Dead or Alive 2 is a nifty western-themed slot from NetEnt. The game lets the player take on the role of a bounty hunter who wants to find and take down the bad guys of a small fictional town in 19th century America. We found the setup to be good, the world well-constructed, and the characters varied. The gameplay makes clever use of variations, symbols, and bonuses.

Small details in the animation, such as the way the bottles hanging from the reels swing on their strings as the player spins the reels, make the game immersive and lively despite the abandoned desert town that forms the background.

The reel and win animations are also perfectly matched with the sound and music, making the whole game feel integrated and engaging. Together with the charming and varied characters that make up the symbols along with the various artefacts of western life, this makes for a game that is both recognisably part of the western genre and different from other similarly themed slots.

Gameplay

The base game is played on five reels with three rows and nine paylines. The lack of a gamble feature is compensated for by several bonus games.

The wild symbol substitutes for all symbols except the scatter symbol. There are five different wild symbols that substitute for all symbols except the scatter symbol. Two or more Scatter symbols anywhere on the reels will result in a payout. Two symbols will pay the player double their bet per spin, while five will pay 2,500 times their bet per spin.

Once you are in Free Spins, you have a choice of three games:

Train Heist Free Spins:

The volatility of Train Heist Free Spins is the lowest of the three. In this game, a Wild Counter appears above the reels. If you land a wild symbol on the reels, the multiplier increases by one and you get an additional free spins round. The multiplier can go up to sixteen.

Old Saloon Free Spins

Medium volatility; A 2x multiplier is awarded. If you land one or more Sticky Wilds on each of the reels, you get 5 or more Free Spins.

High Noon Free Spins

The version with the highest volatility of Free Spins! This mode offers Sticky Wilds with multipliers of 2x and 3x. If you land multiple Wilds in a single spin, the total value is multiplied! Score one or more Sticky Wilds on any of the reels and you will receive another 5 Free Spins.

Bet sizes, RTP and variance

The return on investment for this game is 96.82%, which is well above the average of around 96%.

Stakes on the site we tested ranged from a minimum bet per spin of €0.09 to a maximum of €12.00 per spin. We think that the maximum bet here is relatively low compared to other slots/venues.

The volatility of this game is high, making it a perfect game for our favourite slot strategies. Especially when combined with the nice return on investment for the player.

Conclusion

Dead or Alive 2 is very popular and for good reason. What we like most about this slot is that it has high volatility, an RTP of 96.82%, and the kind of quality gameplay mechanics that you would expect from a studio that has been in this business for so long.