Theme & Design

I really enjoyed the atmosphere invoked in Ocean Hunter, which has a distinct Jaws-y feel to it. Well, it could be one of many shark horror movies to be honest. The reel set sits against the backdrop of deep ocean, with the surface and sunlight just visible above, air bubbles floating up. At any time, sharks can appear suddenly for Wild Frenzy features but most of the time there is just a tense atmosphere brought on by the classic creepy soundtrack with ominous undertones of impending danger. The graphics are not sensational but the animations are spot on, particularly as the water turns red and the sharks attack in the Frenzy feature, or when the shark cages appear for the bonus round.

RTP and Variance

Ocean Hunter has a theoretical RTP (Return to Player) of 95.99% which is close to average for an online slot – most come in at about 96%. So we can live with that.

This is a medium variance slot which means it has a fairly balanced win distribution. It certainly felt that way in testing with steady, regular wins though small, as we shall see. Ocean Hunter certainly has none of the unpredictablitiy of the best high variance slots.

Maximum Win

The maximum win for Ocean Hunter is just 1,538x, which is very low. Most games now are boasting 5,000x or more top wins, though this figure is typically lower for low to medium variance games. Still, we would expect more from a game that is graphically baring its teeth like Ocean Hunter does.

If those numbers don’t appeal then you could try one of the games from our list of the highest max payout slots which includes Push Gaming’s shark-fest, Razor Returns, which has a much, much more enticing top payout of 100,000x!

Symbols and Paytable

In the base game Ocean Hunter is a simple 5 reel slot with 3 rows and 20 fixed paylines active on each spin. Wins are triggered in the standard way by landing 3 or more identical symbols across any payline from left to right.

Like most slots, the free spins round offers an enhanced set up where bigger wins can be triggered. Ocean Hunter does this by bringing 3 additional reel sets into the picture for more paylines.

As far as the paytable goes, there is some nice potential at the top end of the premiums which are worth chasing down. These come in the form of two lots of sunken treasure, a female diver, a male diver, and the fearsome shark itself. The predator will get you a super 50x for five on a payline. Low payers meanwhile are the standard 10 through to Ace drawn in a blocky-font on a dark background. Prizes are small in value up to 4x for five Aces on a payline.

And despite their ferocious look, the Sharks with gaping jaws – representing the Wild – are actually good news when they land. These will sub for all other symbols to form win lines and can come with multipliers in the Wild Frenzy feature.

And lastly, the Radar Bonus symbols are key to unlocking the free spins round – you’ll need 3 or more to do so.

Features and Gameplay

Despite its low-key numbers, Ocean Hunter actually revealed some surprisingly neat features which I enjoyed in testing, including a free spins round which wouldn’t look out of place in a more volatile game.

Frenzied Shark Attacks Bring Up Multiplier Wilds

So, let’s get this straight from the start …

In Ocean Hunter you actually WANT the shark to attack! Yes, the frenzied shark attacks are what bring wilds into the game to increase your chances of winning in the base game.

It’s called Wild Frenzy and it happens at random.  It looks superb as you can see in this screen shot.

Here’s what happens.

You’ll notice the water turn red as the Wild Frenzy is announced and the reels empty. Now, a random number of sharks swim towards you from the depths. When they reach the reels they also hit the screen with a cracking sound. That position on the reels becomes Wild and the shark may keep taking bites, increasing the wild multiplier by 1x each time, up to a maximum of 5x. Meanwhile, the reels start spinning again with the new wilds in play to see if you land any wins.

And by the way, you can also increase the chances of triggering a feeding wild frenzy with the Extra Bait Bet – that means baiting the hook by adding 50% on top of your standard stake.

Play Free Spins With Four Reel Sets and Wild Reels

If you want to get close to that 1,538x top payout your best route is to unlock the free spins round by landing 3 or more Radars on reels 1, 3 and 5. This refreshes the screen with FOUR reel sets, 3 or which are locked.

As the round progresses, you must collect Oxygen Tank symbols to unlock each of the other three reels. First 10 Tanks open up reel 2, then 20 open up reel 3, then 30 Tanks open up reel 4. At this point you have 80 active paylines on each free spin and your chances of hitting wins are significantly increased.

And iSoftBet have thrown in another treat to help you … each time you unlock another reel set, another reel ON EVERY one turns fully Wild, starting from the left-most reels. So should you get this far, then by the time you have ALL four reel sets active, reels 3, 4 and 5 on EVERY one are Wild!!

The Final Verdict

I really enjoyed Ocean Hunter. The sounds and visuals do a great job of building tension and evoking danger, whilst the gameplay is compelling too. The Wild Frenzys are nicely executed and proved themselves to have the potential to trigger some good wins when the multipliers build up. The paytable itself is also promising with 50x payouts at the top of the premiums. There is plenty of drama to be had in the free spins round as well and the progressive element that comes with collecting Oxygen Tanks and unlocking further reel sets for more paylines is nicely executed.

I do have one reservation though. In today’s slots market it is a little surprising that iSoftBet chose to build this as a medium variance game with such a low top win. Those features would be superb in a dramatic high variance context, and if you like more volatility then you are going to be sorely disappointed here. If that is you, we recommend Mega Don by Play n Go, or Razor Shark by Push Gaming, both of which are much more volatile and come with 10,000x and 50,000x top wins respectively.

Happy Hunting!