Russian Attack 3 Lines Slots
Pretty much the antithesis of Octopus Gaming’s Red White Blue series, what the group’s Russian Attack 3 Line slot lacks in patriotic American fervour it more than makes up for in Soviet firepower.
A classic slot with a 3 reel, 3 payline system, Russian Attack 3 Line does away with any notions of fancy animations or innovative bonus rounds in favour of a straightforward playing experience, with payouts awarded for matching any three symbols in a line or one balalaika anywhere on the board.
Although lacking in any real features, as classic slots go Russian Attack 3 Line is fairly good-looking, with a bold mix of communist colours and iconography combining with the Moscow skyline and a platinum blond secret agent to give the game a very timely – if a little clichéd – visual appearance.
Russian Revolutions
As with all classic slots, the game mechanics that underpin Russian Attack 3 Line are incredibly simple and allow players to get to grips with the slot in a matter of seconds. In total, there are three adjustable buttons that control auto-spins, the number of active payines and the coin size at risk.
While technically the game can be played with less than the maximum 3 paylines enabled, it would be folly for players to do so as the biggest prize award of 6,000x your line bet can only be won on the third payline. Bets, meanwhile, can be anywhere between $0.01 and $5 per line, meaning the game is playable from as little as $0.03 with all paylines enabled while still awarding a juicy $180 top prize.
Aside from this admittedly very rare jackpot, players can double their stake per line whenever a balalaika – a traditional Russian stringed instrument – appears anywhere on an active payline, while a combination of any three BAR symbols (single, double or triple) awards 5x your stake per line.
Call To Arms
As touched upon earlier, the theme of Russian Attack 3 Line is a striking one and draws on all manner of Cold War clichés to give the game its unique appearance. First and foremost, the colour scheme is predominantly red and black – two colours heavily linked with communist propaganda – and a beautiful blond agent is in the background wearing a ushanka hat adorned with a red star.
The symbols on the reels themselves are similarly zeitgeist for the period the slot is alluding to, with the aforementioned balalaika and BAR symbols joined by an accordion and the infamous hammer and sickle insignia, which also double as a wild symbol that can be substituted for all other icons.
Somewhat disappointingly – particularly given the musical instruments present on the reels – Russian Attack 3 Line doesn’t carry its graphical theme into the game’s audio, which, despite their being a wealth of appropriate material they could have used, resorts to classic slot machine effects.
Join Us, Comrade
While not boasting any features in particular, the golden hammer and sickle insignia does have a significant bearing on the payouts in the game given it can be used to complete winning combinations on any of the three paylines; even doubling as a balalaika if no other wins are present.
The symbol is also Russian Attack 3 Lines highest-value icon and awards a maximum jackpot of 6,000x your line bet if you match up three on the third payline. This drops to 2,000x for the second payline and 1,000x for the first payline, meaning playing with all three enabled is an absolute must.
Although this may sound good on paper, however, the reality is even a single hammer and sickle symbol doesn’t come around that often – rendering its wild properties fairly insignificant – and even when it does, more often than not you’ll only win the 2x minimum payout. Furthermore, if one wild is difficult to find, lining up three in a row is almost impossible, making the jackpot a bit inaccessible.
Red Or Dead?
Although a lot easier on the eye than the Red White Blue series, Russian Attack 3 Line suffers from the same issue that blighted its America-themed cousin. The wild symbol simply doesn’t come around often enough to be much of the factor in the game, and the tiered jackpot system means the adjustable paylines in the game are little more than an illusion if you want to win the big bucks.
