential is solid, though not crazy high for the Usual Suspects, where an in-game message touts the ability to win over 12,000x.

As mentioned, fans of these games should be happy with the cartel update. The only major possible downside for some gamblers is the removal of the free spins round, which was a hallmark feature in these slots. On the other side of the coin, the 4Tune round has been handled quite well, and Unusual Suspects Cartel Cash causes the series to evolve down a path it hadn't trodden before.