The world is full of superhero scripts and narratives where the brave hearts battle it out with terrestrial crooks or alien invaders on multi-media platforms including slots. The Defenders by Dragon Gaming is one such slot game, but follows a rather flat narrative with three superheroes called Ice Man, Fire Man, and Air Woman, and no indication just who they are saving the world from. Joining them on the reels are ice balls, fire balls, and card suits in this 5-reel and 3-row game with 10 fixed paylines.
The base game of The Defenders does not feature any wilds. However, there is the conventional bonus or scatter symbol that holds a plethora of features, which form the backbone of the game. These include any number of free spins with feature picks that can range from wilds, expanding characters, multipliers, additional free spins, additional feature picks, and the Special Quest feature with guaranteed wins. However, the base game can be equally immersive with frequent and significant payline wins.
Graphically, The Defenders looks like a superhero comic book, and for some inexplicable reason has two backdrops. The one behind the reels depicts a city block in some trouble, behind which is a bigger but diffused image of the selfsame city block. Ice Man, Fire Man, and Air Woman all look like teenagers as contemporary world-savers are wont to be. The fire balls, ice balls, and card suites are well designed but depict no real connection to the cataclysmic theme of the game.
The Defenders is a low to medium volatility slot, where the base game mechanics are almost as player-friendly as the bonus games. As stated above, the base game is kept interesting with frequent wins involving the high-paying symbols. Free spins are also frequently triggered with all their magnanimous feature picks. This can explain the game’s comparatively higher average return to player rate of 96.43%. The minimum bet is $0.20 for all ten paylines while the maximum is $90.00.
Multipliers can be a source of much pleasure during the free spins rounds, provided you are fortunate enough to pick them on the blind. As usual win combos are made when at least 3 identical symbols or characters land on adjacent reels from left to right. The ice and fire balls both pay out 15, 40, and 75 coins for 3, 4, and 5-of-a-kind appearances. The corresponding figures for Air Woman and Fireman are 20, 50, and 100 coins. However, the highest paying defender, the Ice Man is permitted to pay 10 coins even if he lands on the 1st and 2nd reels only. But you get 150 coins if he lands on all 5 reels.
The Defenders has a multi-dimensional free games feature, with a plethora of bonus picks and added bonuses. You can land between 3 to 5 bonus scatters anywhere on the reels to activate various free spins rounds. Three, four, or five scatters will give you a corresponding number of bonus picks. The bonus picks are blind, but they can give you multipliers, wilds, expanded symbols and additional bonus picks during each free spin.
If you happen to pick wilds, either Ice Man, Fire Man, or Air Woman will be assigned as your wild for the duration of the free spins. The superheroes will fill the gap between matching symbols much like a joker in a card game.
If you pick multipliers, you can get 2x, 3x, and 4x multipliers, either of which will be applied to every win during the free spins rounds.
If you pick this bonus feature, either Ice Man, Fire Man, or Air Woman will expand to fill the entire reel when they land on it.
2, 3, 4, or 5 more free spins will be awarded if you happen to click on this bonus feature. The additional free spins will carry forward all the previous bonus picks.
Though the Special Quest feature is also part of the free spins rounds, it is not a bonus pick. It is a special bonus with 3 guaranteed win features, which are randomly awarded during the free spins rounds. You may get either one of following:
Saving the world while one the move takes multi-tasking to new heights, but it’s possible. The Defenders is coded with HTML5, which creates a mobile interface that supports all major cellular platforms like Android, iOS, and Windows Phone, etc. The game can be played on all smartphones and tablets that run on these systems, irrespective of model and make.
The mobile interface also automatically restructures the software to the small screen, which means you can enjoy the game in full HD integrity and audio fidelity, just like on PCs. It’s desirable that you have 3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi connectivity at all times, though the game will also play on 2G. For optimal enjoyment, we suggest you switch to landscape mode before loading the game.
The Defenders has a good pay potential with a multitude of bonus features enhancing rewards during the free spins round. Even then, we missed the wilds during the base game. The Defenders is destined to be popular among die-hard fans of this genre, who will find entertainment and rewards. However, the bland bas game narrative, which does not even include the enemy, may turn off the more demanding gamer, who may be drawn to a similar win potential in another game.