Hot as Hades Pokie Machine
Hades was the God of the underworld in Greek mythology and was generally regarded as a bad lad, while his 3-headed dog Cerberus was a fairly vicious beastie as well. They both make an appearance on Microgamings’ Hot As Hades pokie which turns the myth on its head and is a fun game that has high quality 3D images to complement the plentiful bonus features that include a quest to find The Crystal Helm. Whatever that is.
It’s laid out in the classic 5-reel format, while the number of paylines is fixed at 20, so players will just need to adjust the amount of the total wager and click to get spinning. It makes the minimum stake just 0.20 and the maximum a healthy 50.00 which should be enough for the vast majority of players.
Descending to Hades
What immediately strikes players is the sheer quality fo the graphics, which make this pokie stand out from the crowd. Neat animations see the main characters wander onto the screen now and then, while the background image of a fiery underworld is subtly animated as well, with boiling lava lighting up the scene.
The symbols consist of the standard 10, J, Q, K and A that are used across multiple pokies from Microgaming and they are something of a let-down when compared to everything else about this game, but at least players will be able to easily identify which are the lower value symbols.
Higher up the scale we find the 3D images of various characters’ like Cerberus, the snake-haired Medusa, Poseidon, God of the Sea and the top God, Zeus. Hades himself is the highest paying of the regular symbols, being worth between 2.50 and 50.00 for a 1.00 bet when appearing on between 3 and 5 positions of a line.
Hot as Hades
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The Hot As Hades logo is a wild symbol, so not only does it substitute for all the main symbols to help complete winning lines, it also pays the biggest prizes of the game, with up to 200,000 coins awarded if a full line of wilds runs right across the reels and the player is at maximum bet.
The Crystal Helm is pretty much as described, being a Greek warriors helmet made of crystal, which stands to reason really. It’s a scatter symbol that pays out 1x, 2x, 20x or 100x the total bet per spin when landing 2, 3, 4 or 5 of them in any positions on the reels. It’s also the trigger for the Quest bonus game.
Few online pokies have bonus games as beautifully presented as this one. The object is to get Hades through 4 levels, with a God at each one asking him to pick from several options to progress through to the next stage. Poseidon for example, presents 5 clams, 2 of which will end the game and the others which contain prizes, including Cerberus who awards all prizes, and allow Hades through to the next round.
At the final stage, once he has got past Zeus by picking the right cloud, Hades needs to pick a chest to win a guaranteed prize, with the one containing the Crystal Helm being the most valuable. It’s all done with great animated sequences that have a lot of humour in them and is a real treat to play.
And it’s not the only bonus round here, as a randomly triggered Super Mode awards players with 5 free spins. During these games, 3 wilds are awarded, with each held in place for the remainder of any still to play. It’s not many spins, but they can still pay out nicely.
A Hot Hit?
This is an outstanding game that not only looks great but also has some nice bonus features. There’s a couple of minor issues that some players could take with the game, as not everyone likes to see the same old high card symbols, but that’s a matter of personal preference and not really a criticism. Some of the bonus game payouts are on the small side as well.
Other than that, there is little to complain about and much to praise, particularly the graphics and animations which are among the best online.