Hero Slot
You know how some online slot machines are cute, cuddly, warm, friendly, and all the other ways of saying ‘like a hug from mum’? Well, don’t expect any of that in this 50-Payline, 5-reel, fantasy action-inspired gambler from 777igt, because it’s none op the above.
Instead, Hero is a goliath of muscles, fists, huge beasts, and saviours with swords. It’s a curious mix of sci-fi and history- with impossible weapons and apparent medieval stylings converging on god knows what planet. All that really matters is that it looks polished, and there are many, many ways to win.
First impressions are pretty good then, although it has to be said that the colours are a little on the dull side. Various hues of blue run only run the gamut from darkish blue to darker blue, and these define the overall aesthetics. The result kind of sets the mood- huge demons and brave warriors in some other dimension that might remind older gamers of He-Man. But it does nothing to invite you in to play, despite the graphics being very professional.
We implore you to resist walking away, though, as there’s a lot to this one.
One Man (Or Woman) Army
Hero might look like it has just landed from a very different universe, but it’s really just the same as many other gamblers. It offers 50 paylines, and five reels. The idea is to match like-images on the five reels, along an active payline. Do that and you’ll win. What you win depends on what you land.
Lower value icons include the letters, the number 10, and then three different warriors. All of these look like the sort of people you don’t want to wind up sharing a taxi with on a cold night in a sparsely populated area, but let’s get past that. In addition to those, you also have three special jackpot characters.
These guys have clearer drawings, and look larger. They also definitely reminded us of something from the Final Fantasy series of games – impossibly powerful, mythical and magical beings that are looking for a fight. These guys need five of each to land in order to payout, but as the whole ‘jackpot’ thing suggests, that payout is always worth the wait.
Preparing for Battle
As was already mentioned, the game works on paylines – 50 of them to be exact. You can adjust the number of paylines you have in play with the controls at the bottom of the screen. Increase or decrease incrementally in tens. You can also up or lower the value of each individual bet. The more you put down, the more you stand to pick up, but going for a high number of bet lines, and high bet value, will soon see you rinsing through your overall pot, so be careful.
Into the Fight
On top of the standard and jackpot pictures you may also see a couple of other things doing the rounds on the reels. The first of these is the Scatter, which basically looks like someone who would try and eat your soul if they could get away with it. And even if they can’t they’ll probably give it a good try.
The Scatter triggers multiplier payouts when you win, calculated based on your total bet size. So basically more money when you’re already up. There are also free spins, a kind of knight in not-so-shining armor. As he sounds, this is all about being given free spins, so that’s free opportunities to win, which is always good.
Finally, there is the Bonus, which is a fighter in a horned helmet carrying a rather deadly looking blunt object. Land this anywhere on reels three, four or five and enter a bonus game. Oh yeah, and the Wild card looks is a warrior with white hair and silver gear – this can substitute for any other card in the game except for Scatters, Bonuses, and Frees.
Impressive Hero
We have no real idea what Hero is about, other than obviously some out of this world battle between warriors that look good, and warriors that look really, really quite scary. It’s like entering some other dimension where the only rule is you need to win to survive, and the concept works.
It’s visually very accomplished, although shamefully dark, and the replay value is high thanks to the Bonus rounds and jackpot pictures. All in all then somewhat impressive to say the least.