Blades of the Abyss

Besides the game being an RPG-lookalike you will immediately pay attention to the pyramid structure that is the reels. The war-like nature of the slot is certain to attract an audience, but does it carry the slot in the long term? The graphics are pretty decent, easily surpassing most other slots. The occasional animations and the hardcore music are more than enough to take care of the rest of the atmosphere. What about the wins then? Read more about those below.

Theme

Nucleus Gaming has done a good job with the theme, as there is nothing here that wouldn’t fit the subject. One would have wished a bit more background animations, but given that the reels and symbols activate different reactions that can be forgiven. War and fighting is what this game is all about, so it is no surprise that gems and weapons take the role as symbols. The blades, as per title, seem to be carried by the two main characters. The music is pretty grim and bombastic, and in the long run perhaps a bit too much to listen to.

Betting Options and Functions

This slot has a pyramid reel structure. This means that the first reel has three symbol positions, the second one four, the third one five, the fourth one four, and the fifth one three. There are a total of twenty paylines, which might seem insufficient given the number of symbol positions, but this is compensated by the fact that all paylines are counted from both left and right.

Betting is done by selecting coin value and how many coins are bet per line. The minimum total bet is 0.40 coins and the maximum 100 coins per spin. There’s a total of twelve symbols divided into three casts. The low-value ones pay between two and thirty times the line bet. The medium-value symbols have a return of ten and one hundred times the line bet, and the high-value symbols pay out between 20 and 250 times the line bet. All in all, the variance is high and the wins are fitting for it.

Features

Pressing the gamble button gives you the chance to double any basic win with the usual 50 - 50 chance of winning or losing. Simply choose heads or tails and trust in your luck.

The two main characters each have their own specialities. The Swordsman launches a magical beam turning all symbols above or below into wilds. The Shieldmaiden in turn launches her magical beam left or right, turning everything in the way into wilds. If both of them land and launch their magic at the same time the player is awarded ten free spins. If the magic happens to affect the same wilds those are held in place for the entire duration of the spins.

The wilds are the most valuable icons in the game, not only substituting for all others but also paying up to 500 times the line bet when five of them form a combination.

Our Take

This slot comes with a lot of fanfare, but in the end it feels somewhat empty. If you are lucky with wilds and free spins you can cash in some massive win combos from the two-way paylines. Otherwise the wins are somewhat mediocre. Try for free before putting in any real bets.