Immortal Romance 2

Immortal Romance 2: Slot Overview

With the ferocious frequency that online slots are released, it's a borderline miracle when a game can stick around in the gambling consciousness for more than 5 minutes. One which has persisted for over a decade and counting is Games Global's (then Microgaming) vampiric masterpiece Immortal Romance. Proving it's not just Twihards or Vampire Diaries fanatics who fall for vampiric romance, a good number of online gamblers fell hard for Immortal Romance's charm, too. Of course, it's not just the theme which sucks people in, but the game's features were also a match made in undead heaven. Since then, Immortal Romance has been released in bingo, scratch, as well as Mega Moolah forms, and now, gasp, we have the sequel Immortal Romance 2, from Stormcraft Studios to take on.

As a vampire slot that takes itself seriously rather than humorously, Immortal Romance 2 is a dark, moody game, heavy on the steely expressions of its characters as they star in various locations depending on the game mode. Stormcraft has padded the slot with music tracks which can be selected when unlocked, and the game as a whole, when played long enough, is very customisable in terms of skins and tunes. The characters have had a visual overhaul, which may or may not go down well, and while moody, it's a different sort of moody than before. How about more magical fantasy than straight dirty gothic? Something like that.

Driven by a highly volatile math model, Immortal Romance 2 is available in a trio of RTP configurations, the default value coming in at 96.3%. The active gaming area is, for the most part, a 5-reel, 3-row matrix supplying 243 ways to win. Bet limits are 10 c to $/€20 per spin, and the opportunity to buy bonus features is here, including the iconic Wild Desire feature.

Twelve regular symbols appear on the pay table. They are 10-A card ranks, a fountain, a gate, a book, plus four characters - Amber, Troy, Micheal, and Sarah. Hitting a winning way of 5 matching non-character symbols pays 1 to 2.5 times the bet, while 3 to 4.5 times the bet is paid when hitting 5 matching character symbol winning combinations. Wilds appear on all reels and substitute for any regular paying symbol. A win involving 5 wilds is worth 5 times the bet. Wilds that are part of wins in the base game or in Amber's free spins can apply a multiplier. The multiplier increases per Roll, up to a maximum of 6x in the base game.

Immortal Romance 2: Slot Features

A perennial favourite, the Wild Desire returns, this time boosted by a risible multiplier. It is joined by Rolling Reels, Character Jackpots, a Jackpot Wheel, free spins bonus rounds linked to each character, a feature buy, and Bloodline.

Rolling Reels & Locking Wilds

Rolling Reels removes winning symbols from the grid and replaces them by dropping symbols down from above. Rolls continue like this until no new win appears, ending the sequence. Locking wilds remain on the reels through Rolls until the end of the spin. They do not appear on the leftmost reel in the base game nor in Michael's or Sarah's free spins. Locking wilds do appear on reel 3 in Troy's free spins.

Wild Desire

Wild Desire is a single spin triggered when 2 blood drop symbols land on reels 2 and 4. It can be triggered from the base game or the Jackpot Wheel feature. Rolling Reels do not occur during the Wild Desire spin, which takes place on an expanded 5x4, 1024 ways to win grid, where full reel wilds are the thing you want.

Wild Desire Multiplier

Landing 1 blood drop symbol can randomly increase the Wild Desire Multiplier by 0.5x up to a maximum of x3. The Wild Desire Multiplier applies to all wins in the Wild Desire feature only. After the Wild Desire feature completes, the Wild Desire Multiplier resets to a random value.

Jackpot Wheel & Character Jackpots

The Jackpot Wheel may trigger randomly when gems are collected. It awards the Wild Desire or one of the Character Jackpots. The Jackpot Wheel can only trigger from the base game. The four jackpots are Amber, Troy, Michael, and Sarah, with values of 5x-50x, 5x-75x, 10x-200x, and 20x-1,500x the bet, respectively. Character gems may appear on character symbols. When they do, the gems are collected, and the relevant jackpot is increased.

Scatters

Landing 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols awards 1x, 5x, or 25x the bet, respectively, and triggers the free spins selection:

• Amber free spins - 12 free spins where wild multipliers and locking wild multipliers increase by x3 per Roll up to a maximum of x18. Landing 3 or more scatters awards +12 free spins.
• Troy free spins - 12 free spins where locking wilds on reel 3 remain through Rolls and are removed on each spin. Locking wilds on reel 3 also spawns 2 additional locking wilds on the same reel, creating a wild reel. Per Roll, locking wilds on reel 3 may increment a wild multiplier on a random wild up to x3 for the duration of Rolls. Landing 3 or more scatters retriggers 3 free spins.
• Michael free spins - 12 free spins where 2, 3, or 4 reels can sync together. Synced reels occur on each spin. The symbols landing on synced reels are identical - including the symbols which Roll in. Landing 3 or more scatters retriggers 3 free spins.
• Sarah free spins - 12 free spins where stacked mystery symbols can change to coin values of 1x to 25x the bet or any other symbols except scatters. Stacked mystery symbols remain for the duration of Rolls and are removed on each spin. The multiplier trail increments on each Roll up to x6. The multiplier trail applies to coin wins. The multiplier trail resets on each spin. Landing 3 or more scatters retriggers 3 free spins.

Feature Buy

Players are able to buy free spins entry from the feature buy for 100 times the bet. Once 1,000 spins have taken place, it becomes possible to buy the Wild Desire feature, as well, for 100x the bet, scaled by the Wild Desire Multiplier.

Bloodline

The Bloodline progress bar progresses with each spin until immortality is reached after 5,000 spins. In-game music and skins are unlocked at intervals along the Bloodline bar. This is purely cosmetic and has no effect on bets or wins.

Immortal Romance 2: Slot Verdict

Sequels are a toughie, and Stormcraft Studios seemed destined to face an uphill battle on multiple fronts with this one. With Games Global handing the reins over, it's like Leonardo Davinci deciding to make Mona Lisa 2.0 and palming the work off to one of his assistants. Players enamoured with the original are likely to have enormous expectations. Why else make a sequel if it doesn't in some ways improve on what came before? It has been done in movies; Terminator 2, Empire Strikes Back, and The Dark Knight are classic examples that feature high on 'better sequel' lists. In slots, too, it has happened before. Money Train 2 is an obvious example. Relax Gaming really brought it when the team expanded the Money Train series, and Stormcraft Studios has brought a certain amount of 'it' as well, but was it enough? Will Immortal Romance 2 satisfy the cynics, the critics, the fans while bringing a new audience to the Immortal Romance fold?

First, some of the goods. It's clear Stormcraft Studio has put a lot of effort into making Immortal Romance 2. Let's acknowledge that. They've included extras such as Bloodline Gamification to personalise a session, and the audio is varied as well as being of a high standard. The graphical quality is quite high as well, though seeing the four characters look more mature was interesting; maybe puzzling is a better word. Don't vampires stay the same age and look the same? Wasn't Edward Cullen 100+ years old, passing for a school kid, and simping on a 17-year-old girl? Ah, well, artistic licence in action. As before, each character is linked to their own bonus round, which is all good, though linking each character to a jackpot was a more divisive decision. Jackpot features are a dime a dozen amongst Game Global studios, so certain gamblers obviously go for them. However, others would no doubt have preferred to see that portion of the RTP allocated in other ways.

Maybe pushed deeper into the Wild Desire feature? However, Wild Desire now benefits from a rising multiplier, which is an interesting add-on. Despite the new bells and whistles, Immortal Romance's max win isn't far off the original, at 15,000x the bet, which may also set disappointment off amongst some of the hardcore gambler fans who enjoy watching sensational hits. Disappointment feels like it's going to be a common reaction amongst a sizable segment of the gambling population, who will have wanted more from an Immortal Romance sequel. This sentiment is inevitable, given the strong connection and sentimental value many gamblers hold for the original game. The sequel was always destined to be divisive, as it's challenging to meet the high expectations set by its legendary predecessor. Though it doesn't seem likely to be as immortalised as the original, let's not take too much away from Stormcraft Studios, as it has made an entertaining undead Nosferatu soap opera slot that is likely to appeal widely to its intended target audience.