UPDATE: Microgaming no longer offer The Lord of the Rings. Click here for others
It’s not often that an online slot machine can actually make a big impression on the online casino world. Since there are numerous different casino software providers out there, each of which are producing new games every month, games tend to get lost in the shuffle pretty often. When a game does manage to grab everyone’s attention, you know it must be a big deal.
Such was the case with the new Lord of the Rings progressive slot machine, which was recently released to Microgaming casinos. This game has captured the attention of the entire industry, combining great gameplay with amazing visuals and sound – not to mention of the biggest jackpots in the online gambling world!
Playing The Lord of the Rings Slot
The instant you load the Lord of the Rings slot machine, you’ll know that you’re in for an experience like nothing you’ve played before. Rather than having a static background behind the reels, you’ll see a constantly changing video background that depicts some of the amazing scenery of Middle Earth (which, as you may know, is a combination of some of the beautiful landscapes of New Zealand and a little CGI wizardry). You’ll see the Fellowship of the Ring marching their way towards Mordor, as some of the classic music from the movie series plays (along with some original – but still thematic – music).
The combined effect is to immediately give the game an epic feel, as the diverse backgrounds really give the game an open feel that’s very different from any other slot you’ve ever played. The interface is also perfectly designed for a Lord of the Rings game, with authentic fonts and design from the movies, which really shows that the designers of the game were making a concerted effort to produce a game that fans of the series would love. If you’re anything like me, that’s enough to get you excited to play this game already – and we haven’t even talked about the gameplay yet!
The slot itself is a five-reel slot with three lines of symbols on the screen at any one time. The payout system is similar to that of RTG’s “All Pays” slots; you don’t have to worry about choosing what lines to play, because the machine automatically allows you to play every single possible line for one set price! This means that, no matter what stakes you choose to play the game for, you’ll essentially have 243 paylines – any combination of symbols from one reel to the next works, and there’s nothing particularly special about the center payline or any other combination.
As you might expect, the game is based around the popular characters from the Lord of the Rings franchise – the movies, to be specific. You’ll see all your favorite characters, depicted by the actors who were in the films. Frodo, Aragorn, Saruman, Legolas, Elrond, Arwyn and virtually every other character from the series is depicted on the reels as a valuable symbol. Lower value symbols are the classic “poker ranks” ranging from tens to aces, though even these have little authentic touches like helms and swords attached to them. In addition, Lord of the Rings logos work as wild symbols, combining with other symbols to give you even larger wins.
One of the coolest things about this game – at least in terms of presentation – are the video clips you get when you win by matching three or more of a single character. When this occurs, you get a clip of that character directly from the movie. We’re not talking about just a second or two to deliver a quick line, either; some of these scenes are relatively long, lasting up to 20 seconds or more! This is an awesome feature that’s not only fun, but helps slow down the pacing after a big win, which is a great way to let the player soak in the fact that they’ve just made some serious cash.
Lord of the Rings Special Features
There are three main special features in Lord of the Rings. The first is the free spins game, which occurs whenever you hit three or more rings anywhere on the reels. This results in a variable number of free spins, which begin with a 2x multiplier (though this is sometimes randomly increased during play). It’s nothing you haven’t seen on a slot machine before, but it’s a nice touch.
The second feature is Gollum. Everyone’s favorite little creature with an obsession for The One Ring, Gollum can literally show up anywhere, at any time, to cause havoc on the reels. Luckily for you, his mischief works to your advantage, giving you all sorts of extra goodies during play. He might decide to pull on a reel to give you an entire reel worth of wild symbols. Another time, he might increase your wins multiplier during the free spins game. Occasionally, he’ll just want to show off by dumping some free money into your winnings at random!
Finally, here’s the big one: the progressive jackpot. The Lord of the Rings slot is now tied into the Mega Moolah jackpot, meaning that the progressive jackpot is now often worth several million dollars (or Euros, or pounds). This randomly triggered jackpot is called the “Mithril” jackpot in Lord of the Rings, taking the name from the fantastically valuable metal in the series. Of course, there are also three smaller jackpots as well, labeled gold, silver and bronze respectively. Any of these jackpots can be hit at any time; of course, the lower value “jackpots” are hit far more often than the mithril prize.
Final Thoughts on Lord of the Rings
This entire article has praised The Lord of the Rings slot machine for its revolutionary graphics and video. Is there anything to dislike about the game? Well, not exactly, but there are some areas where you might be disappointed. While the game looks and feels amazing at first, the truth is that the gameplay itself is pretty run of the mill. There isn’t much interaction between you and the game, making it a pretty standard video slot in terms of gameplay.
But that’s not exactly a negative against the machine. The Lord of the Rings has solid gameplay – it’s just nothing spectacular. On the other hand, the visuals, sounds and overall feel of the game make it extremely fun and entertaining to play. If you’re looking to have a good time the next time you play a slot machine, give The Lord of the Rings a chance – and if you’re a fan of the films, there’s no excuse not to play this game.
