Vikings Unleashed Reloaded

Vikings Unleashed Reloaded: Slot Overview

2018 was the year that saw the release of Vikings Unleashed Megaways from Blueprint Gaming as part of the studio's plan to make the most out of its Megaways licence from Big Time Gaming. Whilst a solid-scoring Viking slot, it was at its heart essentially an Extra Chilli wannabe that nevertheless achieved a respectable amount of success. For whatever reason, Blueprint Gaming has decided the moment is ripe to dust off its earlier Viking game and make a follow-up. Titled Vikings Unleashed Reloaded, it provides an opportunity to sail to distant shores and do a bit of looting and a bit of pillaging, all in the make-believe world of an online slot, of course.

On the deck of a Viking longship is where Vikings Unleashed Reloaded is played from, and the visuals haven't seen much of a reload. The quality is comparable to the original, despite it coming out 5 years later, though maybe Vikings Unleashed Reloaded is a little more refined as a boat skims across the surface of the water on a cloudy, moody day. As before, a grid with 6 vertical spinning reels and a top 4 cell bonus reel spinning horizontally is where the gaming takes place. Low pay symbols look like scrolls, the high pays are Viking characters, and an excellent Viking-sounding score with chanting adds extra incentive to take off on a sea borne adventure.

Players who wish to board the boat will have to pick a stake of 10 p/c to $/€10 per spin and decide whether to bash the play button or make use of the buy bonus function. The RTP in both cases clocks in at 96% and is highly volatile to boot. To win, what you want to happen is for matching symbols to land along consecutive reels, starting from the leftmost reel; reel height doesn't make a difference, and up to 117,649 ways to win are possible.

The cascading win system removes winning symbols from the reels when they land in view. Symbols cascade downwards to replace the removed symbols, and if a new win is created, the cascading process will begin again. Pretty much the same pay symbols return as well, with 5 card royals on the low side and 4 character symbols on the upper edge of the pay table. The premiums pay up to 50x the bet for a 6-of-a-kind winning way, dropping to 1.75x for the most valuable card rank. Wilds are here, too, lending a helping hand by substituting for any regular pay symbol, however, wilds only appear on the top bonus reel.

Vikings Unleashed Reloaded: Slot Features

For the most part, Vikings Unleashed Reloaded serves up a regular lineup of features such as mystery symbols, and free spins with a rising multiplier. As well as those is a quad choice Bonus Buy.

Mystery Symbols

Hammer-inscribed mystery symbols may land on any reel. When mystery symbols hit, they all transform into the same random symbol type from the paytable.

Free Spins

Also present on the 6 main reels is Vikings Unleashed Reloaded's scatter symbol. Hitting 4 scatters awards 12 free spins, plus you get an extra 5 free spins for each additional triggering scatter. Just before free spins start, players have the option of gambling for extra free spin, a higher starting multiplier and a greater minimum number of Megaways on each free spin. This is conducted on 3 separate red and green segmented gamble wheels. Keep in mind any unsuccessful gamble forfeits the whole round. At most, it is possible to begin with 30 free spins, an x10 multiplier, and 117,649 guaranteed ways. Once into the free spins round, each win increases the win multiplier by +1, and hitting 3 or 4 scatters awards an extra 5 or 10 free spins, respectively.

Bonus Buy

From the bonus buy menu, players can pay 32x, 70x, 175x, or 350x the bet to buy 8, 12, 19, or 27 free spins, respectively. The win multiplier starts at x1 in all four cases.

Vikings Unleashed Reloaded: Slot Verdict

Five years is a long time to go between sequels or reloads, as the case here might be, so players who had been drooling over the thought of receiving Vikings Unleashed Reloaded one day may be disappointed that Blueprint Gaming hasn't exactly overhauled the whole experience. Not much has changed at all, really, which may come as a disappointing surprise. Certainly, temper expectations if you were hoping Vikings Unleashed Reloaded would lead Viking-minded gamblers into brave new waters they've never tripped through before.

Blueprint Gaming is a master of the minor tweak, however, so it shouldn't be too much of a shock to see how close Vikings Unleashed Reloaded is to the previous game. Many is the time the studio has taken a slot, made a minor adjustment and slung it out the workshop door into the waiting laps of an enthusiastic audience, or not. Take the long line of Fishin' Frenzy slots or the mountain of Eye of Horus games. Perhaps the biggest puzzle is why it took so long for Vikings Unleashed Reloaded to hit our shores. Max win hasn't changed either, with the same 50,000x win cap in place that appears in a lot of Blueprint Gaming slots.

All in all, Vikings Unleashed Reloaded is a nice Viking slot, presented to a high standard through attractive artwork and stirring sounds. Yet, aside from players who like to push pre-feature gambles as far as they possibly can, there really isn't much separating the two slots, which may be a letdown. Hitting the dream scenario of achieving all 117,649 ways on every free spin might be all the temptation needed, as it is quite a thought, but by the same token, potentially wallet-smashing if it doesn't go according to plan.