And what a motley company this seafaring mob are - the reels include a selection of the ugliest pirates you could every wish to see. That's not to say the graphics are bad. Far from it, the imagery is excellent as you'd expect from a NetEnt-produced slot. Pillaging on the open waves appears to have taken its toll on this bunch given the wonky eyes, buck teeth and manic grins of the main characters on the reels.
The main attraction in Hook's Heroes are the trio of Free Spins features. They are all triggered by hitting 3 or more scatter symbols anywhere on the reels. You'll then have to choose 1 of 3 bonus rounds (two if you trigger the free spins with 4 scatters and three if you're lucky enough to find 5 scatters).
First up is the Fairy feature - opt for this and you'll be awarded 7 free spins. During each free spin, between 2 and 5 wild symbols will be overlaid onto random positions on the reels, boosting your chances of a winning payline.
Next is the Mermaid feature. In this round, you'll be awarded 10 free spins with each winning payline doubled. Things get even better if there's a wild in your winning combination as your payout will be boosted by a 4x multiplier and quadrupled.
Finally there's the Pirate feature which gives you 15 free spins with wins calculated on the number of the same symbols on the reels regardless of whether they are in a line. So for example, if you get 4 of the same pirate symbol anywhere on the reels you'll be rewarded as if they're a 4 symbol payline.
If you hit two scatters in the base game you'll be awarded 1 free spin including one of the Fairy, Mermaid or Pirate feature which will be chosen at random.
The variance in Hook's Heroes is on the low side of medium but it's certainly possible to bag plentiful amounts of booty if you manage to find multiple scatters and get hot in the free spins.
The visuals in Hook's Heroes are light-hearted and are complemented by a soundtrack that is a strange mix of pirate jig infused with some Caribbean flavour. It fits in nicely with the theme though.
That pirate theme has been a source of inspiration for game developers for as long as online slots have produced – think Red Flag Fleet by WMS or Ghost Pirates by NetEnt. The funky graphics, range of features and potential payouts of 180 times your stake means there's still room for NetEnt's latest offering. If you prefer something a little more volatile, you can’t go wrong with Dead or Alive which is a NetEnt favourite (and very high variance).