Jack Hammer 4, Chasing the Dragon – Overview
Back in 2010 NetEnt released a 50’s gangster themed game called Jack Hammer. Back then the game made quite an impact and was a popular title. After that it already received two follow-ups. And now after 15 years, a fourth installment in the series called Jack Hammer 4, Chasing the Dragon.
Most of the theme remains the same. The same cartoonish style gangster theme with Jack Hammer being the detective. But now set in Asia. It’s a fun look and very recognizable.
The game uses 6 reels that are each 6 symbols high and uses a cluster pays mechanism. Six or more of the same symbols, that are vertically and/or horizontally connected, count as a winning combination.
Low paying symbols are what seem, Chinese letters. High paying symbols are other Asian themed symbols and also the characters. Wild symbols only appear in the four special corners, more on that below. There are scatter symbols on all reels, needed to trigger free spins.
Jack Hammer 4 comes with a nice maximum payout of 10.000 times your bet and is a high volatile slot game.
Features
Sticky Win
The Sticky Win feature is active during both the base game and free spins.
It will trigger when landing a winning combination, or at least 3 scatter symbols. You will receive free re-spins where all winning symbols and/or scatter symbols will stay on the reels. If your win improves during the re-spin, you will get another re-spin. Until the win is no longer improved.
Wild Feature
Each of the four corners will have either a special wild or question mark symbol. When a corner is part of a winning combination, it will activate:
- Multiplier Wild – comes with a multiplier of between x2 and x10
- Upgrader Wild – upgrades all symbols from the connected winning cluster into a symbol with a higher value
- Cash Prize Wild – will randomly award a cash prize of between 0,5 and 2,5 times bet
- Expander Wild – will add up to 4 extra symbols to the connected cluster
- Question Symbol – will award either a Multiplier Wild with a value of x30 or x50, an Upgrader Wild, a Super Upgrader Wild which transforms all symbols in the the winning cluster to the highest paying symbol (Jack Hammer), a Super Cash Wild awarding an instant win of 10 or 25 times bet or a Super Expander Wild which adds up to 16 symbols to the connected cluster
Free Spins Feature
5 scatter symbols will award the free spins feature.
You are awarded with 3 free spins where only multiplier symbols and blank spots appear. Each time a new multiplier symbol appears, the free spins are reset back to 3.
The four corners now have different special symbols, which when a multiplier symbol connects to it, will be triggered.
- Unlock – can be activated two times in total. The first time an added top row is added and the second time a bottom row is added, creating more spots on the reels
- Generate – adds 3 multiplier symbols to random spots
- Double – will double all values of multiplier that are connected to the corner
- Collect – all multiplier symbols on the reels are collected and then removed
Bonus Buy
There are several bonus buy options available, including buying the free spins feature instantly for 100 times your bet.
Verdict
I think it’s nice that NetEnt continues on with this Jack Hammer series of slots. To me the title really represents the heydays of NetEnt. And sometimes I miss those days.
It uses all the familiar popular mechanisms players love about these slots. And adds the very popular Hold & Re-spin feature we see a lot these days. With a added bonus with this corner bonuses.
It’s not the most innovating slot game, but it does a nice job to keep the series going. And also comes with a pretty nice maximum win of 10.000 times bet. The last one, Jack Hammer 3, only went up to 1.332 times bet, which was a shame.
Overall Jack Hammer 4, Chasing the Dragon, is a solid title with some fun gameplay and definitely worth a try.
How do you feel about this new release? And what are some fun stories about”the olden days” of NetEnt. Let me know in the comments below.
You can find Jack Hammer 4 at any listed casino.
