Narcos

Pablo Escobar was an international drug lord with no equal. His rise to power and eventual downfall make for a fantastic story.

And that’s exactly what Netflix created in their popular TV series, Narcos. But today, the show has received its best award yet. Having its very own slot created by NetEnt!

Narcos Slot Review

The game is played on a five reel board, with each reel being three symbols tall. Instead of traditional paylines, this release uses the ways to win system. To win, simply collect three or more identical icons in adjacent positions, starting with the leftmost reel. There’s no need to worry about the winning combination following any arbitrary winlines. So long as the initial conditions are met, all wins will be paid!

There are plenty of special features to keep players busy. Walking Wilds, the Drive-By bonus, the Locked-up special feature and free spins. With these bonuses, you can count on a lot of Wilds being created and shifting positions. Not to mention a cluster winning special feature in the form of Locked-Up.

Theme & Symbols

Narcos is based on life of infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar. Naturally, Netflix took a few liberties with the tale to make it more interesting. The slot follows along with the TV show. As such, don’t be surprised if you come across a few familiar faces: they’re modelled after the actors! But the theme runs deeper than just a few symbols. You see it in the background image and when the special features are triggered. It shows you the environment that created Escobar – both the good and bad.

The background image shows a Latin American town from that time period. Every now and then, you’ll see a plane flying in the distance, making the next drug delivery! But what truly stood out was how the background was used to show off the game’s bonuses. The moment when a car drives up the empty road and starts shooting at you is something that you won’t forget anytime soon!

The symbols are split between looking drop-dead gorgeous and being super generic. Playing card royals are just letters with guns, grenades and cash piled on next to the icons. In contrast, the actor icons have a ridiculous amount of detail put into them. We actually chuckled when we saw that their hair bobs up and down when the reels stop spinning. We’re talking that level of detail.

How to Play Narcos

NetEnt’s release is played on a 5×3 board with 243 ways to win. It moves away from the paylines system, which we quite like. We’d like to see more slots follow Narcos’ lead and abandon winlines all-together. It’s a simpler system, and it benefits online gamblers. Considering many developers no longer allow players to turn individual paylines on or off, there’s really no need for them to exist.

Gameplay is a simple loop repeated over and over again. Hit Locked-up and free spins, cross your fingers that you win big, fail, and try again! You won’t win immediately, but it’ll feel amazing when you finally do get a big cash prize! The Drive-By and Walking Wild special features are mostly there as filler. They offer decent wins, and keep gamblers engaged, but they’re not the main attraction.

Your minimum stake is only €0.20 per spin, which is great value for 243 ways to win. And it’s not like NetEnt is shy about letting high rollers go all out, either. They openly invite players to stake as high as €400 on each spin! If you win the 1506x jackpot while playing at maximum bet, that’s over €600,000 suddenly weighing down your pockets!

Bonus Features

Special features in this release reads off like the greatest NetEnt hits. Narcos borrows a little from all the slots that came before it, and uses it to create an amazing game!

• Walking Wild

Wilds that are part of a winning combination remain on the reels, and shift one position to the left. This continues as long as the Wild continues to be part of a win. When it no longer contributes to a winning combination, it loses its sticky properties and disappears.

• Drive-By

This bonus is randomly activated during normal gameplay. A car will drive up and fire at the reels. This transforms a small number of high value symbols into Wilds.

• Locked Up

Collect three or more Locked Up icons on the same row to win the special feature. All Locked Up symbols are pushed together, while other icons disappear entirely. Gamblers get three free spins. From here, only blank spaces and more Locked Up symbols can appear on the reels. So long as new Locked Up icons appear to expand the winning cluster, the number of spins remains the same.

• Golden Locked Up

There is a chance for a golden Locked Up symbol to appear. If it becomes part of the winning cluster, it can grant one of three bonuses.
• All values in the cluster are multiplied by 2x or 3x
• Symbols in the cluster are upgraded between 7 to 15 times.
• An additional value is added to the Golden Locked Up icon as a starting value.

• Free Spins

Three Scatters in the first, third and fifth reel grant 10 free spins. During this special feature, there is a chance one high value symbol will turn into a Wild. Furthermore, if any Walking Wilds remain on the board after free spins end, more free spins are played.

Payouts

Narcos has a medium-high variance and a jackpot worth 1506x your total bet. The slot’s RTP is 96.23%, which is slightly higher than the current industry average.