Into The Storm

Into The Storm Overview

Created by Williams Interactive, or WMS as they are sometimes referred to, this new game plunges us deep into the world of the Vikings and their marauding adventures across the North Sea. With five reels and 20 pay lines, this game has plenty of opportunity for big wins. The top payout here, in fact, is 10,500x the stake. Other highlights of this game include the fantastic onscreen artwork and the exciting range of bonus features available.

The features for Into The Storm start with a re-spin feature that is randomly triggered during the base game. When it is, two, three or four walking wilds are distributed onto the reels, moving one position with every re-spin. However, the main feature here is the Into The Storm bonus feature triggered when three or more Kraken Bonus scatters land on the board at the same time. The more scatters that you land, the more ‘hot zones’ will be active during the feature. You then go on to play a game where the aim is to land special symbols in an attempt to fill the grid and win the top prize of 10,500x the stake. There is also a bonus buy feature. All bonuses will be explained in more detail later on in the review.

Theme and Symbols

The theme for this game is a fun and high-quality Viking theme, popular with many slot designers for its visual interest and instant appeal. Vikings make for a great theme with their longboats, ornate decorative weapons, and intriguing runes. Yes, these Vikings aren’t historically accurate, but a slot machine is probably not where people look for historical accuracy. The main visual draw for this game is that the screen has been designed to look like a ship with its red and white sails and wooden planks underfoot. However, we also have bearded warrior Vikings and the mythical Kraken adding visual spice to proceedings.

The background for this game is a Viking longboat or longship created by Scandinavian cultures (including Vikings) as far back as the 4th century. These vessels are iconic in Norse culture as symbols of war, commerce and exploration. Each of these ships has many complicated carvings into the wood that describe the stories of the people that sailed it and their aspirations for the future, such as conquest and prosperity. The longship illustrated in this game is an admirable representation of the sea craft and one that is instantly engaging to look at.
The playing window for this game is an interesting construction made from wood and iron with an ornate wooden dragon at its back.

The symbols for this game are split into low-value, high value and special symbols. The low-value symbols are the five different runes in blue, yellow, green, purple and red. The red one is the most valuable of these, paying out at 2x the stake for the top combination. The more valuable symbols are the helmet, the ginger Viking, the Viking girl and the Viking chief called Leif. He is the most valuable symbol on the board, worth 20x the stake for the top combination. The special symbols finally are the standard wild, the walking wild, the Kraken bonus icon, the hammer modifiers, the treasure modifier and the Viking coin.

Game Play

Into The Storm is played on a 5-reel, 3-row machine with 20 fixed pay lines. To win combinations, players must land three or more matching symbols on pay lines moving from left to right, starting from the leftmost reel.
The betting range for Into The Storm is 20p to £20 per spin. To adjust their bet levels, players can toggle their stake up and down using the tool located at the bottom left-hand side of the screen.

Further information, including a short tutorial and a display of the paytable, can be found via the menu button in the right-hand corner of the screen. The spin and auto spin buttons are located in the centre of the screen.
Volatility for this slot is rated in the high range. The return to player percentage for Into The Storm is 96%, which is average. The biggest payout that players can win on one spin is 10,500x your stake.

Features

The first bonus in this game is the re-spin feature which is randomly triggered when you are in the base game. Between two and four walking wilds are added to the reels when it is. Each of these walking wilds moves one position for every re-spin. When walking wilds land on a normal wild, a 1x multiplier comes into play. The feature ends when all walking wilds have walked off the board.

The next bonus feature in this game is called the Into The Storm feature and is triggered when players land three or more of the Kraken bonus scatters on the reels at the same time. Doing so will bring up a new playing window – a 9x5 grid. The more scatters that you used to trigger the bonus, the more ‘hot zones’ will be active for the duration of the bonus.
The grid will then spin to reveal either a multiplier, blank space or 1 of 4 modifiers. If any of these special symbols land within a hot zone, they will become stuck to the board. Starting the game with three lives, the idea of the bonus is to land as many valuable symbols as possible before your lives run out. You will lose a life if no new multiplier or modifier symbols land. If one does land, however, your lives are recharged to three.

The feature ends when you either run out of lives or fill the entire grid with symbols – granting you the top payout of 10,500x the stake. All multipliers and special symbols at the end of the game are totalled and applied to your stake, and paid out to you. Additional Kraken symbols also reveal multipliers.

The modifier symbols are as follows:
Hammer: Lightning strikes a random number of multipliers to double them.
Treasure Chest: Adds up all current gold multipliers and applies them to the total multiplier of the treasure chest. If it lands in a Hot Zone, they are then multiplied by the multiplier displayed in the Kraken Hot Zone.
Viking Coin: Increases the total lives to 4 for the duration of the feature.
This game also has a bonus buy option. However, it is not available in the UK.

Conclusion

A Viking theme is usually a winner for most people, and when combined with some great features and excellent win potential, it can be very appealing indeed. The level of detail, the thoughtfulness put into the gaming experience, and the terrific top win all give this game the green light from us. Into The Storm is also available to play on mobile, tablet and desktop.