Overview
Reels: 5 | Rows: 4 | Paylines: 20
The Wild West might be long gone, but its influence can still be felt strongly in the online gambling industry. Casino game makers love this stuff, and so must a good number of gamblers. The genre has a strong pedigree, too, and from the early classics to later-day pistoleros like Tombstone RIP, there is something to satisfy just about any taste, from wild, unrestrained violence to more mild-mannered dust-ups. Sitting between the absolute extremes of the genre is developer Red Tiger's leather chaps-wearing contribution, Revolvero, a slot capable of bucking players around like a wild bronco on account of its free spins' ability to stick wilds and wild multipliers to its reels.
Gritty, artsy, Revolvero is held in a sort of middle-of-nowhere part of the frontier where baddies might ride out to bury a dead body. The sort of place no one but lizards, tumble weeds or lost coyotes end up. With an art style which echoes Hacksaw Gaming's iconic slot Wanted Dead or a Wild, with the grainy reds, oranges, yellows, and darker tones, Revolvero is a slot that means business from start to finish. Put it this way, if Revolvero was a saloon, no one in their right mind would saunter in and order sarsaparilla. It's the hard stuff around here or nothing at all.
Final Thoughts
If the West is all grit, guns, and shoot-outs between desperados, then Revolvero's got all that. It sets out to make a name for itself in a crowded slot genre, which it mostly achieves, though some cynics may accuse it of piggybacking off other slots. The look, for instance, whilst eye-catching, bears a resemblance to the artistic style used in the aforementioned Wanted Dead or a Wild, while the Showdown feature has VS symbol connotations. It's not a duplicate, though, it should be said, and Revolvero does manage to let its own personality shine through, as it lays out a desolate patch of world populated by violent shooters reaching for their piece faster than their opponent in order not to wind up as buzzard food.
A sample of the shoot-out occurs in the base game when the Showdown triggers. Whilst tenuous links to Hacksaw Gaming's VS feature might be made, instead of the winner bestowing a multiplier to a full reel wild, in Revolvero, the chap who gets shot gets to lather wilds over the screen. Wilds on wilds increasing multipliers is a positive benefit, and it's a feature that adds life, as well as death, to the main game. Free spins ram Revolvero into a much higher gear, and are when the Dead or Alive and Dead or Alive 2 links come into play, on account of the sticky wild factor. Sticky wilds can work out well, depending on the number and location of them, but also when wilds are landing on other wilds, cranking out possibly game-changing multipliers.
Revolvero might not blast the Western landscape to bits, but it manages to repackage familiar elements with swagger and a twist. Sticky wilds and sticky wild multipliers are time-honoured favourites, and Revolvero makes excellent use of them. Its duelling delivery system adds to the entertainment, and with a max win of 15,000x the bet, there is plenty on the line to fight over. Revolvero might not cause the top dogs in the Western category to break out in a cold sweat, but it's a worthy addition, possessing style and impactful gameplay.