Hey players, here's a Mesoamerican sojourn courtesy of games supplier Pragmatic Play, which heads south of the Rio Grande to what is now central/southern Mexico, but what was once the heart of the Aztec Empire. The name of the game is Aztec Blaze and takes players on a colourful journey through a colourful civilisation equipping them with features such as respins, progressively growing Colossal Symbols, win multipliers, free spins, and a bonus buy option.
While arguably not as visually rich, the first look at Aztec Blaze brought to mind memories of ELK Studio's slot Coba. Okay, the other one was Mayan, and this one is Aztec; nevertheless, both studios have produced an attractive view of each civilisation, or at least each civilisation, as they are typically portrayed in an online slot. In the case of Aztec Blaze, that means complex carved stonework decorating the game grid, glimpses of step temples, and several stylised representations of various animals, all basking in a golden glow. The visuals have a satisfying weight to them, accompanied by a suitably theme-inspired soundtrack. Coba turned out to be a highly playable game, setting positive expectations as to how Aztec Blaze might play out.
Aztec Blaze is available on any device, taking bets of 25 p/c to $/€125 per spin. Or, if the Ante Bet is present, players can flick it on to get an extra life when free spins are organically triggered, increasing the bet by 60% in the process. The RTP, meanwhile, comes in three forms, topping out at 96.5%, which remains the same whether playing normally, using the Ante Bet, or buying free spins. Highly volatile, Aztec Blaze is played on a 6-reel, 4-row matrix with 25 fixed pay lines.
Eight pay symbols appear on the reels, all flinging off a win when at least three matching symbols land on adjacent reels starting from the left. The first four are J-A card ranks, possessing five-of-a-kind values of 0.8-1.4x the bet, then come four high-pay animal symbols, awarding 4-8 times the stake for a five-symbol winning line. Wilds land on all reels, too, substituting for all symbols in the game except the free spins scatter.
The first feature up for inspection is the Colossal Symbols. In the base game, when a win occurs, Aztec Blaze shifts into respins mode, which increases levels on each following respin. Players are paid out after each respin if they win something, and respins end when no new win hits. After the initial win, the level system goes like this:
The game remains at Level 6 for any following respins, resetting back to normal when no new win hits.
Hitting 2 scatters on reels 1 and 6 triggers free spins mode. Free spins play out like the respins feature covered above, except players get 5 lives. Free spins continue until no winning combinations occur five times. During the feature, level progression is kept between lives, and hitting 2 scatters triggers +5 additional lives. If the Ante Bet is switched on when free spins are organically triggered, players start with 6 lives. The final thing to mention is that certain players may be able to buy the free spins round for the cost of 60 times the bet. Free spins cannot be bought while the Ante Bet is switched on.
Ever started playing a game, any game, could be a smartphone game, video game, whatever and thought, 'this is kind of meh', then before you know it, time's slipped by, and you're battling through level 20, half tempted to shell out a few bucks for some upgrades? Aztec Blaze was a bit like that. The initial reaction was, okay, a low-win Aztec slot with a base game feature which crosses over to its free spins bonus round. No big deal. But something about Aztec Blaze was strangely captivating, strangely replayable. There was something about the levelling up system that encouraged just one more spin to take up the challenge. Like playing Flappy Bird just one more time, Aztec Blaze had a certain challenge element which encouraged repeat attempts.
The effect didn't last forever, though, and after being beaten down a few times during back-to-back bonus buys, compulsion did wane a few notches. Even moving up the levels is no guarantee of a big score. Perhaps it's to do with the 25 paylines on the 6x4 grid set-up, and 5 free spins isn't a hang of a lot, although they are technically retriggerable. It is highly volatile, though, let's not forget, and the combination of 4x4 symbols and an x10 multiplier could well lead to some hair-raising moments. Unlike the Colossal Symbols, the potential isn't exactly colossal, capped at 2,000x the bet, though it feels like there's room enough here to enjoy what Aztec Blaze has to offer.
What it has to offer is a glossy game with a neat set of features which created a pacey ride that was fun to latch onto. It might not have huge amounts of depth or a phenomenally rewarding final destination for those lucky enough to make it all the way, but the game has enough of the right tools to provide a bit of merriment along the way.
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