By NetEnt
RTP 96.05%
Min bet $0.10
Max bet $50
Max Win bet x 15000
Popularity Medium
Min bet $0.10
Max bet $50
Max Win bet x 15000
Gamble Feature Max. lines, Freespins, Expanding reels, Colossal symbols
Layout 5x3
Devices Support all devices
Configurable Winlines No
Volatility Medium
Progressive Jackpot No
It is time to go back to the 80s and to sunny Miami. Join Quinn and Riviera as they go after a jewel thief in Hotline 2.
NetEnt’s Hotline is a popular slot and its theme is definitely a part of it. People loved the game so that after two years, NetEnt released a sequel to it simply called Hotline 2.
We return again to 1980s Miami and follow our crime-fighting duo, Quinn and Riviera. A simple jewel heist wasn’t so simple, as they uncovered the real mastermind behind it all. Kitty Weiss is back in action and this time she needs to be stopped.
Hotline 2 takes everything that made the first game a success and pushes the envelope a bit further. The game still looks gorgeous, the theme is on point and now we get a few extra features. How does an expanding playfield with expanding wilds sound or playing with 1,944 paylines?
Hotline 2 looks amazing. This game is 80s at its finest. Sure, the game is about East Coast high-society criminals, but it sure makes it look good.
The warm orange evening sun still shining between the skyscrapers, as the fire-red Ferrari drives down the endless Miami coastline. You hop in your white Lamborghini and, like a beast, the engine roars as to signal: the heat is on. The developers clearly know their Miami Vice and all the classic tropes of the genre.
Simply put, this is a gorgeous slot with a nice story. Sure, we don’t get a lot of it, but at least there is a backstory to all this.
The best part for me is the music. This is exactly what you should be hearing in a game like this. The hot beat and the over-emphasised saxophone are just what the doctor ordered.
Hotline 2 features a lot of familiar faces. Quinn, Riviera, Kitty and the helicopter pilot are all here on the reels. With them, we have Kitty’s loot as the low-tier symbols. The game has ten regular symbols and two specials, a wild and a scatter.
The regular symbols have a surprisingly linear pay structure, with only Kitty being a small outlier on top of the pyramid. This is great, as when you have wilds like these, you want the low-tier symbols to be worth something.
Speaking of wilds, these ones are amazing. First of all, there’s a lot of them. Second, they can expand if they are on a Hotline reel. That’s pretty much it, but when you play the game, you quickly learn to love them. Scatter symbols can activate the Free Spin feature. Get three of them and you get to chase Kitty around the streets of Miami. Both special symbols appear only on reels 2, 3 and 4.
Hotline is not just the name of the game, but the name of an important feature. You get to choose how many Hotlines you have active and activating them increases your bet. They might cost a bit more, but they sure are worth it. They will expand all wilds that land on them and they have a little extra bonus during free spins.
There is something to note about the Hotlines, they actually affect the game’s RTP. The best option for the player is to always use three Hotlines and then adjust your wager afterwards. Even though the game has medium volatility, the best wins come from Hotlines and especially during the Free Spins feature.
Features
In Hotline 2, you don’t need to worry about paylines. Every possible combination from left to right is good. In the base game, you play with 243 paylines and that number can grow to 1,944 in the Free Spin feature.
Hotlines are the epicentre of the action. Reel 3 is always hot, but you can increase your bet and activate reels 2 and 4.
Hotline reels act a bit stronger than regular. Wild symbols will expand on them to fill the entire reel and in Free Spin feature you can get more free spins from them. The expanding wilds are a great reason to keep them active, as this slot is full of wilds.
Kitty’s Ferrari has been spotted and the detectives are hot on her trail. Get three Flamingo scatters on the reels and you start off with 7 free spins.
Every wild you get will increase the size of that reel by one. The reels can be six symbols tall and if you get them to their maximum height, you win extra spins. A regular reel will give you one spin and a Hotline will give you two.
Having all Hotline reels active is worth a lot here. You can get as many as 1,944 paylines and getting expanding wilds on a six symbol tall reel is the key to big wins.
If you don’t like waiting, you can just skip it. Hit the Buy Bonus button and you can buy your way to the Free Spin feature. You get to choose how many Hotlines you want and the price goes up accordingly. The cost is 60x your bet for each Hotline.
Note: The Buy Bonus feature is not available for UK players.
Bonus type: No Deposit, Low Wagering, Free Play, Sign Up, Free Money, Welcome Bonus, Registration
Min Deposit: No Deposit
Bonus type: Coupon, Code, Welcome Bonus, Registration, Sign Up, Deposit Bonus, First Deposit Bonus
Min Deposit: $10
Wagering: 60x
Hotline has been one of my favourite slots of all time and the sequel is right up there with it. It’s hard to say which is better, but fortunately, I don’t need to. I can just keep on playing both of them.
If you love the 80s and the Miami detective trope, you are going to love the theme of both Hotlines. This is the reason why I checked the original game out when I first saw it and I’m glad I did. The theme feels like it was made for me and the best thing is that they put it in a great game.
A little has been taken away from the simplicity of the first part. It was to be expected, as you can’t just make the same game over and over. Even if the game is a tad bit more complicated, the same volatility and pay structure are still there to make this slot feel balanced.
