Slots like Heroes Hunt Megaways from the Swedish firm Fantasma Games in the 2020s would have been a good fit for gamers who like slots with a dash of video games or roleplaying. It included an interesting D&D element in its system of unlocking characters, their modifiers, and higher bonus games, yet players and broadcasters were quick to point out the game’s flaws. The long animations and the difficulty in launching the extra games were two major points of complaint. Fantasma rethought the formula and came out with Heroes Hunt 2 Megaways, which builds on the original game’s ideas but adds in fresh content and challenges.
The first Heroes Hunt game ended with the three heroes killing a dragon, and now they’re needed again. This time, two villains are to blame for the revival of an ancient castle’s dread. The heroes must fight not one but two monsters: werewolves and vampires. So after some establishing shots, the players are in a pillared room of the castle, in front of a Megaways-powered, six-reel game panel that is partially covered in blocker tiles. It’s not as exciting as finding a dragon guarding a room full of wealth, but fantasy fans won’t be disappointed. The Eurovision meets vampires and werewolves feel that Heroes Hunt 2’s metal and horror themes created grew on us.
It’s interesting to see the numbers. There are plenty of options in each group, but the sum isn’t necessarily indicative of how individual playthroughs went. The base RTP is solid at 96.49%, and it can be increased to either 96.82% or 96.97% with the purchase of Werewolf or Vampire Free Spins. The quest is just as risky as before, but this time around the ceiling isn’t quite as high. Betting ranges from 20 pence per spin to £/€50 per spin, and may be selected from any device.
When you press the spin button, up to six symbols will appear on each reel, giving you between 64 and 46,656 opportunities to win. Players win when three or more identical symbols appear in a sequence, starting on the leftmost reel and moving to the right. Starting with four pebbles with lower values, the pay symbols progress to coins, crowns, Archers, Wizards, Warriors, and Vampires. If a player gets a winning combination of six premium symbols, they can win anywhere from two times their bet to ten times it.
Slot Machine Features of Heroes Hunt 2 Megaways
Players start a new Heroes Hunt 2 game by selecting one of three heroes; the other two are hidden at the outset. Vampire Free Spins and Super Spins are triggered when all three heroes are engaged.
When a hero is active, and his or her symbol appears on reels 2 through 5 during regular play or Vampire Free Spins, the appropriate modifier is activated.
When the Explosion sign appears, it will burst, clearing one or two 2×2 regions, or one 3×3 area, of all blocker tiles and non-winning pay symbols. After the bomb detonates, 1 random type of pay symbols is used to replace all the damaged ones.
The Warrior has an expanding wild bonus round. If a sword icon appears on a reel, it will substitute for all other symbols in that position and any positions above or below it. Any winnings that include this full-reel wild are multiplied by a factor of 2x to 6x. A second wild of size 1×1 is also introduced on another reel at random.
The Archer has the ability to Respin. When an arrow icon lands, it takes out itself plus anything from four to nine additional random icons that aren’t winners. A multiplicator equal to the amount of tiles cleared out is generated. To fill the empty spaces, new symbols drop from above, and any winnings are applied to the multiplier.
It’s possible that reel 6’s chest symbols will appear when you’re trying to free the heroes. When this happens, either one of the locked heroes gains an extra 1 experience point, or the Werewolf Free Spins feature is activated. Each hero may be unlocked for 3 EXP.
The Werewolf Free Spins feature awards 10 nonretriggerable free games. During this bonus round, the Warrior, Wizard, and Archer symbols next to any Werewolf Wild symbols on reels 2-5 will also be transformed into Wilds.
When all three heroes are in play, chest symbols will no longer appear on reel 6, and a new key symbol will join the game and appear in any position. Ten Vampire Free Spins are provided if three keys appear on non-blocking squares. If 12 or more Vampire symbols are destroyed by the Explosion, Expanding Wild, or Respin feature during this feature, the Vampire is killed, and Super Free Spins are given. When a Vampire Symbol is destroyed, or when a Vampire Symbol contributes to a winning combination, a +1 Vampire Spin is added. After completing the Vampire Free Spins, players will be sent back to the main menu, where they may select a new hero to unlock and begin the process once more.
The Super Free Spins feature is similar to that of Serpent Shrine. Two free spins on a fully expanded 6-by-6 grid with a 100x multiplier are offered. During Super Free Spins, nothing but wilds and ordinary symbols occur.
For 30x the stake, players may purchase Werewolf Free Spins, and for 100x the bet, they can get Vampire Free Spins. The purchase of spins has no effect on the experience gained by heroes.
A Slot Review of Heroes Hunt 2 Megaways
Even while Heroes Hunt 2 Megaways is a more polished experience than its predecessor, it still has its fair share of challenging moments. During the phase where you unlock heroes, the extra round called Werewolf Free Spins appears frequently, although it seldom pays off. On rare occasions, however, enough Werewolf wilds would fall for a spread and a respectable win to be recorded. You shouldn’t bank on it, though, because these spins only cost 30 times your stake.
Once all three heroes are unlocked, you may have to wait a while before any more chest symbols emerge. Some of the magic is lost if the cascade effect is disabled as you fight. On average, Vampire Spins only activate every 485 spins, thus unlocking all heroes and progressing to the next round might require a lot of patience. Defeating the Vampire is no easy task, but if you manage to reach the Super Spins’ x100 multiplier, it might be well worth it. It’s tough to say because it never happened during our playtests. Fantasma has apparently attached a 20,000x the bet win ceiling, limiting possible harm, but it can still be remarkable.
The problem with the minimum playthrough requirement to activate free spins persists, but in a less severe or more nuanced form than in the original. It doesn’t take long to unlock all heroes, but doing so eliminates Werewolf Spins before you reach the important scatter phase of the quest. Because a successful round of unlocking heroes and triggering Vampire Spins gets you pumped for the following round, Heroes Hunt 2 Megaways straddles a delicate edge. However, if you make it to the end of the process and have very little to show for it, the prospect of starting over again might be scary. When the equilibrium is upset, it’s tempting to give up and let the realm fight off the lupine monsters of the dead on its own.