Fire Stampede 2

Fire Stampede 2 Review

Pragmatic Play partner Wild Streak Gaming came up with the Connect & Collect system for the first release, Fire Stampede, a follow-up to Firebird Spirit, albeit with totally different theme. Fire Stampede 2 follows closely in the footsteps of the original game, transporting you once again to the North American prairie for some fiery Connect & Collect action.

You start by choosing your preferred bet level between €0.25 to €250 per spin, catering to both penny punters and high rollers. Like the original, Fire Stampede 2 plays out on a 6x5 grid where the rightmost reel delivers only special symbols. With 1,875 ways to win, you land regular pay symbol wins when 3 to 5 matching symbols land on 3+ adjacent reels starting from the leftmost reel. The premium symbols (bison, gold nugget, eagle, and cactus) pay 1x to 4x your stake for 5 of a kind, while the royals award 0.4x to 0.6x for the same.

Fire Stampede 2 Slot - Reels Screen

You can land Wild symbols on reels 2, 3, and 4, and Wilds substitute for regular pay symbols to help complete or improve wins. The Connect & Collect symbols appear on reels 1 to 5, and the aim is to create an unbroken chain of these symbols that connects with special positions at the top and bottom of reel 3 or any position on reel 6. When this happens, you trigger features like respins, extra wilds, stampedes, cash prizes, or free spins. We give you the complete overview further down in the review.

While the original game offered a random prize of 4,000x your stake at random times in the base game, Fire Stampede 2 slot delivers random Connect & Collect symbols, wilds, or the top-tier bison symbol. Unlike in the original game, the bonus round Connect & Collect feature is enhanced in Fire Stampede 2. Connect & Collect wilds add up to x3 multipliers to build the global win multiplier, and the max win has been bumped up to a far more solid 8,300x your stake. The top-tier RTP of 96.51 % is a bit above average, and this is a high volatility release scoring 5 out of 5 on the in-game scale.

Fire Stampede 2 Features

The Fire Stampede 2 Pragmatic Play features are a mix of familiar and new, at least if you’ve already played the original game. Still, the Connect & Collect system takes center stage, offering modifiers, prizes, and free spins. Let’s check it all out!

Connect & Collect

The Connect & Collect symbols can land on any regular reel, and a chain of these symbols from the leftmost reel connecting with the rightmost special reel triggers the Connect & Collect feature. The chain must connect horizontally and/or vertically, and it can also connect to the special positions at the top and bottom of reel 3.

Random groups of special symbols may be highlighted on the rightmost special reel, and all these are awarded if the Connect & Collect symbol chain connects with one of them. Here’s an overview of what you can trigger:

• Respins (3rd reel only) - awards 5 respins with all Connect & Collect symbols remaining frozen in place. New Connect & Collect symbols become sticky as well, potentially helping you reach the rightmost special reel with your chain. If not, you’re granted a consolation prize between 3x and 10x your stake.
• Money Value - awards a prize of 2x to 20x your stake (reel 3), or 10x to 200x your stake (rightmost reel).
• Add Wilds - adds wilds randomly to reels 2 to 5.
• Free Spins - awards 2x your stake and between 7 and 25 free spins.
• Mystery Prize (rightmost reel only) - awards the Minor (25x), Major (200x, 350x, 400x, or 500x), or Grand prize of 4,000x your stake. An x2 multiplier can boost any of these prizes.
• Stampede - a stampede across the grid adds the top-tier fire buffalo symbol to random positions on the regular reels.
• Minor (3rd reel only) - awards the Minor prize of 25x your stake.

Random Awards

On any given spin, you may be granted a random number of Connect & Collect symbols, wilds, or the top-tier fire buffalo symbol added to random positions on the regular reels.

Fire Stampede 2 Free Spins

The Bonus Round triggers when you land 3, 4, or 5 scatter symbols in view, awarding 7, 10, or 15 free spins and a 2x your stake upfront payout. If Connect & Collect symbols reach a free spins special symbol on the triggering spin, these are added to your total number of free spins.

The Connect & Collect plays out similarly to the base game, but wilds won from the special positions boost all wins by x2 or x3. Multiple wilds combine the multiplier values, and you can also win extra free spins from the rightmost special reel.

Fire Stampede 2 Slot - Free Spins

Fire Stampede 2 Bonus Buy (not UK)

The Bonus Buy menu is available in certain regions, allowing players to purchase the bonus round directly for 100x the stake. This awards a triggering spin where the Connect & Collect symbols are guaranteed to reach at least one special position on reel 3, as well as at least one special position on the rightmost special reel. The rightmost reel only contains free spins symbols for this spin, and the special positions on reel 3 award cash prizes. The organic bonus round hit frequency is 1 in 137.77 spins.

Theme & Graphics

The Fire Stampede 2 game looks pretty similar to the first game, which is not unexpected from Pragmatic Play, with the fiery bison stampeding across the prairie there on the left-hand side beneath the jackpot prizes. Its slow, up-and-down movements do not distract too much from the gameplay, and you spin the reels accompanied by a classic Western-sounding tune. The canyon backdrop has been replaced by grassy plains, but the symbols are more or less the same as before. Gold nuggets, eagles in flight, and cactuses abound, in addition to the fire bison itself.

Pros and Cons of Fire Stampede 2

Our Verdict

First of all, kudos to Pragmatic Play for listening to my feedback about adding the turbo spin option next to the spin button, as suggested in my recent Chilli Heat Spicy Spins review. Being the sucker for high-speed action that I am, this is highly appreciated, and I am sure many players feel the same. Although it feels like Fire Stampede 2 is hot on the heels of the original Fire Stampede, years have passed since our first meeting with the fiery bison, a stark reminder that time is passing almost as fast as the bison across the reels.

Anyway, Fire Stampede 2 is more or less the follow-up we expected from Pragmatic Play, offering a similar visual experience and a strong focus on the Connect & Collect system. For some reason, Pragmatic has decided to give this sequel the subtitle “Linked Award” instead of “Connect & Collect,” which is a bit strange since the feature still retains its original name. Pragmatic Play is hardly known for caring too much about fancy names, so why they bothered with this change is a bit of a mystery.

That being said, there is no doubt that Fire Stampede 2 is a superior release, not least thanks to the beefed-up math model. However, at the end of the day, it boils down to whether or not you enjoy the Connect & Collect feature. It’s undoubtedly an original way to trigger different modifiers, features, and prize collections, but it will hardly be everyone’s cup of tea. The previous Connect & Collect installments have seen moderate success, which is often the case when unorthodox features take center stage.

The Connect & Collect symbols do occupy prime “reel estate,” effectively blocking regular line wins. And while the 8,300x max win is close to twice what’s on offer in the original game, the max win probability is 1 in 57.5 million spins compared to 1 in 12 million for the first game. Wilds creating a global win multiplier in the bonus round is a decent upgrade, though, and if I had to choose between the two, I would go with Fire Stampede 2. Still, I’m unsure if this concept will ever take off, at least in the current format.