Our critique of the slot game «Serial»: overkill? Not to the lucky ones

CRITIQUE - Out November 8 2022 by NoLimit City «Serial» warrants a scandal in the players' circa: all the prominent features of the NoLimit City coupled with a killer theme. Is it an overkill? Possibly, but certainly not to those who win tens of thousands due to combinations of its features.

Published November 8 by NoLimit City, Serial slot game release has become sort of a nuisance before its release: imbued with the ferocity of infamous serial killers, the game has been heavily advertised in the social media to the critics as well as, apparently, to the public.

Evidently, NoLimit City has secured itself a “renome” of a provocator long before this release, but it may seem odd how many notoriously bizarre things come together in a single game. Add to this all the prominent features of the NoLimit City packed into this slot and you'll have the obvious overkill, comparable in effect to the situation if Yuri Gagarin joins the Beatles band...

The starting grid is formed by 5 reels and 3 lines while the setup is 5x5: there are 2 lines of Enhancers cells on the Top and Bottom of the row, both of which open upon activating a respin feature. Identical to reaction in vernacular of BTG or spin and tumble feature in terms of Pragmatic Play, here respin means that if you hit any winning combo, it will stick on the screen while other symbols will spin again (respin). With each consecutive win during this respin feature one cell in both upper and bottom row reals is cleared of the police band and there can land any symbols: Wild, XNudge, XWays, Character symbols and Infections xWays (on the last reels Enhancer Cell).

I will take courage to remind some of you of the meaning of some of them:

1) xWays is a feature that can be compared to semi-wild in that the xWays icon reveals 2-4 symbols of the same kind. Unlike a Wild symbol that takes on any symbols that you may need to form a winning combination, xWays feature will reveal 2-4 symbols of the same kind only. So, it may be compared to the Wild Portal Megaways game by BTG, if you played it, to the effect that xWays acts as a portal to a limited set of symbols, whether or not they can help you create a winning combo.

2) xSplit Wild is a wild multiplier of 2x value that can only land on the last reel. It splits all the symbols on the entire row into two symbols: likewise, it can create 2 scatters from one, etc. Interestingly, if xSplit Wild will work on the reel where xWays lands, it will double the size of xWays symbols too.

Serial Slot Game xSplit Wild feature

3) xNudge Wild is a Stacked Wild that will nudge to fully visible by the number of times denoted in it. For example, x5 Nudge Wild will cover five cells or an entire reel with a symbol inside it where the xNudge Wild is landed. xSplit Wild can double xNudge Wild by two obviously. Apparently, a massive Expanding Wild with a big multiplier attached to it simply loves xSplit Wild feature, since the this chainsaw of a maniac not only increases a multiplier by 2 times but also increases number of rows by 1, which means more space for an Expanding Wild and more ways to win to you.

Serial Slot Game xNudge Wild x5 symbols

THE SEARCH

Landing 3 Scatter symbols will initiate the Search Free Spins game during which the active screens area changes to the 3-5-5-5-3 layout, which means you still have 5 reels but 2nd, 3rd and 4th reels are fully active, including the uppermost and bottom rows that are called 'Enhancers cells' and are robbed in police band otherwise. Except for the fact that the screen looks odd and uneven, given the fact that 1st reel has 3 big symbols, the subsequent 3 reels each has 5 smaller symbols and finally the last reel again has 3 big sumbols, the grid's change promises potentially more ways to win.

THE KILL

A sense of oddness and possibility of a mistake in geometry of reels is further enhanced during the Kill feature. Inheriting all the things from the Search feature above, the KILL is normally triggered by 3 Scatters and 1 xSplit Wild, so xSplit Wild is sticky here. It persists during each spin / respin but it changes its operation from the last row to the first row subsequently. If we return to the thought above, which concerned a sense of a flaw in geometry of reels, it is apparent that through action of 1 xSplit Wild that splits rows in two and makes them even smaller and more uneven that the sense of oddness and a geometry flawless is reinforced.

Serial Slot Game 156 ways win

BUY FEATURE

A novelty by NoLimit City is a Lucky draw option that costs 558 (playing at 2€ bet). This option will buy you a chance of 30% to draw the Kill feature vs 70% of chance to draw the Search.

xBizarre™

Finally, xBizarre™ is made to double your winnings once you get a prize of 18,700x your bet. It's akin to the Gamble feature, but If you pick the wrong choice, you won’t lose any previous winnings – xBizarre™ is still not a gamble.