The design in Imperial Opera is delightfully done - reds, golds and greens dominate the opera house setting. On the reels you’ll see A to 10 symbols alongside 3 characters from a classical Chinese opera. They’re joined by a princess holding a pair of fans who is the wild. She replaces everything bar the scatter and offers awards of up to 25 times your stake per payline.
There are plenty of extras on offer at this particular show. You have the Showcase feature where on every base game spin, 1 standard symbol is chosen at random. Extra long stacks of this symbol are then added to the reels for that spin.
Then you have the Crescendo feature where 1 or 2 reels are filled with wilds. These hit at random in the base game only. The Harmony feature is triggered at random in the base game and sees 2 or 3 reels display matching symbols making it that much easier to land a winning combination.
The best is the Free Spins feature which is triggered if the Harmony feature is active and covers 3 reels. This happens if you land the scatter in its full 3x3 formation. 10 free spins are then awarded. The middle 3 reels synchronise during the free spins to show the same matching mega symbols. If you’re lucky enough to land a full 3x3 scatter again, you’ll get another 10 free spins – there’s no limit to how many times you can do this too.
Like many of Play ’N Go’s releases, Imperial Opera is an extremely volatile game. You can expect big swings to your bankroll and some lengthy down spells. The colossal symbols in the free spins can quickly deliver though. Combining high spec sound and visuals with some cracking gameplay, Imperial Opera is a very entertaining game.
The sky-high variance means it won’t be for everyone. If you can cope with the potential big swings, then this night at the opera could end up being one to remember as you could win 2,500 times your stake on each spin. If you like the opera, I suggest you try The Phantom’s Curse by Net Entertainment which is based on Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera musical.