Invaders Takeover: Slot Overview

Hide the livestock and batten down the hatches; extraterrestrials have arrived in the online slot Invaders Takeover from game provider Light & Wonder. It’s been a while since a Light & Wonder release really got the heart rate up. The last one that springs to mind is 300 Shields Mighty Ways. Unfortunately, Invaders Takeover probably won’t shake up many players either, as it’s essentially a reskin/clone/remake of the already middling slot Wild Outlaws.

Invaders Takeover is set on a ship’s bridge, looking out through a viewport at a glowing orange planet (depending on your screen size) floating in deep space. It doesn’t look like Earth is the target this time, so that’s a small comfort. Then again, maybe they’re only stopping by before heading off to probe some earthlings. It’s left vague, so players can invent their own story. Still, the game’s fairly average visuals and audio didn’t do much to spark the imagination. Blowing up planets to determine how many free spins you get, and the UFO battle during the bonus, are reasonably entertaining, though.

Centered in the spaceship window sits a 6-reel, 4-row grid that uses 4,096 ways to win instead of fixed paylines. Along with choosing a wager of 20 c to $/€10 per spin, players can also enable the Premium Play option and the Gamble feature, both explained in the next part of the review. Built on a highly volatile math model, Invaders Takeover comes with a default RTP of 96.1%, though lower settings exist as well depending on the market.

As for symbols, the low pays are 9 through A, followed by a cow, an alien, a scientist, and the game’s logo. Hitting 6 matching low symbols returns 0.4 to 1 times the bet, while 6 of the premium symbols pay 1.5 to 10 times the bet. The wild symbol shows up on reels 2, 3, 4, and 5, and it substitutes for any standard paying symbol.

Invaders Takeover: Slot Features

Invaders Takeover mirrors the feature set from Wild Outlaws (with a few renamed), including the Alien Attack bonus, free spins, Premium Play, and the Gamble add-on.

Alien Attack Bonus

If 2 scatter symbols land (either in the base game or during free spins), there is a chance they will activate the Alien Attack bonus – it depends on the onboard computer: if it shows ‘Threat Detected’, the bonus starts; if it shows ‘No Threat Detected’, nothing happens. When it does trigger, the 2 scatters turn into wilds, and a laser gun shoots symbols, transforming them into wilds, too. During this feature, the laser is able to create wilds on the leftmost and rightmost reels. In total, 3 to 5 wilds are added, noting that the Alien Attack Bonus and free spins cannot be triggered on the same spin.

Free Spins

Hitting at least 3 scatter symbols awards free spins. Each scatter grants the player 1 of 3 planets to pick; once chosen, the planet explodes, revealing the number of free spins. After all planets have been blown up, the free spins round begins. In the feature, 4 reel positions are added above reels 2 to 5. These extra spots start out empty until they get activated. Whenever a wild lands on reels 2, 3, 4, or 5, it pays as normal, then lifts into the special position above that reel and becomes active for the next spin. Any wilds placed above the reels lock in place until free spins are over. If more than 1 wild is collected on a reel, it displays a multiplier on the wild symbol. That multiplier indicates how many wilds are locked for that reel. Wilds appear to work multiplicatively for each wild included in a winning combination. If 3 or more scatters land, extra free spins are awarded.

Premium Play

Enabling Premium Play increases the stake by 50% while keeping the RTP unchanged at 96.1%. With it active, the Space Wheel bonus is triggered in the base game when a win worth more than 1.6x the Premium Play bet occurs. The Space Wheel spins and can award: free spins, 5x, 4x, 3x, 2x, or 1x. If it lands on a multiplier, that value multiplies the win from the triggering base game spin. If it awards free spins, the game returns to the base game and the reels spin to deliver the free spins prize. The Space Wheel bonus will not be given if free spins are triggered in the base game. If the Space Wheel bonus and the Gamble feature are both awarded on the same spin, the Space Wheel runs before the Gamble. Free spins triggered from the base game or the Space Wheel bonus can activate the Gamble feature; however, free spins won via the Gamble cannot trigger the Gamble again.

Gamble

With the Gamble feature enabled, if players win 5x the bet (or 2.5x the Premium Bet), the Gamble feature activates. The Gamble screen offers two choices – free spins entry and a cash value, either of which may be won via green and red segmented wheels.

Invaders Takeover: Slot Verdict

The backdrop may have shifted from the Western setting of Wild Outlaws to the cosmic stage Invaders Takeover uses, but the overall takeaway is much the same. In other words, it left a fairly neutral impression once everything was done. Invaders Takeover has a straightforward cartoon-like appeal that some players will enjoy, but the visuals and sound design felt below par compared with many other space/sci-fi slots reviewed lately. Titles like Money Train 4, 6 In the Chamber, and Cygnus 4 are three recent examples that make Invaders Takeover seem a little behind the times.

The feature set also leaned toward the lower-excitement end. It’s not that the mechanics can’t deliver – the game can reach up to 14,596x the bet, which is undeniably strong – but the way it gets there isn’t especially lively. Optional gambles are a plus for anyone who likes using them, while the Alien Attack bonus is essentially a straightforward “add wilds” mechanic (assuming a threat is detected), and free spins focus on building stacked wilds with multipliers. That’s not a bad formula, really, but Invaders Takeover likely would have landed better with a more substantial presentation.

So the attempted alien takeover wraps up, led by a species supposedly more advanced than ours. The same can’t quite be said for Invaders Takeover itself, which comes across like a throwback to an older era – like watching a film made before CGI, where you can spot the strings holding the miniature spaceships in the air.