Creature Comforts
If you’re easily frightened, this may not be the slot for you! Slot masters Netent have teamed up with Movie giants Universal to bring us this beautifully themed slot based on the 1954 horror film of the same name. Thankfully the slot version is in full colour! It’s actually not a bad film, so should you reach bust town quicker than expected why not put your feet up and enjoy this B-movie classic.
The Base Game
Creature from the Black Lagoon is a themed 3D video slot with 5 reels and includes a free spins feature bonus, similar to many NetEnt slots with a familiar feeling interface and a decent amount of paylines.
The base game features the usual low paying symbols along with the 4 scientists questing to find the so called ‘gill-man’. Kay, the unfortunate focus of the creatures attention is the highest paying symbol and a payline featuring her and a slightly odd looking mouth will net you 750 coins which is not too shabby.
The wilds in the base game are sticky with each new one granting you a free re-spin. A run of these on consecutive spins can actually build to some pretty lucrative line wins and can often pay way more than the average bonus.
Wilds do come along fairly regularly so there is definitely potential here. If nothing else it will help keep your balance afloat whilst you wait for the free spins bonus.
Creature Feature!
The biggest draw of this slot has to be the free spins or “creature feature” as it is known within the slot playing community.
Basically the mini-game if you like in the free spins is an underwater battle to kill the creature before you run out of spins. You achieve this by shooting him every time a target symbol lands on reel 5.
Should you manage to kill the creature you will get 10 extra spins and unlock a spreading wild which will basically triple any wild that lands on any spin. This can produce some insane wins.
Sounds simple right? Maybe not..
[quote_right]Players get the chance to rescue Kay- when the target symbol and the Creature appear, the Creature gets shot.[/quote_right]
To activate the free spins bonus you need at least 3 “Free Spins” symbols and usually that is as many as you will get.
- 3 award you 10 free spins
- 4 award you 15 free spins
- 5 award you 20 free spins
If you manage to land 5 symbols we would suggest having a go at the lottery that week also!
It is almost accepted within the slot community that to stand any chance of killing the creature you will need 4 free spins symbols e.g 15 spins. It is mathematically possible to kill him with only 10 spins of course but it is very unlikely as the target tends to appear every 2 or 3 spins if you are lucky. Not all hope is lost with 10 spins though, the bonus can be re-triggered in so there is always a chance!
Along the path to killing the creature you can obtain increasing spreading wilds. On average you will manage to get to the first of these which double any wild on screen..
All in all an enjoyable bonus with some original ideas and a nice use of the theme. It is fun trying to kill the creature and hopefully you will manage to get some decent wins along the way.
Final Thoughts
Creature from the Black Lagoon is a well designed slot with a great theme and an immersive sound track. The music is haunting and gives a real sense of jeopardy.
The feature is immersive and the quest to kill the creature is an interesting narrative to drive the bonus rewards.
Huge wins are possible but actually getting to them in the bonus round is very rare. We would like to have seen slightly less variance here to make the bonus a bit more rewarding.
If you’re a bit of a horror fan or just like a decent themed slot this is for you. Whether you win big or not, it has plenty to offer and will leave you smiling even if you do end up in bust town.