Detailed Review of Playtech’s Slot Gladiator

Gladiator is a 5 reel, 25 pay-line video slot from Playtech. It is themed around the award-winning blockbuster movie under the same name directed by Ridley Scott.

The movie represents the Roman culture and society and focuses on the Gladiator battles. Even though not all facts in the movie are historically accurate, if you like it, then you will definitely have fun playing the game.

The stars of the Gladiator blockbuster are Joaquin Phoenix and Russell Crowe, however, the symbol of the later actor is nowhere to be seen on the reels. This is perhaps due to licensing issues. Nevertheless, the slot features short video clips and music from the actual movie which makes it quite entertaining to play.

Aside from the theme, the Gladiator slot features win substitutions and scatter wins and has two fun bonus rounds- the Coliseum and the Gladiator bonus. There is also a gamble feature activated in the base game.

All You Need to Know about the Game

The reels of the Gladiator slot are set against a background featuring the Coliseum itself. Some of the symbols are the low value playing card icons as well as symbols from the characters of the actual movie such as the General Maximus, Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Senator Gracchus and Lucilla. They are the highest paying. Underneath the reels are the betting buttons namely Auto Start, Lines, Bet Per Line, Bet Max, Gamble, Info and Spin. Click on the Lines and Bet Per Line buttons to select the pay-lines you want to play as well as the size of your bet. If you want to bet the maximum, click on Bet Max.

Gladiator Slot – Basic Info
Gladiator Slot Features Software: Playtech Double option: yes
RTP: 92.67% Mobile version: yes
Progressive: no Coin value: £0.01 – £0.50
Autoplay: yes Bet value: £0.01 ‑ £1,250
Quick spin: yes Max. bet: 1250
Reels: 5 Free spins: yes
Paylines: 25 Bonus round: yes

Another important feature in the basic game is the Gamble or the Double option. For any winnings you have generated by playing the slot for real money, you can choose to either gamble it or double it with this option. The feature can only be activated in the base game by clicking on the Gamble button. Once activated, you need to correctly guess whether the next drawn card will be red or black. With this option you can double your money up to 5,000 credits. At any point you can return to the base game and continue playing.

Paytable and Symbols

The paytable can be accessed by clicking on the Info button. Here you will find more information about the payout of each symbol as well as details about the two bonus rounds and the Gamble option. As always, the Nines, Tens, Jacks, Queens, Kings and Aces are the low value paying icons. The lowest you can win is 8 times you bet by hitting three of a kind 9s or 10s on an active pay-line. On the other hand, the highest amount you can win is 200 times your total bet by getting five of a kind Aces or Kings.

Gladiator Slot SymbolsGladiator Coliseum BonusGladiator Bonus GameGladiator Double Feature

The symbols of the characters from the Gladiator movie give you higher payouts. The icons of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Lucilla, the Empress of Rome, are better than the others. Hitting five Lucilla symbols on an active pay-line wins you an amazing 1,000x your bet. Five Emperor symbols, on the other hand, give you a nice 5,000x your bet. Two more important icons are the wild and the scatter. The Gladiator helmet is the wild and it substitutes for all other symbols, except for the scatter to form winning combinations. The scatter is the Coliseum and if you hit two or more, you can win between 2x and 100x your bet.

Free Spins and Bonus Rounds

Three or more scatter symbols anywhere on the reels trigger the Coliseum bonus feature. In this round you get up to 24 free spins along with a 3x win multiplier as well as extra wilds and scatters to help you win. Your task is to pick stones starting at the bottom row to reveal your prizes. Each row has a different prize type. The first row contains free spins, the second row contains free spins with multiplier, the third row reveals extra scatter symbols and the fourth row reveals extra wild icons. During the bonus round you can get three extra free spins if you see the Emperor symbol on the third reel.

Gladiator Slot Screenshot

The second bonus feature is the Gladiator bonus. It is triggered when you get three Gladiator helmet wilds on the three middle reels, namely on reels 2, 3 and 4. Once activated you pick nine helmets which will reveal bronze, silver and gold prizes. Wins from the helmets are added up to your total win. For example, you can win cash up to 5x your bet per each pick, therefore, you will get up to 45x your wager in total.

Final Overview and Other Recommendations

There are a couple of pros and cons of the Gladiator slot from Playtech. Some of the positive aspects are the scatter icon with multipliers, the two rewarding bonus rounds and the gamble option. As a medium variance slot, win amounts can vary quite a bit. On the negative side, graphically the slot is not very spectacular. The wild icon also doesn’t have a multiplier and the top jackpot is somewhat low compared to other fixed video slot jackpots. Still, because of the popularity of the game, Playtech also created the Gladiator Jackpot slot which is the same but with a big progressive jackpot attached.

If you’re interested in playing other movie themed video slots action-packed with features, you should try out the slot Tomb Raider from Microgaming. The game has very popular theme, excellent graphics and animation as well as higher fixed jackpot.