Universal Monsters The Phantoms Curse

NetEnt excels at creating state-of-the-art games that manage to incorporate and reconcile both amazing looks and engaging storyline. So, when there was the official announcement that the company would be doing a video slot based on Gaston Leroux legendary novel, The Phantom of the Opera, we were quite excited – especially this reviewer who is a sucker for titles that spawn from the forms of literature and arts belonging to a higher culture. This is why, today, you have the pleasure of introducing yourself to this 3-rows, 5-reels, 40-payline game of stacked symbols and Masked Phantom features. But, first things first.

Theme

Phantom of the Opera was a very successful drama novel as soon as it was released in the early XX century. But its true success came later when adapted into a musical and performed in some of the most well-known theaters and opera houses around the world. Most notably, it's achieved legendary status as a Broadway musical. The storyline of Christine and the enigmatic masked entity, believed to be a specter haunting the Palais Garnier Opera in Paris, is brought back onto the reels in a suitably ostentatious fashion. Set against the backdrops that are the sweeping view of the interior of the Parisian Opera are the symbols, spinning and delivering goods to the orchestral score that benefits the game in that it sets the foreboding and dramatic tone, adding to the theatricality of the experience. Graphics are executed in a “serious” manner, as in they are not cartoony, but instead, we have the realistic faces of the two main protagonists which are the two symbols with highest payout values. Other symbols of higher value are yellow ring rose, a mirror and dagger. Card suits – hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades – are on the lower end of value spectrum. As for wild symbols, there are several: mask, stacked mask, masked Phantom, stacked Phantom and Stacked Christine (which differ from the “ordinary” symbols of Phantom and Christine by the golden frame on their symbols). The symbols are all animated, once they become a part of the winning combination. The entire audio-visual experience of the game is that of pleasantness, a small amount of suspense and unobtrusiveness.

Betting Options and Functions

Game's functions and betting options are located at the very bottom of the screen, where the player's panel is. Look from left to right; you can first click on the “i” button to open a very informative, singular screen with the value of each symbol, the meaning and function of each special symbol and extra feature as well as the payline diagram. You can then set the level of a bet, that is the amount of coins per line – from 1 to 10 - by clicking the “-” or “+” buttons, just right to the “i”. Coin denominations can also be adjusted – they go from 0.01 to 1. Clicking on the Max Bet button you set, er, well...the max bet! Finally, you can set the maximum amount of auto spins you'd like (1000 is the largest amount available). To the very right, you have the overview of how many coins you have left while just below the Spin button you can easily check out what your bet totals in the currency you're playing in and how much you've won.

Features

The golden scatter symbol will launch and trigger the most basic of extra features every slot game has: the extra spins round. Three of them, landing on first, third and fifth reels will trigger additional spins where something awesome happens: the theater chandelier will hang and appear next to reels with five ropes, one rope per reel. If you land a Masked Phantom symbol on a reel, the rope tied to that reel will be cut and the reel will be highlighted. Once all five ropes are cut, the chandelier will fall, effectively ending the extra spins session. Landing the Masked Phantom on a reel that cuts the rope turns all Masked Phantom symbols on that reel sully stacked from the next spin on.

During the main game, the three types of stacked bonus symbols appear on their respective reels – Stacked Phantom appears on reel one, while Stacked Mack and Stacked Christine land only on the fifth reel.

Pick and Click feature is triggered once Stacked Phantom lands on first reel and Stacked Christine lands on last reel simultaneously. This will commence the first stage of the bonus game in which player has to choose between 8 roses – some of them contain coins, but selecting a blocker symbol to transport the player into the second stage. There, the player is confronted with a choice between three mirrors – each representing a multiplier or either 1x, 2x or 3x.This will multiply your wins from the previous stage.

The Masked Phantom re-spin commences once the Stacked Phantom symbol lands on reel 1 and Stacked Mask lands on reel 5 simultaneously. This will trigger one re-spin during which the symbols that triggered it will remain on reels.

Our Take

NetEnt has once again struck gold with Universal Monsters: The Phantom's Curse. It's a solid video slot with superior graphics and an even better soundtrack. Its extra features are not easy to trigger, but then this will only make you want them more, right? It's a perfect game – perhaps not the best in NetEnt's entire repertoire – but certainly worth the high pedigree the name it bears has.