The wombat says: Do you like musicals? Then you should take your seats Wombat Fans, the Opera is about to begin!
Because we’re about to fire up the reels on a new release from Microgaming based on the Phantom of the Opera, probably best known by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical adaptation which is by now the longest running Broadway show in history.
So what’s it all about? Well… A disfigured, mask-wearing Phantom dwells in the catacombs underneath the Paris Opera House. Young soprano Christine becomes the obsession of the lonesome phantom, who is not only a musical genius, but also loves to wear fluttering cloaks. He kidnaps the soprano and forces the owners of the play to keep her as the lead role of the play.
This particular slot is based on the 2004 movie that starred Minnie Driver, Gerard Butler and Simon Callow, and the reels are filled with snippets from the famous film. Get ready for Gargoyles galore, masks en masse and the omnipresent sound of gloom-laden organs.
Game Play
Phantom Of The Opera has 5 reels, 3 rows and is a trademark Microgaming ‘243 ways to win’ slot, meaning that you won’t need to worry about pay-lines. Simply line up matching symbols anywhere on the reels from left to right and you’ll win!
Your symbols on the reels are made up of a pair of opera binoculars, the phantom’s trademark mask which makes him look like he’s been wearing the same make-up as the ladies on the Asian Beauty slot machine, a red rose, a perfumier’s bottle and a love letter that represnt your lower value symbols. The biggest and best symbols in the slot are naturally the characters from the movie; opera singer Christine, her lover Raoul, Carlotta and the mysterious phantom himself amongst others. As always, there is a Scatter symbol in this game which is made up of the white phantom’s mask.
All in all, it’s an impressive design, It’s a big step up from their more traditional games like the King of Slots slot which looks ancient in comparison.
Scatters, Free Spins & Extra Features
There are 2 random features in the base game. One is the Letter Bonus which is triggered by landing the letter symbol somewhere on reel 5. This will dish you out a cash prize that can pay up to 20x your bet.
The second random feature is a bit more exciting and goes by the name of the Chandelier Bonus. This one is triggered out of nowhere, and when it’s set off see’s a chandelier descend from above! It will turn 2 to 3 reels into full wild reels, which means more winning combos for you!
To trigger off the Bonus Features Wombat fans, you’ll simply need to land 3x or more Phantom masks anywhere on the reels. If you do you will get 3 choices:
Music of the Night
This bonus gives you 10 free spins with a Phantom feature thrown in for good measure on every spin. These features can be 5x random wilds, up to 3 wild reels, or between 2 and 5 extra spins with a 2x – 4x multiplier.
Masquerade Pick Bonus
This is does what is says on tin and is a pick ’em bonus with hidden cash prizes behind the ornate masks. Hurrah!
All I Ask of You Free Spins
This is the most interesting of the Bonuses. Pick this cheeky blighter it’s 10 free spins with Dancing Wilds for you. Here, the high symbols turn into wilds and dance above the reels. They then move to adjacent positions on every spin. If the symbols lands on the same position you will get a 3x multipler. If they land on the same reel the whole reel will turn into a wild and if the symbols land next to each other both the reels will turn into wilds. If they land diagonally on adjacent reels the wild symbols will expand to a 2×2 wild.
This game looks like its been inspired by earlier games like the Fantasini slot– it’s just taken things a whole lot further.
Conclusion
This wombat is luke warm on big production musicals, but for this game we make an exception. Microgaming have done the business with Phantom of the Opera slot and managed to create a very atmospheric release with mesmerising sound effects and perfectly balanced game play. Get spinning!
Wombat score: 5/5
Phantom of the Opera slot is no longer available at Wombat Casino. Sorry about that!