Miami Mayhem: Slot Overview
Some cities, through things like pop culture, history, or the news, build up such a reputation that their very name is enough to conjure a set of images and moods. The American city of Miami is one, having provided the backdrop for movies, TV shows, and a fair number of online slots. Software provider Hacksaw Gaming has lathered on sunscreen to visit the infamous town, and players are invited to come along, not for shopping, sunbathing, or to take in the Art Deco architecture, but to get down and dirty with a bunch of low life criminals in the online slot Miami Mayhem.
Do an image search for Miami, and rarely if ever is it portrayed as pinky, purply, or pastelly as it is in Miami Mayhem (or other related games). Perhaps it’s a lingering association with the 1980s TV show Miami Vice that’s to thank, or blame, for the colouration. Grand Theft Auto would appear to be an influence as well, as Miami Mayhem’s crime spree moves through phases. From the base game’s outside on a street with a dude armed with a baseball bat, to The Hit bonus round where an absolutely jacked individual cracks his knuckles in a safe, to the We Split bonus where a lady also holding a bat looks like she’s gassing up for a getaway, before reaching Get Lit, which is a hidden bonus game which can only be naturally triggered. If you make it that far, the mission is probably going quite well indeed.
Getting involved in the mayhem means choosing a bet of 10c to $/€100 per spin, while the gaming takes place on a 5×4, 14-payline area. With a top RTP of 96.35% (three lower values are available), Miami Mayhem has a volatility rating of 4 out of 5, putting it around medium-high.
On the hierarchy of symbols, we find 10-A card ranks, paying 1x for 5 OAK, then spikey knuckle dusters, a glass of booze, a mechanical device, Roxie Rizz, and Diego el Fuego as the high pays. Landing a five-of-a-kind premium symbol win is worth 3x to 10x the bet. Wilds, whether full reel or regular, substitute any regular pay symbol and are worth 10x for a line of five of them.
Miami Mayhem: Slot Features
Full reel wild symbols play a huge role in Miami Mayhem, and as well as in the base game, they can be found in the three bonus rounds – The Hit, We Split, Get Lit, and features may be bought from the bonus buy.
Expanding Crew Reels
When a Crew symbol hits, it expands into a Crew Reel if it will be part of at least one win when expanded. Crew Reels cover the entire reel and display 1 of the 5 Crew Members. Reels 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 are linked to Ghosting Gordo, Roxie Rizz, Vinny the Vice, Lola la Reina, and Diego el Fuego, respectively. Crew Reels are wild on each position they cover. When a Crew Reel expands, it may just be wild, or it may reveal a multiplier of x2 to x100. If more than one multiplier is part of the same win, the values are combined.
Missions
A Mission is triggered when a Wanted symbol lands on the grid. When triggered, it activates the Wanted Level Bar, assigns a Mission Target, and awards 3 respins. The Mission Target is one random high-pay symbol. If a winning combination with the chosen symbol occurs during respins, the Mission is complete. Then a new Mission begins, and the Wanted Level increases by at least +1 step and respins refill to 3. Once the Mission Level reaches 5, it stays at that level, and new Missions with new respins can continue to be triggered until the Mission is failed.
As the Wanted Level increases, so does the minimum multiplier on expanded Crew Reels. At Wanted Level 0, expanded Crew Reels are guaranteed to be wild. Levels 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 guarantee a minimum multiplier of x2, x5, x10, x15, and x25 on expanded Crew Reels, respectively. If respins run out before the Mission is complete, the Mission fails, the Wanted Level resets, and the feature is over. Expanded Crew Reels do not count as targets.
The Hit Bonus Game
10 The Hit free spins are triggered by landing 3 FS scatters in the base game. The base game mechanics are retained with a bigger chance of landing Crew symbols. Also, Wanted Levels are progressive throughout the bonus, and one Mission is triggered from the start, though Mission respins are not awarded. In this bonus and the next, hitting 2 or 3 FS scatters awards +2 or +4 free spins, respectively.
We Split Bonus Game
Triggered by landing 4 FS scatters in the base game, players win 10 free spins in the We Split bonus. As well as having mechanics from The Hit, a Mayhem Bar is displayed outside the grid. The Mayhem bar has one segment for each reel. If a win occurs with an expanded Crew Reel, the Crew Reel is stored by the Mayhem Bar under that reel. Only one Crew Reel may be stored per bar segment. After the last free spin, the Mayhem Bar activates and triggers a Crew Spin where all stored Crew Reels are activated again, with multipliers dependent on the Wanted Level.
Get Lit Hidden Epic Bonus
Hitting 5 FS scatters in the base game awards 10 free spins in the Get Lit bonus. Get Lit has the mechanics of The Hit, plus at least one Crew symbol is guaranteed to land on each spin. In addition, the Wanted Level is at 5 throughout the bonus. Missions are not triggered in this round, and FS scatters cannot land.
Feature Buy
Miami Mayhem’s feature buy has BonusHunt FeatureSpins for 3x the bet, making each spin 5 times more likely to trigger a bonus game. It’s also got Beach Please FeatureSpins at 50x, guaranteeing at least 2 expanding Crew Reels land or Mayhem Mode FeatureSpins for 50x, guaranteeing 1 Wanted symbol lands. Two bonus rounds may be bought – The Hit at 100x or We Split at 300x.
Miami Mayhem: Slot Verdict
Whatever they do, it seems the Hacksaw Gaming crew just can’t help turning back to its beloved full reel wild, full reel wild multiplier feature. The studio has really made the mechanic its own and has used it in a significant number of slot. This is not a gripe per se, but players who have had their fill of the feature by now might not be able to stomach another helping from Miami Mayhem. To its credit, Hacksaw Gaming is an inventive lot, meaning the team has a talent for continually accompanying its full reel wilds with something new. Maybe a little new, maybe a lot, but if Hacksaw Gaming wasn’t so creative, the feature might have died out or been killed off a long time ago.
As it stands, Miami Mayhem’s Crew Reels are accompanied by an interesting selection of supporting elements. One is that each reel’s Crew Wild has a corresponding character linked to it, providing personality, slightly reminiscent of the variety of full reel wilds available in Nolimit City‘s Brute Force Alien Onslaught. Moving on, we get to Missions, and when these go well, they provide an excellent Crew Reels boost. Indeed, the first Mayhem Mode trigger produced nearly 1,000x, which couldn’t help but put a positive spin on things. Payouts are capped at 15,000x the bet, and given the tools Miami Mayhem has to work with, especially those on offer in the tantalisingly hidden Get Lit round, this feels not outside the realms of possibility for seriously lucky crew members. It goes without saying this is a gambling game, though, and not every slot or crime spree goes according to plan.
And so, Hacksaw Gaming has dragged out those expanding full reel multiplying wild symbols yet again, which may exasperate some gamblers. But, fair dues, the studio has put them to fine use in a Grand Theft Auto with gambling style game that has no problem cracking open vaults to spill the goodies when the crew’s working in sync.
Write a comment