Downtown Introduction
Downtown, one of the great free pokies from 1x2 Gaming available at Online Pokies 4U, is a pokie with a difference. It has a dark, almost film noir theme and if you liked the Sin City films or comic books, you will love this! There is also a mobile version available, meaning that you can escape into the underworld of Downtown whenever you want.
The scene opens with a night-time cityscape, where lightning flashes in the sky and the whole town broods menacingly. This cityscape forms the backdrop when you play the main game and delivers a really intense atmosphere right from the start. The moody background music, complete with rain and wailing police sirens, adds to the tension and drama.
The cast
The design of this game is dramatic and very stark - simple black and white images are interspersed with splashes of red. The payline numbers are picked out in red and black, and the red, neon light-style text at the top fits perfectly with the game’s depiction of a seedy, dangerous night-time city. The game is a five-reel, 25-line pokie and the rules are straightforward.
Choose the amount you want to wager and the number of lines you want to play, and you are off! The lowest paying symbols are the playing card symbols - Nine, Ten, Jack, Queen, King and Ace. This is traditional for pokies; however, Downtown’s designers have added a clever visual effect: the symbols are shown against the backdrop of a bullet-riddled target, hinting at the violence of the city’s underworld.
You need three or more of these symbols on a payline to win the prizes on offer here. The higher paying symbols are all characters from Downtown’s criminal crews. There is a gunman, a screaming woman, a hulking thug and a lady of the night, all drawn in a bold black and white style. If just two of these characters show up on a payline, the game pays out; if five show up, the haul starts to look pretty good.
Five thugs will net you 100 x your initial wager, while five screaming women will net you 300 x you bet amount. If you get a whole gang of five threatening gunmen, you will earn 500 x your wager. It is the lady of the night that you should really look out for, however. If this queen of Downtown appears on five reels, you will net a sweet 750 x your initial bet. Beautiful.
The extras
Downtown has a couple of cool bonus features to offer players in addition to the main game. If the Police Line - Do Not Cross symbol shows up on your payline, it is wild - it can substitute for any of the other symbols, making winning that much more likely. If a mysterious man wearing shades appears on a payline three or more times, then you are into the Free Spin Round.
Then there is the blood-spattered cell, which acts like a traditional scatter symbol. If three or more show up anywhere on the screen, you get to play the Shooting Challenge bonus round - if you dare!
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