Play Dead or Alive 2 by NetEnt

Dead or Alive 2 - the sequel to the legend

The original Dead or Alive from ten years ago has gone on to become one of the most talked-about slots ever released. Famed for its insanely high volatility, where a session of playing was as likely to have seriously boosted your bank as massively dented it, this wasn’t a game for the feint-hearted.
A decade later and NetEnt have reacted to constant requests for a sequel, keeping many of the ingredients that made this such an iconic game, while improving it in a few areas and adding more types of free spins.
Let’s look at how Dead or Alive 2 fares in comparison to the original.

How to play Dead or Alive 2

First up, you’ll need to decide how many bullets you want to load your pistol with. Or to put it another way, how much you want to play per spin.
By adjusting the coin value and the Level, you determine your bet per spin. So whatever amount is displayed after ‘Bet’ in the centre of the screen is what your next spin is for.
By clicking on the Information icon, you can view the game’s paytable, see where the winning bet lines are and read explanations on how the Wild and Scatter symbols, plus the bonus features, all work.
Players can use the Autoplay function to pre-determine a number of spins to be played automatically or go ‘all guns blazing’ and press the Max Bet button to play for the highest possible stake.

Dead or Alive 2 Features

Fans of the original will recognise many of the Western-themed symbols on the 5-reels of this slot. In order of value, most valuable first, they are: the Sheriff’s badge, the pistol, the cowboy hat, the riding boots and the whiskey bottle with matching shot glass. Then there are the inevitable lower-value playing card symbols.
You’ll instantly notice the symbols have a much more modern look about them, are a lot more colourful and that the overall design of the game is far more pleasing on the eye than the old-school one.
There are nine different ways to win and if you’re the curious type, you can check the winning patterns by browsing the ‘Winning Bet Lines’ section.

Dead or Alive 2 Wild symbol

There are five different Wild symbols, each of them appearing on a separate reel. Ranging from violent outlaws to pretty girls who are the talk of the local saloon, they substitute for any other symbol, except for the Scatter. We’ll see what they do in the free spins rounds in due course.

Dead or Alive 2 Bonus Features

Here’s where the sequel has really kicked on and found its own identity by adding two additional types of free spins to the game’s repertoire. But first, there’s another way to win big…

Scatter Jackpot

Get five Scatters on the reels at the same time and you shoot your deadly rival, find some hidden gold and ride away into the sunset all at once. Or in other words, you hit the game’s Jackpot.

Free Spins

The free spins round is activated the way you’d expect it to be. By getting three Scatters, represented by the crossed pistols. As an aside, two Scatters wins you a cash prize, but doesn’t activate the free spins.
When you get three Scatters, you’re taken to a second screen where you get to pick from three types of free spins. Whichever ones you pick, you’ll always get 12 of them.

Old Saloon Free Spins: Any wins here are multiplied by 2 and getting at least one Sticky Wild on each of the reels will activate an additional 5 free spins. If you’re lucky enough for 2 Wild Symbols to land on the same reel, you’ll see them turn into Multiplier Wilds.
High Noon Saloon Free Spins: Two or more of the same Wild symbols landing on the same reel transforms them into Double Multiplier Wilds; if it’s three they become Triple Multiplier Wild symbols. If you get one or more Sticky Wilds on each of the reels, you’ll get another 5 free spins.
Train Heist Free Spins: A Western-themed slot wouldn’t be complete without an old-fashioned train heist, would it? The more Wild symbols landing, the better. Each one increases your Multiplier by 1x and as a bonus, the game will throw in an extra free spin for you. Getting 16 Wilds doesn’t just get you a 16x multiplier, it also awards you 5 more free spins.

Dead or Alive 2 - Final Conclusions

Sequels are always tricky for game providers. Get them wrong and you run the risk of blemishing all the hard work done the first time round. But get them right, and you might be able to double the interest of players.

With Dead or Alive 2 the gamble has paid off for the online slot game. It has more beautiful graphics than the original. Plus the whole thing has a deeper, more genuine Western feel about it and the fact that there are three types of free spins to choose from rather than just the one default one really add something to the game, also because it gives the player more power of choice.

Crucially, the high volatility remains, so as a player, in this case, you definitely get the best of both worlds.