Football Hero - Review, Demo Play, Payout, Free Spins & Bonuses

Introduction

For some reason, there's never been a really, really successful football-themed slot. This is strange because football is one of the most popular sports and pastimes in the world. For whatever reason, most of the football-themed slots out there tend to blend into the background. Certainly, they have their fans but you don't really see them topping the most-played or most popular lists of online casinos. Football Hero is made by Core Gaming and has some fun special features for you to get to grips with, as well as some decent win potential. Check out other free Core Gaming slots if you enjoy this one.

Theme, Graphics & Soundtrack

The football theme is tricky to do because of licensing laws and regulations. Obviously, developers have to use generic kits and while you could assume that certain games represent particular players or teams, the games can't use specific names or images without approval. Therefore, a lot of football-themed slots and other online sports games end up looking a little cheap and nondescript. Sadly, that's the case with Football Hero. Although the scatter symbol, for example, is presumably supposed to be reminiscent of Barcelona's iconic strip, it just ends up looking a little sad. This can't be helped, however, and shouldn't interfere with gameplay or your enjoyment of the slot. The graphics are perfectly fine and this is a good-looking and clean game. The soundtrack is made up mainly of crowd noises and you'll hear cheers and shouts when you land a win.

How to Play

This is a simple game to play, even without prior knowledge of online slots. There are 20 paylines and these are fixed. You'll always be betting on all 20 paylines and can't change this. Follow the step-by-step instructions to get started with Football Hero.

1. To change the bet size, simply use the plus and minus buttons above and below the bet display. You can go through the smaller bet sizes in increments of 20 coins, but as the bets get larger, the gap between bet options grows too. Once you're happy with the amount displayed, you're good to go.

2. When your bet settings are at the desired level, hit the spin button. The reels will spin into action.

How to win on Football Hero

This is a 20 payline slots game and the lines are fixed so you will always be betting on all 20 lines. There is no option to change the lines you bet on. For most symbols, you'll need to land three or more matching symbols on a payline in order to get a win. A couple of the symbols - the wild and the football hero symbol - only require you to land two for a payout. All wins are paid from left to right, starting with the leftmost reel. It's possible to land multiple wins in a single spin but only the highest paying win on a single payline will be paid out.

Bonus Features

There are a few bonus features in this game which lift it out of the ordinary, thankfully, as the base game isn't too exciting. In total, there are six different bonus modifiers that can be triggered in the base game, meaning there's lots of added excitement with every spin. These bonus modifiers are: Free Kick, Half Time, Penalty, Red Card, Subs and Sticker Book.

In order to trigger any of the special bonus features, you will need to land three bonus symbols on the reels. These can land anywhere on the reels and don't need to be on a payline or in a certain pattern in order to count. You can unlock additional bonus features as you progress through the game. You'll be invited to choose from any of the unlocked features after triggering a bonus. The features are Golden Goal, 90 Minutes, Passing Wilds, Wild Formation and Home or Away.

At the end of any of the above bonus features, you will be given the chance to enjoy yet more special features. Various things can happen at the end of the bonus feature. These are: Extra Time, Bonus Cash, Replay, Free Kick, Unlock Feature or Full Time. Full Time is the one you won't want to be seeing for a while, as this signals the end of your bonus feature and returns you to the base game. The others award you a variety of special extras, such as more bonus features or instant cash prizes. This is a great little addition to the bonus features and one you're sure to appreciate should you strike it lucky.

The Trophy Room

If you collect all the game trophies, you can unlock the special Golden Goal feature. Trophies are awarded as you progress and hit different achievements. For example, you could get trophies for landing certain winning combos or for certain types of win.

Our Verdict

8/10. As mentioned previously, it can be hard to create a football-themed game that doesn't look and feel a little lacking. While this slot does suffer from some of the same issues as most other football slots, it does have a large number of special features which boosts its score. If you like this, you might also enjoy Knockout Football.