Get ready to saddle up, gamers! Actually, with all these Western-themed slot machines, we could start chafing in the crotch region from all the saddling we’ve been doing. This time, instead of using the car, why don’t we walk? Wild West Duels, a slot machine created by the brilliant people at Pragmatic Play, is where you need to be today. Prodigiousness, however, is not synonymous with originality; Wild West Duels is a prime example of ‘borrowing’ others’ ideas. We won’t reveal the name of the previous game just yet, but those who are familiar with Western-themed slot machines should be able to guess it without too much difficulty.
The village of Wild West Duels is a dusty wasteland that appears to have been deserted for some time. There might be many causes of a town’s death, such as the local mine becoming dry or the railroad tycoons refusing to construct a station. Then then, maybe the locals are too afraid of bandits to go out and about on the streets. Whatever the case may be, the town in Wild West Duel looks and feels very deserted, what with all the tumbleweeds, dust, and lone cactus that dot the otherwise empty streets. The audio part of the deal is fulfilled with a twangy soundtrack, which is really darn nice save from the xylophone-like noises for win count-ups, which are a bit of a letdown. The audio-visual quality is solid, but it fails to create the same sense of mystery and intrigue as the position it aspires to fill.
The game board for Wild West Duels is 5 by 5, and there are 15 lines that cross the playing area, each of which can provide a win. This occurs when three or more identical symbols appear in a horizontal, starting from the left, line across three or more successive reels. The RTP is the same whether players opt to buy bonuses or wager on individual spins, making it very variable and somewhat merciless at times. The maximum payout is 96%, but two lesser options have been created. A quick glance at the paytable will reveal which one you have. If everything checks out, choose a wager between 20 percent and £/€100 every spin to begin the battle.
Wild West Duels has a wide variety of symbols, including 10 normal ones and several more that pay more for certain combinations. Low-paying symbols are a wanted poster, necktie, drink bottle, boots, and a hat; high-paying symbols are five different character icons. If you get five matching symbols on an active payline, you win between 1 and 20 times your wager on the premiums. The standard gold bag wild appears on all reels and may replace any non-special symbol to form winning combinations. Wild symbols can randomly extend to occupy a whole reel, either in the main game or in the Duel feature, and there is a shootout between two gunslingers. The victor of the duel gets to add their multiplier (between 2 and 100) to the wild. Only if there is at least one sure win does an expansion take place.
Features of the Slot Game Wild West Duel
Now we may discuss the three bonus symbols that activate the Beer Game, the Duel, and Lost Relics in Wild West Duels.
Beer Cannon
If you get three or more Beer Game scatters, you’ll get ten free games. When the wild beer mug symbol appears in the Beer Game, it gains a random multiplier of x2 or x3 and remains in place until the end of the round. When more than one wild contributes to a win, the multipliers are added together to determine the final win amount. This feature does not include expanding wilds, and it cannot be retriggered.
Duel
Free spins in Duel can be triggered by seeing three or more Duel scatters anywhere in view. This bonus round has increasing wilds, and at least one wild symbol will appear on each free spin. There is no way to restart this round, either.
Rare Artifacts
The Lost Relics scatter comes last. When you get at least three of them, you’ll enter the Lost Relics bonus round, which begins with three free spins. However, before the reels start to spin, players must select 9 of the 25 shovels on the screen to reveal either fixed wilds or random multipliers. The multiplier values range from x1 to x5 and the wild values from 1 to 5. After you’ve made your selections, you may start your free games. Each win is increased by the original multiplier selection, and wilds always land in increments of the selected number. The bonus round cannot be retriggered, and there are no expanding wilds.
Money for Spins
Players can purchase one of three additional bonus rounds, depending on local regulations. Beer Game may be purchased for 100x the bet, the Duel for 200x the bet, and Lost Relics for 400x the stake. As was previously established, the RTP for both bonus buys and regular buys is same.
Slot Wins in Wild West Gunfights
Wild West Duels is essentially Hacksaw’s Wanted Dead or a Wild by another name, albeit the two games don’t share a single pixel. A year and a half before Wild West Duels was set to be released, the devastating portrayal of the West in Wanted Dead or a Wild was released. Maybe Pragmatic Play figured people had forgotten about the popular slot by Hacksaw Gaming by now. Perhaps Pragmatic Play blithely pushed on with its version without giving any thought to what others might think. Not exactly a bold step. Imitation is not only the highest form of flattery, but also rather popular in the arena of online gaming.
Putting that aside, what’s left is a thrilling Western-themed slot, however it’s worth noting that it has scenes of shocking cruelty. Its bonus rounds have the potential to bring everything together into something truly remarkable, but they also run the risk of leading to absolutely nowhere, making an investment in them a dicey proposition. At least, that’s a possibility throughout our trials. The winning potential, though, is enormous, and at 20,000x the bet, it’s far more than in the first Wanted Dead or Alive slot. Maybe the massive player base will entice people to switch from Wild West Duels.
It’s possible that it’s required because everything else in the game seems like filler. When compared to Wanted Dead or Alive, Wild West Duels’ lack of creativity (in terms of artwork, gameplay, and grim atmosphere) is readily apparent. It’s impossible to argue that Wild West Duels isn’t a great game, despite the fact that it stole its greatest concepts from another product.