Hotline 2

Hotline 2 Review

Hotline 2 has 5 reels, 3 rows and 243 ways to win. During the free spins, the winning ways are up to 1944. You will be paid for matching 3 to 5 symbols on adjacent reels left to right starting from the leftmost reel. You can play with cash or coins switching between them from the settings. The RTP in the base game using the Base Bet is 94.51%. When you play with the Double Bet it is 95.35% and when using the Triple Bet – 96.05%.

If you activate the Buy Feature, the return to player changes for each bet level. The double and triple bets increase the Hotlines by 2 and 3. This also results in doubling and tripling your wagers respectively. Play with bets starting from 0.10 to 50 credits or currency equivalents. When using the Double and Triple Bonus Bets, you can spin the reels with wagers from 0.20 and 0.30 to 100 and 150 credits.

The volatility is at the medium spectrum and the maximal win is 5,184 times your stake. This is achievable during the free spins with the 1944 ways possible to get! The key to big wins is getting wild symbols inside the Hotlines. This has a big effect especially when you have triggered the Free Spins. During the free rounds, you will win from the higher middle reels and more wins ways. You get wins up to 5,184 times your stake in Hotline 2 thanks to the boosting features.

There are wild symbols that become expanded and cover the entire reel they land on when they hit a Hotline. You can use the Double and Triple Bonus Bet modes to get double and triple more chances to land Expanding Wilds. If you wish, you can use the Buy Feature to get instant access to the free games for 60 times your stake.

The Design

Hotline 2 is set on the street of a Miami background with palm trees and blocks of flats on the left. You can see the ocean on the right of the reels. On them, you can land valuable jewellery items. These are rings and necklaces with white gold or silver and all kinds of precious stones in varying colours. There are a large purple diamond and 4 characters from the TV series Miami Vice. One of them is holding a binocular, another a phone and there is a lady chilling out.

You will see the middle reels increasing their heights during free spins when wilds hit on them. Wilds make racing sounds of the car and when they result in a reel increase. The images are clear, precise and cartoonish like taken from a comics book. The soundtrack is the original one from the TV series. It creates a very pleasant relaxing and dreamy atmosphere.

Hotline 2 Gameplay

The pay-table includes 6 gemstones and jewellery items at the low end. There are 4 characters as premiums. The ring with the green stone pays 0.10, 0.20 and 0.40 times the stake for 3, 4 and 5 symbols. The necklace with the blue gem returns 0.20, 0.40 and 60 the stake. The one with the purple stone pays 0.30, 0.60 and 1x stake for 3, 4 and 5 in combinations. The orange-stoned jewel grants 0.40 to 1.20 times your stake. The necklace with the heart-shaped red stone pays 0.50, 1 and 1.50x stake. The pink diamond gives you 0.60, 1.20 and 2.50 times your bet.

The premiums include 4 characters. The one with the headphones pays 0.70, 1.50 and 3 times your bet. The man with the phone and glasses grants 1, 2 and 4 times your bet wins for 3, 4 and 5 symbols. The man with the binocular is second in value and pays 1.50, 3 and 5 times your bet for 3 to 5 of a kind. The lady with the cocktail is the most rewarding symbol. It gives you 2, 5 and 8 times your bet for 3, 4 and 5 symbols.

There is a wild symbol of the car with the word on it and a scatter. The scatter is the neon symbols with the pink flamingo, two palm trees and word ‘Scatter’ on it. You can see it on the middle 3 reels in the base game only.

To get wins you need 3, 4 or 5 of the same symbol landed on adjacent reels starting from leftmost reel to right. The 5 reels and 3 rows in the base game grant up to 243 ways. During free spins, the reels can increase their height and become 6 symbols each in the best case. This results in a maximum of 1944 ways to win at the most.

Hotline 2 Features / Bonuses

There are several extra features in the game. One of them is the Hotline feature. It increases the odds of getting Expanding symbols and get higher wins. You can play this feature with 3 bet levels: the Base Bet, the Double Bonus Bet and the Triple Bonus Bet. When you use the Base Bet, reel 3 is a Hotline.

If you activate the Double Bet, reels 3 and 4 become the Hotlines and your bet is doubled. In case you decide to use the Triple Bet, reels 2, 3 and 4 are Hotlines and your bet is tripled. For the price of increased bet, you can win more from the game. Activate whichever of these 3 options you like whenever you decide. Use the button with the 9 dots above the spin button to switch between bet levels. The Base Bet is set as a default.

The wild symbols can land on reels 2, 3 and 4 in the main game and free spins. These are the car symbols and they make racing sounds when they land. The wilds, as usual, substitute for all missing symbols except for the scatter. They help you score more wins. If a wild appears on a Hotline during the base game, it expands and covers its entire reel. This results in a bet way win. During free spins, a wild symbol landed on a Hotline always expands and covers the reel. Wilds and expanding wilds take part in the highest paying combinations when susbtituing.

Getting 3 scatters, which appear on reels 2, 3 and 4 in the base game, activates 7 Free Spins. When you land a wild symbol on reels 2, 3 or 4 during a free spin, this increases the height of this reel by 1 symbol. It also results in more winning ways. The win ways number in the free spins starts at 243. It reaches 1944 at the most thanks to the increased height of the middle 3 reels.

Additionally, a wild landed on a Hotline will always expand after its reel increases and before payouts. The middle 3 reels can increase to become up to 6 symbols high. If you make a Hotline reel expanded to its maximal height, you will win 2 extra free games for each. Thanks to this, you can add up to 6 extra free spins from the expansion of the 3 middle reels. A fully expanded grid has the 3-6-6-6-3 layout and 1944 ways to win. You play the free games with the bet that triggered them.

The final modifier in the sequel to Hotline is the Buy Feature. It lets you activate the Free Spins. You can do this with the Base, Double and Triple Bets as you like. For the price of 20, 40 or 60 times your stake respectively you can use it to play with 1, 2 or 3 Hotlines. The Buy Feature plays the free games with slightly different RTPs. The return to player is 94.55% for Hotline 1, 95.30% for Hotline 2 and 96.03% for Hotline 3.

The Conclusion

Hotline 2 will attract fans of the Miami Vice series from the 1980s and also those who like the first slot on the topic. You have 3 Bet Levels to choose from, 3 hotlines to activate and plenty of bet sizes. Use the Bonus Buy or try to trigger the free games naturally. If you have luck, you can win over 5000 times your stake per spin. This is possible thanks to the increasing of reels’ height up to 6 symbols in total.