Review of "Tomb Raider 2", March 2008

Zoozie

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PABnonaccred
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Dec 1, 2005
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Intro:​
I did stop my monthly MG slot reviews, but for this Tomb Raider 2 release I will make an exception.
The slot is called "Tomb Raider - secret of the sword", but it is easier to just call it "Tomb Raider 2". The other two games in this monthly release are just around average and I will not make specific reviews for them. "Rainbows' End" reminds of a Crypto slots named something like "Luck of the Irish" at first look. And the other slot "Gypsy Queen" has the same exact same theme as the Rival slot "Future Fortune". We have seen other software providers making blatant MG rip-offs many times, but I guess it goes the other way around too...

My monthly post/blog has not been monthly so far since this is my first in 2 months. I have simply been very busy focusing on my other interests. I do have a lot to talk about, but some of the stuff is also a bit old ("Elvis" and "Fortune Falls" released etc.) that it seems obsolete now. But still there are
lots of new stuff to talk about and hope I can get started soon.



Reviews:​

Tomb Raider 2
30 lines
Low variance

Those lucky enough to attend the ICE in London already got a good look at this slot, but for me it was a nice surprise as I had no information about the slot in advance. I knew of course that it was a big release, but I have been disappointed before so I could control my excitement. But "Tomb Raider 2" is indeed a blockbuster just like "Hitman" was, and it will also be a popular slot for the next year at least. By biggest concern is that "Tomb Raider 2" is too hard to find for the average gambler, since it is hidden between close to 100 average or worse video-slots. Many of the MG slots are clones or has small changes in paytable and exactly the same features/mechanics.

The intro movie does an excellent job of presenting the slot which is exactly the purpose of the intro. It is not the typical abstract movie over the theme of the slot only sharing the theme and maybe symbol characters of the slot. During the 1 minute of the intro you see the reels and all of the bonus feature besides Lara Croft of course. It is all presented in a fast paced action and the music goes perfectly with the scenes.

The graphics of the slot are almost as finished as "Hitman", the reason I liked "Hitman" better was because this slot did not have the standard 9TJQKA symbols which ruins the theme. But I know this is a personal preference and some people like an easy way to tell the high-pay and low-pay symbols apart. It is easy to tell the symbols apart and the wild- and scatter-symbol does stand out making them easier to recognize also. The wild and scatter are the only animated symbols, but this is perfectly acceptable for me. Lara is a hottie in all the Lara symbols which makes it more playable also. The wild symbol (Lara again) is exactly what a wild symbol should be. It outshines the other symbols and fits into the theme.

And now to the mechanics which is really huge here. There are several new mechanics and it was about time the MG labs finally shows some innovation instead of just drawing new symbols-graphics and releasing another 'template' slot.

The wild symbol ocours on all reels which is should, since hitting the 5 wilds on a slot is the ultimate chase. 5 wilds only pays 7500 which I think
is a little low, but the wilds are plenty compared to other slots and in one of the feature games there are held wilds. Increasing 5 wild payout changes normally very very little with the slots overall payout% and in those cases I believe 20K should be minimum. But since the wilds are plenty and mostly because of the held feature, I will accept the low wild payout this time. The wild does not multiply wins.

Features:

Freespins with increasing multiplier and collapsing win-lines:

You are awarded 10 freespins with an initial *1 multiplier.Whenever you hit a winning combination, the winning symbols will collapse. (Tetris/Cubis style). The new symbols(bricks) will come from the above and fall down. This will increase the multiplier by 1. (max multiplier is *5) and if the new combinations of symbols has a win-linie. This will continue without using any of the freespins. The process of getting new bricks is not much different from getting another spin. So basically the feature ends when you have had 10 spin total without any wins and after each non-win, the multiplier will reset to *1. This mechanic is truly innovative and very entertaining - overall a magnificent addition to videoslots. It is interesting that you can also match scatter symbols this way if a scatter falls down and you have one already.
But the feature can not be retriggered this way. This feature seems to be one of the easier 3-scatter features to hit compared to other slots. But the
average winnings from the feature is probably also only around 20*bet-size.

WARNING! I believe you have to play the full 30-lines on this slot for maximum payout%. In 99.5% of all online video slots it does not matter how many paylines you play in terms of payout%. Personally often only play 9 lines max at most slots to increase variance and generally higher wins on the cost of missing a lot of small wins. But in this "collapsing symbols feature" the more lines you play will increase the chance of a collapse besides the paylines already does pay. Payout% increases for every more line you play. So it is best to play all 30 lines. Correct me if I you disagree with me!

Supermode - held wilds:
This is random triggered (rapid fire) and I estimate trigger probability to be a little higher than 1/200, so it is not that rare. This awards 5 freespins with *1 multiplier. After each spin there is a chance one of the 3*5=15 symbols squares will become a permanent wild during the rest of the feature. This will happen exact 3 times during the 5 spins. So if you are very lucky it will
be for each of the 3 first spins. It sounds better than it is and the wilds rarely 'line-up' in a useful way among the first 3 reels. Still it is a interesting feature. Again the average winning from this feature is around 20*bet-size. So this rapid fire feature is not like hitting a rapid fire jackpot in any way. But it provides a much more likely situation to hit 4 or 5 wilds and it is yet another new unique feature. The idea of 'held wilds' is a really good idea and could be used in other forms as well for future slots.

Global Adventure feature (accumulate triggered):
This is a very unusual feature since this spans over multiple spins. In short you accumulate 'goals' that finally will trigger the feature. So this is a slot with a 'history' thus breaking the standard principle that each paid spin is independant in terms of payout%. Rival software also has the I-Story slots which whole purpose was building up a history during the spins. They were never a success and I understand why, but it was still a good attempt to do something new! The problem with slots with a 'memory' is that they 'force' you mentally to play until you have released the feature since it will be stupid to leave the slot and never play it again if you are close to the feature. Of course it is stored in the database how much progress you have made towards the feature, (unlike Boss Media...) so you can finish it later. But I like
to leave the slot fully behind when I leave the session. So I am pleased it is
a rarity among slots. But now I have the choice to play one and for the diversity of video-slots this is a good thing. And I know another software
provider is also releasing a video-slot with an accumulate triggered featured soon, so you better get used to this mechanic. It is one of the reasons I never touch Boss Media video slots - they all have accumulate triggered features besides they also are primitive compared to other software providers. Anyway back to this feature!

To trigger this feature you have to unlock each reel. Each reel is unlocked when a very rare special non-paying symbol hits the middle-line. This symbol
is a passport btw. I estimate it takes in average 300-500 spins to release this feature. The feature itself is just an advanced 'picking feature'
with a twist. In short you have to find 5 pieces of a sword. Every piece found awards cash (increasingly better awards) but you can also find
some low pay (few times bet-size) wins. The important idea is not get caught ie. making a unlucky pick. If you make too many of these the feature
will end unless you can survive a heads-up shootout with a baddie. I think you have 50% chance to win. So you can get a second chance. An another
interesting twist is that you can make a pick that 2*multiplier that multiply the feature winnings by *2. So this is a very good pick. Also if you find all 5 pieces of the sword there is a substantial completion bonus. Just as the *2 multiplier you can also pick another special symbol (Hidden Treasure).
This will spawn a subgame within the feature that is a simple picking game (pick once!), but where the price is revealed slowly similar to the boring
TV game-show "Deal or No Deal".

I have included a screenshot where I complete this feature, but without the *2 multiplier. As you can see was my total winnings 102*bet-size. But in the about 80% of feature you do not complete(guess) you will will less of course. I have won only *10 bet-size in this feature.

Overall it is should be obvious that I am fond of this slot. It is a very advanced slot because of the complexity of the 3 different features with
new mechanics that the players are not used to yet. It will be interesting to see how popular "Tomb Raider 2" will be, but I am sure it will be
a success. I have only been wrong once ("Doctor Doctor") and I also changed my own mind after some weeks. The balace of this slot was simply wrong.
It was extremely hard to hit the feature which also in 95% of the cases was over almost before it started. For "Tomb Raider 2" it is almost the
other way around. The features are plenty and for that reason they rarely pays something remarkable. And this is my only personal problem for this slot and this is only a minor problem because of all the good stuff. I do prefer high variance slot and this is a low variance slot, especially as you are playing it at all 30 lines.

I am curious about the details for the accumulate triggered feature. If you just play 1 line you can lock the reels. When you have locked 4 reels you can increase bet-size and hit the feature (I have tried). I am sure MG did consider this but how do they then calculate the winnings on the feature which normally only depend on bet-size. Maybe the 'average bet-size' during the whole accumulation or the average bet over the 5 bets that locked the reels? Playing only 1 line does decrease payout% because of the collapsing feature. (but if you only are playing 0.01$ the higher house-edge will not cost much total). Anyway good luck to all you exploiters out there, but I do think MG have figured something out.




Earlier reviews:
January 2008:https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-games-january-2008.22055/
December 2007:https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/new-mg-slots-has-arrived.22731/
November 2007:https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-games-november-2007.21436/
October 2007:https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-slots-october-2007.20919/
September 2007:https://www.casinomeister.com/forum...-mg-games-september-2007-the-osbournes.20220/
August 2007:https://www.casinomeister.com/forum...new-mg-games-august-2007-doctor-doctor.19625/
April 2007:https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-games-april-2007.17549/
March 2007:https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-games-hitman-march-2007.17215/
February 2007: https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-games-february-2007.16857/
January 2007: https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-games-january-2007.16370/
December 2006: https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-games-december.15581/
November 2006: https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-games-november-mega-moolah.15319/
October 2006: https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-slots-october.14887/
September 2006: https://www.casinomeister.com/forum...-new-just-one-mg-5-reel-slot-september.14271/
August 2006: https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-games-august.13925/
Juli 2006: https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-slot-games-july.13554/
June 2006: https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/review-of-the-new-mg-games-june.13084/[/QUOTE]
 
Excellent, as ever Zooze; I was waiting for you to come along :)

Good to see the feature memory 'holds' of you leave the game, I was wondering about that.

Deeply enjoyable slot up to now - even if I've somehow missed the 'random' free spins feature!! Does give away the regular free spins remarkably often though, which is nice.
 
I am sure MG did consider this but how do they then calculate the winnings on the feature which normally only depend on bet-size. Maybe the 'average bet-size' during the whole accumulation or the average bet over the 5 bets that locked the reels?

Given RNG is 100% non-flawed, I am truly amazed that your are not puzzled more over your own observation...
 
Given RNG is 100% non-flawed, I am truly amazed that your are not puzzled more over your own observation...

I am puzzled. Because in the start it will be easier to lock the reels when they all are available. To have payout% constant you can apply
a weight AND the triggering bet to each lock, but this is a little complicated, so I am wondering what they do.
 
I tried this slot until I hit the bonus game feature. I hit two traps in the first location and I didn't get a chance to fight the baddie (Amanda) so that seems to trigger randomly too.

Help file says that the bonus wins are calculated as a weighted average bet between the times when the first reel is activated until the last reel is activated. They don't say what "weighted" means in this case but it has probably something to do with the betting issue you brought up Zoozie. Maybe it is a good idea to bet only minimum until you activate the first reel though?
 
I am puzzled. Because in the start it will be easier to lock the reels when they all are available. To have payout% constant you can apply
a weight AND the triggering bet to each lock, but this is a little complicated, so I am wondering what they do.
The help screen implies that you can win up to 450x your "average weighted bet", starting from the bet that activated the first reel.

Say it takes 400 spins to active 4 of the 5 reels, and then you up your bet, and on the 100th spin after you activate the 5th reel:

Spins 1 through 400 = 0.30 per spin
Spins 401 through 500 = 6.00 per spin

Your average weighted bet is [(400*0.30)+(100*6.00)]/500 = $1.44, meaning the maximum feature win would be $648.

What I'm curious about is the other game (Gypsy something). It clearly says in the help screen that you can win up to 60 000 coins (300x) from the free spins or 30 000 coins (150x) from the other bonus. This begs the question: since there is an upper limit on free spins, are they predetermined or are they capped ( la RTG)? It has to be one or the other...
 
That calculation sounds spot on, however it only goes to show that MG DO weighted calculations on, in this case, the bonus game. This would - since we now have proof they have it already installed in new games aswell - mean they might aswell do the same for all the picking games. It even shows that MG gives you payout calculated on previous wager...

I would not be surprised at all - as we all know I am a huge skeptic on theese online gaming activites, :D
 
It even shows that MG gives you payout calculated on previous wager...

I would not be surprised at all - as we all know I am a huge skeptic on theese online gaming activites, :D

This is the only way to do it. And the RNG is still totally independant between spins, so I can not see why you have a problem with this. It is exactly the same
as a higher line bet will result in a higher wins.
 
Great critique guys - Zoozie, another fine job.

I'll have to say that one functionality that I really like is that the game saves your collection of Global Adventure Reels. (you need to collect five to move on the the GA bonus round). After quite a while last night, I collected five and moved on to the GA bonus - very cool. When I was back in normal mode, I collected a couple of more before calling it quits. Logged out of the game and shut down the casino. When I came back in, the "saved" reels were stil there. How nice. :thumbsup:
 
The help screen implies that you can win up to 450x your "average weighted bet", starting from the bet that activated the first reel.

Say it takes 400 spins to active 4 of the 5 reels, and then you up your bet, and on the 100th spin after you activate the 5th reel:

Spins 1 through 400 = 0.30 per spin
Spins 401 through 500 = 6.00 per spin

Your average weighted bet is [(400*0.30)+(100*6.00)]/500 = $1.44, meaning the maximum feature win would be $648.

The result you calculated is your average bet, not necessarily "weighted average bet". The way I understood this is that "weighting" can mean something else than just the number of spins with each bet size.
 
The result you calculated is your average bet, not necessarily "weighted average bet". The way I understood this is that "weighting" can mean something else than just the number of spins with each bet size.
I think the example I gave does produce a weighted average (each bet size was weighted according to the frequency with which it was used). How would you have calculated it differently?

The other possibility I thought of is that they might only look at the 5 bets which activated reels (or it could be fewer than 5 if more than one reel was activated on a single spin), but it seems more likely to me that they would include all of the bets in between.
 
The other possibility I thought of is that they might only look at the 5 bets which activated reels (or it could be fewer than 5 if more than one reel was activated on a single spin), but it seems more likely to me that they would include all of the bets in between.

Well, I agree that all spins should be taken into account if MG can promise their customers (read: casino) a 95% payout (read: a minimum 5% profit). What I am wondering however, is it OK to use past wagers to determine the win in a random environment? My point is, isn't the prize supposed to be a random win based on luck? If you loose $500 before I enter the game, I should in theory have a bigger chance of winning since the odds are abit more in my favour. In my eyes this games only prooves that the game engine do take into account previous wagers, and why not look at the loss and win aswell to skew the possible outcome. Only time will show.

This math obviously shows that my winnings are determined on my overall performance on the slot. Or maby I have it wrong, the reels are random however picking games are an easy way for the vendor to balance the payout it seems?

I'm having some problems expressing myself on this, but hopefully you get my drift.
 
It's quite common for B&M slots to remain random, whilst taking into account 'total wagers' for features that 'accumulate'.

The only difference online is that you can leave the slot and come back again later to pick up where you left off (Without putting a coat on your chair or a dollar in the slot or something!)

I'm off to 32RED shortly (cheers Pat!) to give Lara a proper good seeing to, so I'll post something in more detail later :D
 
I'm really looking forward to trying this!
(Not had a chance yet due to being rather distracted by a certain young lady :baby:)

Just wanted to comment on the features, so excellently described by Zoozie:
Supermode - held wilds:
This is random triggered (rapid fire) and I estimate trigger probability to be a little higher than 1/200, so it is not that rare. This awards 5 freespins with *1 multiplier. After each spin there is a chance one of the 3*5=15 symbols squares will become a permanent wild during the rest of the feature. This will happen exact 3 times during the 5 spins.
This is not totally new as Grand Virtual's 'Game Show' has something very similar; 7 free-spins with wilds held for 3 spins.
This certainly is an exciting feature which greatly increases the chances of good wins. :thumbsup:


Global Adventure feature (accumulate triggered):
This is a very unusual feature since this spans over multiple spins. In short you accumulate 'goals' that finally will trigger the feature. So this is a slot with a 'history' thus breaking the standard principle that each paid spin is independant in terms of payout%. Rival software also has the I-Story slots which whole purpose was building up a history during the spins. They were never a success and I understand why, but it was still a good attempt to do something new! The problem with slots with a 'memory' is that they 'force' you mentally to play until you have released the feature since it will be stupid to leave the slot and never play it again if you are close to the feature. Of course it is stored in the database how much progress you have made towards the feature, (unlike Boss Media...) so you can finish it later.
Totally agree with that! Rival's i-slots are an excellent concept but the designers totally missed the target with the 'accumulating bonus' idea - getting to the end of 'Reel Crime' should have been an exciting, potentially huge pay-day, but instead it's a damp squib. If fact, it's an insult to damp squibs! :mad:
I'm not even going to get started with Boss Morons.
The only other software with accumulative bonus which springs to mind is WagerWorks; they have 'Vacation USA', 'Wheel of Fortune' and the excellent 'Monopoly Here & Now' which all 'memorise' your increasing bonus so you can interrupt your play.

Anyway, it sounds great that MG have finally incorporated these features into one of their slots, and I hope to be trying it myself very soon!

KK
 
(read: a minimum 5% profit). What I am wondering however, is it OK to use past wagers to determine the win in a random environment?

This is not really the case. Whatever happens in the Global feature does not
depend on the previous spins. The winnings are accumulated and THEN multiplied by a weight factor depending on 'average' wagers. It is only this final weight factor that comes from previous spins.

Example: 'half' the time you bet 1$ and half the time you bet 2$. When you hit the feature the winnings are caculate as winnings*(average bet-size) which is this case is 1.5$.

How to calculate 'average wager' is not that obvious to me though.
 
I think the example I gave does produce a weighted average (each bet size was weighted according to the frequency with which it was used). How would you have calculated it differently?

Yes this is the most likely way of calculating the average bet. I was just pointing out that we don't exactly know what they mean by "weighting". Since you can bet 0.01$ per spin until you activate 4 reels and then switch to maximum bet, I was thinking the weighting might favor early spins more.

Actually it happened to me that no reels were activated and I was betting 0.01$ until I activate the first reel (these bets don't count for the bonus round). It happened that 4 reels were activated in a single spin so I switched to much larger bet until I got the last reel. So can I assume that the bonus round was calculated from these larger bets only? I hit two traps immediately so I didn't see how big the bonus wins would have been.
 
Actually I think that the majority of the feature win would be based on your larger bets, especially if it takes quite a few bets at the larger size before you get the feature. I actually haven't played the bonus round yet. I did a lot of spins but only activated 2 reels so I gave up.

I believe the help screen said that the spin which activated the first reel is the first spin counted in the average/weighting calculation, so any spins before that don't count towards this particular bonus round.
 
Since you can bet 0.01$ per spin until you activate 4 reels and then switch to maximum bet, I was thinking the weighting might favor early spins more.

Spot on. Excactly what I have been pondering about. Here is my exploit for this. ( I think. I have not analyzed it yet)

You bet 0.01$ until you have unlocked 4 reels. If this happens very fast
(within 50 spins etc.) you change to maximum bet. If it takes a long time
to unlock 4 reels, then you just continue at 0.01$ and hit the feature so you can start over again.

So instead I believe bet size are only registered for calculation on the spins that actually unlock the reels and then use a weighting of these spins due to how hard it was to unlock a reel at that time (ie. how many available).
 
It's live at 32 RED, and bizarrely only took about (literally) 5 seconds to download... :confused:

Did you by any chance install it somewhere else first?

I am sensing that MG might have implemented the "centralised download" thing that we have been screaming for. It took me about 5 mins at one, then only 5 seconds at the other MG. And did you also notice the casino lobby update - that doesn't normally happen with games releases and is indicative of a more fundamental change somewhere. I was wrong once before (back in '83 when I said politics would be forced to stop taking bribes to pass Bills before the Millenium) but this time I think I'm right ;)
 
Well I've played it quite a bit now, and this is my (early) conclusion:-

Concept; 10/10
Graphics; 10/10
Sounds; 10/10
Bonus features - entertainment; 10/10
Bonus features - win potential; 2/10

Summary:
To get first 'Global Bonus' took 335 spins, I was 104 credits down when it hit but it only returned 16 credits despite finding 1 piece of sword & beating up Amanda twice... :mad:
The second one only took 85 spins! Found 2 pieces, but when I picked 2 traps in location 3 I did not get to fight Amanda at all... :what:
Was 24 down when it hit, and won 35.
The picking seems totally rigged. Either that or I was incredibly unlucky to keep finding the Traps so often.

In my total of 430 spins I only got the free-spin once (on just my 2nd spin!) which paid bet x 15.7
I got Super Mode twice; the second time it came immediately at the end of my first Global Bonus as if it was all one feature! But this didn't happen on the second Global Bonus, so it must have been coincidence.
Super Mode 1 paid 12.4 x bet, and 2 paid 5.4

My hugely disappointed reaction; Either I was really unlucky... or this is a really shit slot.
For me it looks & sounds fantastic, but the returns I got were crap (77% overall).
One for 'fun mode' only?
:(
 
Bonus features - win potential; 2/10

Based on my experiences I agree with your post completely KasinoKing. So far I have played enough to get the bonus game three times (it took about 200 spins in each case). Two times out of those three I hit two traps in the first location and the bonus game ended with zero wins. It seems you won't get the fight scene if you lose on the first location which is quite harsh because you don't win ANYTHING from the whole bonus round. On the 3rd attempt I managed to get all sword pieces and finish the bonus game but it only covered 50% of the losses I made that session.

So basically, you lose slowly until you get the bonus game. Then if you are unlucky you don't get anything from the bonus game. If you are lucky you get some of your losses back but most likely not enough to be ahead.

This is like a game where you put 1$ and automatically get back 0.95$. You put another 1$ and get 0.95$ back every time. Yes the payout is good (95%) but you have zero chance of winning.
 
This game licks balls.....yes the graphics and concepts are good but I may as well go to my B&M and fight the geriatric crowd for penny slots, the ROI sucks donkey knob.
 
Did you by any chance install it somewhere else first?

I am sensing that MG might have implemented the "centralised download" thing that we have been screaming for. It took me about 5 mins at one, then only 5 seconds at the other MG. And did you also notice the casino lobby update - that doesn't normally happen with games releases and is indicative of a more fundamental change somewhere. I was wrong once before (back in '83 when I said politics would be forced to stop taking bribes to pass Bills before the Millenium) but this time I think I'm right ;)


I am surprised that this has only just been noticed :eek2: The centralised download for new Mg games has been in operation for months. Once new games are installed in a 1 casino, the template is merely copied onto another casino when first run. :thumbsup:
 

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