Wanted Dead or a Wild Review
Hacksaw Gaming’s simple and unique visual style suits this
gritty wild west release very well, ☀️ but Wanted Dead or a Wild slot borders on being a
silly name. Looking past that however, there is nothing ☀️ lighthearted about this
installment. The base game is a ride in the bone dry desert most of the time, but ☀️ VS
expanding multiplier wilds can strike at any time to provide top-up wins and even
larger payouts.
You’re more likely to ☀️ crack the 12,500x potential in 1 of the 3 bonus
rounds however, although the least volatile sticky wild Train Robbery ☀️ feature is
probably not your best bet in that regard. The atmosphere is far bleaker than you might
be used ☀️ to from Hacksaw, and it’s nice to see a different and more serious side of the
Malta-based developer. The only ☀️ thing we don’t like about this release outside of the
title, is the introduction of adjustable RTP ranges.
Wanted Dead or ☀️ a Wild Slot - Reels
Screen
Slot Features
The Wild symbol can land on all 5 reels, and it steps in for ☀️ all
regular pay symbols to help you complete winning combinations. It’s also the most
valuable symbol in the game with ☀️ the pistol cylinder, awarding 20x your stake for 5 of
a kind. The 5 picture premium symbols pay between 5 ☀️ and 20 x your stake for the
same.
Special VS symbols can land also in the base game, and these expand ☀️ to cover the
full reel before they turn wild. A duel between 2 gunslingers awards a random wild
multiplier between ☀️ x2 and x100, and multipliers are added together if more than one VS
wild is part of a winning combo.
The ☀️ Great Train Robbery Bonus Round is triggered when
you land 3+ Train Robbery symbols in the base game. You get ☀️ 10 free spins, and all
wilds that land become sticky for the remainder of the Wanted Dead or a Wild ☀️ bonus
round. This is a medium volatile feature according to Hacksaw.
You need at least 3 Duel
symbols in view to ☀️ trigger the Duel at Dawn Bonus Round, and this also awards 10 free
spins. You can expect more frequent VS ☀️ symbols to land than in the base game, but they
don’t land all that often due the the very high ☀️ volatility you get in this feature.
The
Dead Man’s Hand Bonus Round is triggered by landing 3+ Dead scatters anywhere on ☀️ the
same spin. You start in the Collect Phase of the feature, which plays out like a streak
respins style ☀️ game with 3 spins. The aim is to land wilds and multiplier symbols, as
these are collected in the assigned ☀️ meters. You can get up to 20 wilds and a x31
multiplier at the most.
The respins tally resets to 3 ☀️ for every collected symbol you
land, and when you land nothing but blanks 3 times in a row you enter ☀️ the Showdown
phase of the bonus. You get 3 showdown spins, and the collected wilds are added in
random configurations ☀️ per spin. In addition, all wins are boosted by the multiplier you
racked up in the collect phase.
Non-UK players can ☀️ take advantage of the Wanted Dead or
a Wild Bonus Buy menu, where all 3 features are up for grabs ☀️ at any time. You can thus
purchase The Great Train Robbery (96.27 % RTP), Duel at Dawn (96.33 % RTP) ☀️ and Dead
Man’s Hand (96.43 % RTP) for 80, 200 or 400 x your stake, respectively.
The 200 Spins
Wanted Dead ☀️ or a Wild Experience
You get to see a randomly triggered VS expanding
multiplier wild that awards a smaller win in ☀️ the base game, before we purchase all 3
bonus rounds in chronological order. The Great Train Robbery feature starts around ☀️ the
1-minute mark, and you can check it all out for yourself by hitting the play button
below.
Review Summary
There is ☀️ something understated about this release that we really
like. It reminds us of the many silent, strong and gritty wild ☀️ west heroes we’ve seen
throughout the years, minding their own business in a dimly lit corner of the saloon
before ☀️ all hell breaks loose. That’s literally how playing Wanted Dead or a Wild slot
feels, as you’ll plough through plenty ☀️ of uneventful spins before a sudden VS duel
plays out to spike up your bankroll.
Don’t expect too much from the ☀️ base game however,
although a maxed-out x100 wild multiplier is certainly capable of cracking the 12,500x
potential. It’s good fun ☀️ collecting wilds and building the multiplier in the Dead Man’s
Hand feature, and the 3 final spins can be really ☀️ tense and lucrative. Double VS wilds
strike suddenly in the Duel at Dawn round, but it’s usually quiet in-between. The ☀️ Train
Robbery feature is a classic sticky wilds round, making it the most predictable
option.
Pros VS expanded wilds w/ up ☀️ to x100 multipliers
FS w/ sticky wilds (medium
volatile)
FS w/ more frequent VS multiplier wilds
FS w/ wild/multiplier collect/release
on 3 final ☀️ spins
Win up to 12,500x your stake Cons Beware of adjustable RTP ranges
If
you love to play Wanted Dead or a ☀️ Wild slot you should also try:
Chaos Crew - is
another Hacksaw release that’s somewhat similar in terms of features. It ☀️ comes with a
5x5 grid with 15 paylines as well, and you get a cranky cat mystery multiplier in the
☀️ base game. The hold-and-win style bonus round is all about multiplier accumulation,
with 4 modifier symbols that can lead to ☀️ 10,000x payouts.
El Paso Gunfight - is the
third installment in NoLimit City’s hardboiled western range, and you can choose
between ☀️ high or extreme volatility. The respins feature comes with xNudge multiplier
wilds on the 3 middle reels, and there are ☀️ 4 different bonus rounds that can lead to
payouts up to 44,440x your stake.
Dead or Alive 2 - is the ☀️ gritty follow-up to NetEnt’s
classic, and it comes with 3 different bonus rounds. One of them is the same x2
☀️ multiplier feature from the first game, but you also have a wild collect multiplier
increase feature, as well as the ☀️ highly volatile multiplier sticky wilds option. The
111,111x potential is legendary, and the tense atmosphere alone is worth a spin ☀️ or
ten.
