ALL ABOUT SHIELDS OF THE WILD SLOT
NextGen have produced some high-quality games in their time – Medusa II and the legendary high variance slot, 300 Shields amongst them. And here they return to the Shields theme in a game which is less volatile than 300, but makes up for it with a really exciting free spins round with decent win potential.
What’s stand out about this game as well is the high production values behind it. The quality of the screen graphics and animations is amazing and the game symbols look brilliant, particularly of course when they are stacked identically across all five reels in the bonus round!
Shields of the Wild Game Set Up
This is a 5 reel by 3 row game set up with 10 fixed paylines. The transparent reel set sits against an incredible backdrop of fields and hills set in the Fields of Elysium, the Inner Kingdom, with Knight Sir Virilis Manblade and King Trenin DeSaxe (yeah, really!) appearing to left and right.
Shields of the Wild can be played from 10p to £100 per spin and it has an RTP of 96.53% and a medium to high variance.
Shields of the Wild Game Symbols
There are no low value / premium symbols in this game, only the shields which payout from 20x for five in a row at the lowest value to 100x for five in a row for the top paying one.
There are three other important symbols in the game:
Upgrade Sword– this one upgrades stacks of symbols during the Marching Stacks Feature.
Scatter Sword – this one triggers the Marching Stacks when three or more land in the base game.
Wild (Game Logo)– this can substitute for all other symbols except the scatter and upgrade, as well as paying out 250x for five in a line.
Shields of the Wild Slot Features
Shield Wall Feature
This exciting-looking feature can occur randomly at any time during the base game. When it does a set of arrows is fired at the reels and all the symbols, except wilds and upgrades, are upgraded to the next highest symbol. This can happen up to 8 times and give you a full screen of top paying symbols.
Marching Stacks Feature
To set off the big game feature you will need to land 3, 4 or 5 of the Scatter Sword symbols anywhere on the reels in the main game. This feature works as follows:
- To begin, a stack of symbols is added to reel 5. The value of those symbols depends on how many scatters you landed. For 3, the symbols are chosen from the five lowest value, for 4 from the middle value range, and for 5, from the top value range.
- Scatter symbols are replaced with upgrade symbols.
- Free Spins then take place, and with each one, if you land an upgrade symbol, the symbols in your stack are upgraded to the next value. If you don’t land an upgrade, your stack moves one reel to the left and an identical stack is added onto reel five.
- The game ends when you have FULL stacks on ALL FIVE reels. Your total win will depend on how many upgrades you had.
It is possible to land a re-trigger at the end of the round, but this time your first stack on reel 5 will begin where you left off at the end of your last set of spins.
NOTE:You are GUARANTEED to win at least 20x in the Marching Stacks Feature Round.
THE SLOT BUZZ VERDICT
This is an excellent slot – the production values are first class and with the Marching Stacks feature NextGen really have created an exciting bonus round feature that has lots of potential, although be aware that it’s very hard to score a big win. You’ll enjoy playing this at any NextGen Casino – pick one from our list of UK Slot Sites for a great welcome package.
