Dropping Slots Wins like Thunderbolts; Zeus 1000
The third WMS Gaming slots title to deal with the mythical king of the Greek gods, Zeus 1000 differs from the earlier titles Zeus and Zeus III in that it is part of the WMS Colossal Reels series. So game play takes place on two sets of reels; a standard set of five reels displaying four windows each with 25 paylines, and the Colossal Reels set, with 12 windows on each of the five reels and 75 paylines.
That makes 100 fixed paylines in total, but players can cover two lines with a bet of 0.01 in the relevant currency, so the minimum cost of a spin is 0.50 The maximum total bet per spin is 250.00. The Zeus Feature during free spins, which adds a random number of crashing thunderbolts to deliver extra wins, adds significantly to bonus round prizes.
Mixed Bag of Basic Symbols
Zeus 1000’s deep blue reels hang against fluffy white clouds, lit with golden light in a clear blue sky. Only the court cards J, Q, K and A are used from the commonly seen Poker symbols, jazzed up with crowns, gold and gems. The other standard symbols are a Grecian urn, a Greek helmet, a chariot, the winged horse Pegasus, Zeus’ throne on Mount Olympus, and Zeus himself.
Zeus is the top-scoring icon in basic play, winning a prize of 500.00 at maximum bet if five appear on one payline. On the standard reels set, icons can arrive in stacks of two, three or four, and icons always appear in stacks of two or more on the Colossal Reels set. Three or more identical stacks from Reel 1 on either set of reels can thus win multiple prizes.
Bonus Triggers Many Worthwhile Prizes
The fist of Zeus, hurling a purple thunderbolt, is the Zeus 1000 Bonus symbol, and it can appear on Reels 1, 3 and 5 on both sets of reels. If three or more Bonus icons appear anywhere across the six available reels, the player is paid a multiplier of the total bet and given a number of free spins. Multipliers and free spins are awarded as follows: 2X and 10 spins for three Bonus icons, 10X and 15 spins for four, 20X and 20 spins for five, and 25X and 30 free for six.
During a free spins round, if the Zeus icon stacks to cover all four windows on Reel 1 of the standard set, the backdrop turns to fiery red and repeated thunderbolts start striking the reels, delivering a prize of 100.00 every time. These continue and cease at random, after which any winning combinations for the free spin are added to the prize, and the next free spin can commence.
Wild Stacks, Transfers and an Innovative Bonus
The temple of Zeus, the Zeus 1000 Wild symbol, appears only on the standard reels set, where as usual it can substitute for any other symbol except the Bonus. However, the Wilds can also stack like all the other symbols on this reel, and if a stack of four Wilds covers an entire reel, an extra stack of 12 Wilds is transferred to the corresponding reel in the Colossal Reels set, making multiple winning paylines possible at once.
If the corresponding reel on the Colossal Reels set already displays a Bonus icon when a stack of Wilds is transferred, this purple Bonus turns into a red ‘Wonus’ icon, and can substitute for all other symbols, including other Bonuses.