There’s a strong sense of antiquity in the design of Soldier of Rome. Joining the heart, diamond, club and spades are chariots, coins, eagles, Caesar and a Roman woman. She is the most rewarding, paying 5 times stake for a 5-symbol combination. Spinning 3 symbols high, the Roman centurion is the wild.
The action takes place on a very unusual game engine. There are 4 Money Burst Reels with only 1 visible symbol which are joined by 3 Mighty Reels made up of 10 symbols (though 5 of them are obscured much of the time). All 7 reels spin to begin with. The Money Burst reels stop first - land a winner on the first 3 Money Burst reels and you’ll receive an extended spin on the 4th Money Burst reel.
Get a matching symbol there and you’ll be awarded the Lightning Spin Bonus feature - the obscured top section of the Mighty Reels is then revealed to show 10 symbols. During the Lightning Spins, you see plenty of the of the winning symbol from the Money Burst reels on the Mighty Reels. If a wild hits in a fully stacked formation in the bottom 5 positions of the Mighty Reels, then they open up the top 5 positions of the Mighty Reels and expand to fill that. Any other wilds can also expand and fill their reel too.
Land 3 or more Bonus symbols and you’ll trigger the Free Spins Bonus feature - 10 free spins are awarded with 5 extra free spins awarded for each Bonus symbol from the triggering spin. The reel set up is the same during the feature - the expanding wilds are in play too.
Up your stakes and you can play in the Big Bet feature - this series of 5 linked spins costs £20, £30 or £50. In return for that extra investment, you’ll see wilds that unlock the top portion of the reels if they hit partially, the lowest value playing card suits removed from play and the top reels active with 100 payline throughout.
Like many slot games in the Barcrest catalogue, Soldier of Rome is a pretty complicated game, at least when you first fire it up. The unusual reels and obscured symbols take a bit of getting used to so a few spins in play mode are definitely recommended.
Barcrest titles are something of an acquired taste. If you like the unusual gameplay or indeed the ancient theme, then you’ll consider going into the arena with the Soldier of Rome. I would rather opt for Gladiator Road to Rome from Playtech which is inspired by the Gladiator epic film.