NetEnt brings us back to the hot 80s Miami action in Hotline 2™

The crime-busting duo returns in the upcoming sequel of NetEnt’s hit title Hotline™ with a release date set to August 24th 2020. Following its roots, the video slot doesn’t stray too much from the original, but it brings plenty of new features and bonuses.

Detectives Quinn and Riviera are up again to investigate yet another jewellery store robbery in sunny Miami. But things get heated up when we realise that the beautiful Kitty Weiss is behind the curtain and this time, with a bang.

Just like in the first game, the soundtrack is absolutely sublime, fitting nicely into a colourful backdrop and spinning reels, bringing a new upgraded retrospective look to the hot 80s vibe we got already familiar with, in the original game.

The first Hotline™ slot was received well by players, because of unique in-game slot bonus feature which made it stand out from other slot games at the time.

For those eager to jump on the action while you wait for the sequel, you can play the original title with one of the most used casino bonuses like the 888casino welcome offer, where NetEnt is a featured brand.

The slot action takes place across a 5-reel 3-row layout with 243 win ways. However, this can expand to become a 3x6x6x6x3 grid with up to 1944 ways to play depending on the activated features. The volatility’s still set to medium level, and there’re no changes regarding it.

While creating the game NetEnt kept to the core of its predecessor, but they certainly did some quite exciting changes. There is a new reel set, a random modifier and a different free spin feature. Additionally, the Hotlines have been inverted into vertical lines, removing the to need to activate 1 to 3 hotlines we saw previously.

This time, the three middle reels make up the Hotline zone which can be activated separately. This feature increases a chance to win Expanding Wild for a higher bet. A Wild symbol landing on a Hotline reel expands to cover the entire reel if resulting in a bet way win.

The other reels can be turned into hotlines with bonus bets. The slot is played with the Base Bet, with reel 3 as a Hotline and two Bonus Bet levels:

• Double Bet: reel 3 and 4 become a Hotline, and the bet is doubled
• Triple Bet: reel 2 and 3 and 4 become Hotlines, and the bet is tripled

Playing around with the Hotlines will also alter the base game RTP value accordingly, resulting in 94.51%, 95.35%, or 96.05% with 1, 2, or 3 Hotlines activated. It is slightly lower from what we had in the first instalment, but it’s a bit higher than the industry average on 96.05%.

The main Hotline feature is especially important when we add in the wild symbols. If a wild symbol lands on any of the 3 middle reels, it will substitute as usual, but if it lands on Hotline, it expands to give you a fully wild reel. Known as the Expanding Wild feature, which you could end up with 3 wild reels per spin.

Landing 3 neon flamingo scatters anywhere on 2, 3 and 4 will trigger the Free Spins feature, with 7 free spins awarded. A wild symbol landing on a Hotline will always expand the actual height of the reel by 1 symbol, up to a maximum height of six.

Having all three centre reels reaching the max height will lead to a 3x6x6x6x3 game window, creating 1,944 ways to win. When a Hotline reel reaches its maximum height, 2 additional free spins are awarded.

But if you’d like to get straight to the action you can use the bonus buy option. Where for a price of 20x, 40x, or 60x, you can get to play the bonus with 1, 2, or 3 Hotlines activated respectively.

Our overall impressions of the Hotline 2™ slot is that it is much better than the original game. The additional ways to win with the Free Spins feature coupled with the expanding wilds option can lead to mega wins of up to 5,184 x your total bet on every free spin.

The game is beautifully designed and packed with a nostalgic soundtrack, boasting a retro atmosphere, that ultimately pays homage to hit tv-show Miami Vice. Even though it doesn’t bring any major changes, fans of the genre and especially those who loved the first game will be pleased with this sequel.