Quickspin has upped their game lately, jumping on the high risk/reward bandwagon like so many other developers. Sticky Bandits 3: Most Wanted is therefore very different from the 2 previous installments in the series, and the22,468xpotential cannot even compare to the measly returns on offer in the predecessors.
The gameplay itself is also very different, as the mega symbols and mega wilds are long gone. Quickspin has instead decided to make a rather obviousDead or Aliveclone, albeit with close to twice the potential. The price you pay is a significantly lower RTP, but buying the sticky wilds bonus round helps in that regard (not for UK players).
The wild symbol not only steps in for all regular pay symbols, but it’s also the most valuable symbol in the game. You win 166.67x your stake for 5 wilds on a payline, and only 1 regular wild can appear during base game play.
This is all about to change when you trigger the Bonus Round though, and you do that by landing3, 4 or 5 scattersanywhere in sight. You are first awarded a scatter win of4x, 25x or 2,500x your stake, respectively, and then you get12 free spins. The bonus round takes place inside the bank vault, as the 5 bandit heroines rob the bank.
All 5 of the female outlaws serve assticky wildsduring the bonus round, and this means that they are frozen in place whenever they land. If you land a sticky wild on all 5 reels, you’re granted5 extra free spins. To top it off,all wins are multiplied by 2xfor the duration of the free spins feature.
Non-UK players can take advantage of thebonus buy option, something the original Dead or Alive don’t offer. You’ll only have to pay 60x your stake to purchase the free spins round, and this guarantees that at least 3 scatters land on the next spin. The RTP is bumped up from95.82 % to 96.25 %if you buy the feature.
We included a few smaller base game wins, before we buy the bonus round at 0:27 into the 6-minute highlights video. We landed only the minimum of 3 scatters, but our investment paid off above all expectations. We got sticky wilds in a pyramid formation on all 5 reels, and this generated one big win after another. See for yourself by hitting the play button.
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. If you’re going to blatantly copy another iconic game, make your copycat the best option. This is exactly what Quickspin has done with Sticky Bandits 3: Most Wanted, as it comes with a potential that’s close to 2x what’s on offer in Dead or Alive. In addition, non-UK players can purchase the bonus round for a reasonable 60x your stake, which allows you to skip the whole base game grind altogether.
The massive symbols/wilds from the 2 previous installments in the series are long gone though, and this doesn’t exactly feel like a natural progression. That being said, you get the massive22,468xpotential and the highly entertaining bonus round, so who cares. The previous titles suffered from measly returns, and this has now been taken care of. Watch out Dead or Alive, cause there is a serious challenger in town.
Pros
Cons
Dead or Alive- is the volatile, atmospheric and legendary original from NetEnt, and it comes with the exact same 2,500x payout for 5 scatters. You get sticky wilds during the bonus round, and all wins are subject to a 2x multiplier. Each free spin can award payouts up to 12,000x your stake.
Sticky Bandits: Wild Return- is the second installment in Quickspin’s series, and it comes with a classic slot within the slot bonus game. You can land up to 3×3 sized sticky wilds in the bonus round, but the single spin max win is only 1,145x your stake.
Dead or Alive 2- is the NetEnt follow-up that’s yet to be dethroned in the wild west genre. It comes with 3 bonus round options, and you can win up to a whopping 111,111x your stake. It doesn’t get more gritty than this, and the 96.82 % RTP is well above average too.
