Planet of the Apes
NetEnt’s Planet of the Apes slot is a game with a big muscly attitude to match its massive primate warriors. This slot game is a homage to the global block-buster movie franchise of the same name, and it does it in a snarling and chest-thumping style. This could be our new favourite game after Wild Wild West – The Great Train Heist, but ask us in a week when we have given it a good play.
For those who aren’t familiar with the movies, the basic concept is that a breed of man-made super-brainy apes decide to take back control of their planet from man, and warfare ensues with two apes, a wicked one and its nemesis, a good one trying to give the humans a chance. The game reflects two of the games brought together one is simply referred to as Rise and the other as Dawn.
This big attitude game has a lot to live up to, so I couldn’t wait to hop on the reels and find out if I had what is takes to beat the big beasts at their own game!
Look and feel
This game is brought to life by a seat-gripping montage of movie clips, before a single reel has been spun and it shows what’s at stake when the primates turn the tables on mankind! This kind of high entertainment games is a trademark of NetEnt with titles like the Guns n Roses slot machine and Jimi Hendrix- it’s a genre they excel in.
This game has borrowed heavily from the Planet of the Apes movies with the cast of characters making up many of the icons of play and the game’s styling echoing the dark menace of the imperilled planet.
The game’s soundtrack is bursting with rising cinematic tension and crescendos, this makes for the perfect partner for playing such an exciting game.
Gameplay
Planet of the Apes is a whopper of a game following on from big entertainment titles like the Hansel & Gretel slot, but with a very unusual double set of reels, each are 3 rows and 5 reels wide but there are two of them, creating a dual set of reels to spin in a mega slot.
Each half of the reels represents a different Planet of the Apes movie, Rise on the left hand side and Dawn on right. The two sets of reels are independent of each other except during the bonus features when they can work as one. These dual reels make for a 20 payline per set of reels – a pretty tasty 40 fixed payline set up!
The icons of play are made up of the three leading human cast members on each side of the set up and of course the two main apes at the centre of the plot. The lower value icons, on each side, are the Ace through 10 of the card deck.
The highest value apes are the two leads of the stories the wicked ape Koba, and Caesar, the good ape. Each half of the reels has one of each to keep your eyes peeled for.
The game’s Wild is gold for Rise or a red-cross symbol is Dawn, these substitute for all symbols except for Scatters ad Bonus symbols. The dual Scatters are both film stills of the ape Caesar.
Double trouble all the way to the bank!
If you’re a fan of free spins then you’ll love this game which comes with two of the cheeky treats, just land three Scatters in Rise or Dawn and you’ll trigger those spins.
In the Rise half of the game you’ll get a thumping 10 free spins, as the spins progress, any Wilds you get will be saved up and put on the reels on the final spin.
The Dawn element of the free spins awards a glorious 15 free spins and something completely different! Here you find the Dawn reels loaded with an extra three fiery symbols, a multiplier (here your multiplier goes up), an extra wild (a human character turns into an extra Wild) and extra free spins (an additional three spins). If you’ve got Luck smiling on you then each time you land one of these extra fiery symbols they are added to a special meter which fills up to then trigger the feature – be that a Multiplier, Extra Wild or Extra Free Spins.
If you’re really in the game for the big beast- the bonus game then you’re in luck. Simply lure the Rise or the Dawn bonus icons on to reel one in the Dawn half, or reel five and extra fun begins. For the Rise game you get a dosh prize for each of your human pals but in the Dawn half, all the apes and humans become a random matching symbol- kerching!
Now Planet of the Apes slot is a game with something to prove on the extras front because there’s more! The slot also comes with a Dual Feature. This mode can happen before any spin and it starts with a random symbol, a different one for each half of the reels being selected, and the reels spinning again. If you land those newly chosen special icons each time they crop up (until they stop popping up) they handily stick in place or move over to reels on the other side where they can be most useful at making more dosh- thank you primates!
And finally, like this game needs any more features- there’s the stacked Wilds which are a gift in themselves! Simply land those Wilds and if you fill a whole reel then this is mirrored on the opposite reel of the dual reels too! Generosity like that almost makes the interspecies warfare worth it!
Conclusion
Planet of the Apes slot is one hell of a ride, especially if you’re a fan of the movies, or indeed, someone who loves a slot game packed with more extras that you can beat your chest at!
