A few years back, I had a task to read “Phantom of the Opera” by Gaston Leroux, and was quite captivated by the story. I watched a couple of film versions of the book, but nothing seemed good enough to do justice to this literary piece of art. Then I recently dropped by to a RTG casino, intending to try out a new slot, and I ran into something called “Haunted Opera.” To be quite frank, I was very skeptical about it when I saw its name, thinking that it may be just another bad attempt at copying the Phantom theme. And yet again, I was in for a pleasant surprise.

In order to capture the real spirit of the actual story, the creators of this 5-reel, 20-payline slot made all the right moves in all the right places – from classic music sounds to make you feel like you’re in an opera house, to brilliant graphics which involve all the expected characters and exceptionally decorated poker symbols, as well as beautiful opera stage background. It’s not just this, there are also special symbols, such as wild symbol, multiplier, scatter and free spins, which are there to help you win against the set odds.

As some of the features are not easy to win, you may want to try your luck with lower bets first. The minimum one on all 20 lines is $0.20, or $0.01 per line, which is quite a reasonable amount of money. However, if you’d rather play it big time, to spin the reels on higher bets can cost you up to $100.

Wild Symbol:

A white mask in a veil of smoke signifies that something good’s about to happen. It will do its best to provide you with a winner by replacing all other symbols, except the scattered letters. It also serves to double the winning combinations it appears in. However, if it forms a winner during the free spins, the prize will be multiplied by 6!

Scatter Symbol & Free Spins:

The Phantom’s letters are scattered all over the reels, and you can win if they appear anywhere, not only on the standards paylines. Yet, there’s a feature where this scatter symbol plays a significant role – you may win 5 free spins if you get a letter on reel 1 and a mask on reel 5. Let’s face it, this feature is tough to get, but once the reels start spinning free of charge, it’s even harder to get them to stop. That’s because those five free spins can turn into an endless number of free spins, thanks to the Phantom, who can appear on any reel and award up to three additional free spins. During these games, all prizes you win will be tripled. And even though the reels are not very generous during this feature, it’s still possible to win quite a decent sum, as Phantom is there to offer his services.

“Haunted Opera” brings a breath of fresh air to the world of slots. It’s gloomier and more mysterious than any other slot I’ve ever played. And even though this dark side of a slot would usually be assessed as a negative characteristic, it actually complements its theme and makes it ever so authentic.

- reviewed by Latest Casino Bonuses, last updated 2011-06-08