Piracy has always been one of the most interesting themes, and pirates have captured the hearts and minds of many people. Some depicted them as brave and honorable adventurers, while others couldn’t see anything except for cruelty and described them as filthy villains. The theme inspired a large number of everything from TV shows to games, and it’s obviously cannot be considered a novelty within the gambling industry. Even though you can hardly turn the pirate theme into something authentic or at least enliven and the overall genre is a bit of cliche, the notorious provider NetEnt comes up with their own vision of a pirate-themed slot.
With this brand new slot by NetEnt, you can set sail and join the crew to get acquainted with piracy yourself. Rage of the Seas shares the idea of describing piracy as an evil phenomenon when people are driven by the desire of gaining profit, so embrace your wicked side and plunge into the adventure in search of precious treasures and relics. The slot is actually promising as NetEnt saturated the gameplay with outstanding features to keep you hooked and ensure you never have a dull moment during the session.
The slot is visually superb and NetEnt’s brainchild surely offers perfect aesthetics when it comes to the game’s appearance. Loading the game will take you into the midst of the unknown deep dark waters with the reels set against a pirate ship floating through the dusky sea. A truly intimidating scene indeed, as the ship’s ‘encrusted’ with skulls and fearsome figures, and the lanterns complement its formidable look. The graphics and animations are of top-notch quality thanks to the meticulous developers’ approach to the design. We really have to pay tribute to the design team as they managed to depict everything in detail and add a touch of life to the whole scenery with excellent animations. Moreover, whenever you activate the features, the camera zooms out to showcase the background with more ships in the rear and you are about to witness a real marine battle, so load the cannons and better aim at the target.
The soundtrack is another of highlights, as it captures the essential grim vibe and fits the theme perfectly. A classy pirate music play whilst you spin the reels, picking up the tempo when you hit bonus features to add some suspense to the gameplay. The sound effects add a final touch as the commentary as well as cannon-shots immerse you into the action and make you feel yourself part of the motley crew.
When it comes to the symbol design, it’s as pleasing to the eye as the surrounding. The symbol collection includes rather familiar icons, and the payable is made up of 10 regulars split into highs and lows. All of them relate to the theme, and even the lows look outstanding. The less valuable ones include ship wheels, rum bottles, powder kegs, anchors, macaws, and hammerhead sharks. They are followed by the pirate crew which dominates the reels as the premiums. On the high end, we get 2 male and 2 female pirates, including a ship captain, who’s the most valuable among the regulars. You’ll require at least 3 symbols on a line to score a win, while the highest rewards are paid for 5 instances of the same symbol. However, don’t expect to benefit much from the bare symbols as you won’t get more than 2.5x of the bet for the top-paying one, whilst the other symbols worth from 0.4 to 2 times the bet. Yet, there’s no need to worry about the low values as the game’s potential lies beneath its features.
NetEnt’s gone far with the authenticity and thus we get a pretty quirky layout. The initial grid is a common 5×4 setup with 1,024 ways to play. Though, the reelset is expandable and can reach 4-7-7-7-4 in size with whopping 5,488 paylines. Players drop in by setting bets from 0.2$ per spin, while the highest wager is 400$. The betting range is indeed impressive, but who actually bets 400$ for a single round?
Rage of the Seas is powered by high volatile math model, so don’t expect to have those small wins to keep you afloat. You’ll have to manifest a great level of patience awaiting the big wins to come, so adjust your bets wiser to survive in the long run. Fortunately, NetEnt is helping with the RTP of 96.04%, which is slightly higher than the average of 96%. What is most impressive about this game is the maximum potential which is a massive 27,440x of the bet payout. When playing with the max bet option available, you can hope for a stunning win of 10,976.000$ on a single spin.
The slot has some booty involved, and it does not concern the sizable maximum win. The pirate-themed slot comes loaded with features to keep you entertained during the session and which also lead you to decent payouts. The devs did a great job not only to design their brainchild but also to saturate it with exceptional features. The features can be divided into 3 categories – the Boost feature, random features, and the Free Spins feature.
The heart of the game is definitely the Boost feature, which is the key to collecting massive payouts. Whenever Boost symbols land onto reels 2, 3, and 4, a monkey pounces to unlock the window above the reels to add 3 extra reel positions to make the reel 7 symbols in height and thus increase the number of ways to play. Besides the expanded reelset, each time Boost symbols land they award a particular number of Feature spins as well as pleasant extras to assist you during the feature.
When a Boost symbol land onto the reel, it gives you 4 Feature Spins, and in case the reel has already been expanded it will give you 2 additional spins. The extras are called modifiers and include 5 random bonus features, which are awarded for each new Boost symbol appearing on the reels. Whenever a Boost symbol lands, a respective flag unfolds to display the corresponding modifier.
Collect 3 Boost symbols during the Feature Spins or the base game to get access to the Free Spins bonus. You can also trigger the Free Spins by landing at least 3 Scatter symbols anywhere onto the game field, with 3, 4, and 5 Scatters awarding 5, 8, and 12 spins respectively. The feature is played across a fully unlocked grid with 3 modifiers. Moreover, if you triggered the bonus game during the Boos feature, the rest of the Feature Spins will be added to the total number of Free Spins.
NetEnt’s brainchild actually manages to stand out from a pile of same-styled games, not only thanks to the design and atmosphere but also the novel feature set providing unique gaming experience. It fascinates as soon as you load the game, and you get your head into the pirate action almost immediately. The dark atmosphere adds a whole new level of excitement and drastically improves the overall impression.
It doesn’t have any serious issues to mention honestly. The gameplay is a pearl and only nail the potential success of Rage of the Seas. The expanding reelset is a highlight there, and the modifiers paired with Free Spins deliver a new layer of entertainment. Not to say that the random features are something mind-blowing, it’s necessary to admit that they significantly boost the potential and work perfectly in pairs, turning even the worst outcomes into decent wins.
All said and done, it does appeal from the first sight, and as soon as you get acquainted with the feature set you lose yourself in the game. Those not into the theme or the volatility level may not get super fired, but still, get drawn to spin the reels on it due to the above-mentioned factors. Rage of the Seas is definitely worth a spin or two and you’ll hardly have a dull moment during the gameplay session.