There's always been a certain amount of fascination surrounding the idea of a ‘mobster' family. From The Godfather and Goodfellas to The Sopranos, people across the world have found themselves watching with an almost morbid intrigue, wanting to learn more about what makes these infamous family models tick. But how many of us could really handle this lifestyle, and how many of us would get too afraid of continually looking over our shoulders? The minds at Nolimit City have been wondering the same thing, and now they're giving us a chance to step into this world in their upcoming release. Leaving behind Dr Death and his demented clinic from Disturbed, Nolimit City invite us to bring our best pinstripe suit and our finest knuckle dusters, as we join them in Whacked!. With RTP options up to 96.07% (96.15% feature buy), this highly (8) volatile release can produce wins up to 11,912x bet.
We're outside today, at what looks to be an abandoned gas station. I'm not sure why we're at a gas station exactly, but perhaps this is a nod to one of the famous scenes surrounding these families – we all remember that scene with Phil Leotardo, right? Regardless of the reason, it's clear blue skies today as deserted land sits around the reels, with some burnt-out cars to the left. Symbols on the reel bring things more in keeping with the theme, including guns, knuckle dusters, and five mobster characters – including one clearly based on Paulie Gualtieri, and one with a scar on his face. Finally, an upbeat sound track comes in to tie it all together, scattered with sounds of police sirens and the like.
Whacked! Base Features
Taking place across 5 reels, wins are formed on Whacked by matching at least 3 symbols on adjacent reels, beginning with the leftmost reel. Each reel begins with 3 symbols, producing 243 ways to win, but thanks to xWays (which we'll get to soon) this can increase as high as 7,776 ways to win. Symbols available begin with non premiums, with rope, knives, knuckle dusters, pistols, and shotguns, awarding wins between 0.15 and 0.30x bet for 3 of a kind matches, increasing to values between 0.50 and 0.90x bet for 5 of a kind wins. At the premium end we meet our five gangster foes, awarding wins between 0.50 and 1x bet for 3 of a kind matches, increasing to values between 1 and 2x bet for 5 of a kind wins.
There are a few different things to cover in Whacked, beginning with tumbles. On every spin, all symbols involved in a winning combination will be removed from the reels, with all remaining symbols dropping down to the bottommost available position on their respective reels. New symbols will then drop in from above to fill any remaining gaps, with tumbles continuing until no new wins are formed.
Next are xWays symbols. When an xWays symbol lands on the reels, it will expand to reveal 2 or 4 of the same symbol. These symbols will be half symbols, but pay at the same rate as their regular counterparts. When half symbols are involved in tumbles, they will be replaced by additional symbols of the same size.
The main feature in the Whacked base game is the Lock n' Load feature. Each time a winning combination occurs, a bullet is loaded into the cylinder at the bottom of the reels. Once the gun has been fully loaded with 6 bullets (meaning 6 winning combinations) and tumbles have finished, the Lock n' Load feature is triggered. The bullets will then be randomly fired at high paying character symbols on the reels. Any character symbols that are hit will be replaced by an overlay Wild.
If there are less than 6 character symbols on the reels, the remaining bullets will be stored in the cylinder for the next tumble. Wilds substitute for all symbols except Scatters.
Whacked! Bonus
Land 3 car Scatter symbols to trigger Whacked Spins, wherein 3 spins are awarded. During Whacked Spins, reels will hold a value underneath – this will always begin at 1 on each reel. It is possible to land Coin values, xWays symbols, or xNudge symbols during Whacked Spins. Any positions not containing one of these symbols will have an image of one of the gangsters with a plastic bag over his head, and will not count towards any wins. Each time a Coin value, xWays symbol, or xNudge symbol lands on the reels, spins will reset back to 3. When no more spins remain, the feature will end.
Coins hold a number that represents a times bet value. When a Coin value lands, it will be added to the counter at the bottom of its respective reel. When an xWays symbol lands, it will expand to reveal 3 Coin values ranging between 1 and 20.
When an xNudge symbol lands, it will firstly nudge to the bottom position on its reel, increasing by +1 for each nudge it makes, resulting in possible multipliers of x1, x2, or x3. After it reaches the bottom of the reel, it will expand upwards, revealing this multiplier value in each of the 3 reel positions. These values will then multiply the total value held at the bottom of the reel in turn.
At the end of Whacked Spins, all values at the bottom of the reels will be added together to give a total value that is awarded as a times bet multiplier.
There is one additional symbol that can land during Whacked Spins – the xRevolver symbol, which can award Russian Roulette through golden bullets. When Russian Roulette is activated, spins will be reset back to 3 once more, but then cannot reset again. xRevolver symbols can reveal one of 6 options, including xWays, xNudge, and Coin values. When Whacked Spins end, if Russian Roulette has been triggered, the values at the bottom of the reels will be multiplied together to give a total value that is awarded as a times bet multiplier.
Players in appropriate regions can take advantage of just one Nolimit Bonus option in Whacked, wherein for a cost of 88x bet, players are guaranteed to trigger Whacked Spins with 3 Scatters. In the 96.07% setting, RTP increases slightly to 96.15% when buying the feature.
The maximum win available in Whacked is 11,912x bet (Last Man Standing). If the sum of a single game round exceeds this, the game round will end and 11,912x bet will be awarded.
First Impression
Whacked is one of the more interesting releases from the team at Nolimit City, because it heads into a new kind of territory. Not an industry-wide uniqueness, but rather something unique from this particular studio. Whilst they have branched into games with a hold and win style bonus in releases like Fire in The Hole and Dead Canary, they've never done anything quite like this – which is reminiscent of Hacksaw Gaming titles, including the recently released Cursed Seas.
In the base game, Lock n' Load carries the bulk of the weight, along with xWays symbols and tumbles, but in Whacked Spins things are turned up slightly, with the addition of xRevolver symbols and xNudge symbols – something that works well with this style of bonus. When the right combinations occur, wins are possible up to 11,912x bet. There isn't a great deal else to say – a fairly simple release from a studio that normally avoid simplicity.
Finally, maths is highly (8) volatile and RTP options are available up to 96.07% (96.15% feature buy), so as always it's worth checking this. It might not be a flagship release, but Whacked! might offer an incentive to players who normally sway towards other providers.
Other maths information, for those who are interested, is as follows:
- RTP: 92.04% – 96.07%
- RTP Main Game: 63.63%
- RTP Bonus: 32.45%
- Volatility: High (8)
- Hit frequency: 25.03%
- Free Spins: 1 in 261 spins
- Win 100x bet: 1 in 1072 spins
- Max win: 11,912x bet
- Max Win Main Game: 1 in 900k spins (96.07% RTP)
*The screenshots taken of games reviewed on this site are taken from Demo Play, as reviews are often written before games are released for real play.
