Developed by NetEnt, a renowned game development studio in the iGaming industry, Dead or Alive is a 5-reel video slot that offers an immersive gaming experience. The theme of this slot revolves around the Wild West era in America during the late 19th century. Players are taken play demo on a thrilling adventure to witness showdowns between outlaws and law enforcement.
Gameplay Overview
Dead or Alive has a relatively simple gameplay mechanism, which makes it accessible even for novice players who are new to online slots. The slot features a maximum of five reels with three rows each, resulting in 243 potential winning ways. Players can place bets ranging from $0.01 up to $4 per spin. NetEnt’s signature ‘AutoPlay’ feature is also available for convenient gameplay.
Theme and Design
The game’s visual design effectively transports players back to the American Wild West era. The color scheme is predominantly composed of earthy tones, evoking a rugged atmosphere reminiscent of the outback. A picturesque landscape stretches across the background with hills, mountains, and vast plains visible on each side of the screen.
Symbols used in Dead or Alive are creatively designed to fit the theme perfectly. They include low-paying symbols such as playing cards from Ace to King, complemented by higher-value symbols like boots, guitars, six-shooters, and poker chip-filled holsters for added flair.
Wild Symbols
A wild symbol is represented by a logo in red letters emblazoned across two pistols resting on top of each other. This wild icon takes the place of any other standard symbol to create winning combinations when appearing on an active payline.
Scatter Symbol and Bonus Features
The Scatter symbol appears as a ‘Wanted’ poster with a law enforcement officer and outlaws featured prominently, alongside their images being superimposed in red circles and white text at either side. Landing 3-5 of these posters across the reels rewards the player with free spins.
Upon receiving scatter symbols anywhere on reels one through five (and not necessarily from left to right), players gain access to Dead or Alive’s ‘Free Spins’ feature. Here, participants are granted an additional bonus round with enhanced payouts: in the case of a single 3-symbol win across any three positions or higher wins on reel 1 and two consecutive reels either up or down on Reels 2 & 3.
Wilds During Free Spins
During this special period called ‘Bonus Dead or Alive’ free spin mode, both male and female cowboy/gunfighter icons now serve as wild symbols. This means that when a player lands these new Wild Symbols in position (1), their role changes from standard symbol replacement to substituting for other icons, making winning combinations even more accessible.
Return to Player (RTP)
In terms of theoretical payout percentages over 1,000 spins at maximum stakes and average RTP settings, NetEnt indicates Dead or Alive’s Return To Player value as an impressive 97.18% , slightly above industry standards, where average payouts can often fall between 92-96% depending on different studio variations.
Moreover, due to its lower-than-average Volatility Level (set at Medium), the overall experience offers fairly frequent wins without extreme ups and downs throughout individual game rounds played over extended sessions or sessions combined from shorter intervals.