What Is Army of Ares?

Army of Ares centers its story on Ares himself, the Greek god of war, trading Athena's more measured wisdom-and-warfare balance for a considerably more brutal, aggressive presentation. Warfare imagery dominates the reels, and the overall tone leans into a harsher, more violent take on Greek mythology than most of Hacksaw's other entries in the genre.

The grid runs on a 5-reel, 4-row layout with 14 fixed paylines. The paytable centers on war-themed symbols befitting the god of war, with scatter symbols doing considerably more work here than in most standard releases, since they're also what drives the base game's core Wrath Reels mechanic.

Wrath Reels and the Life-Based Respin System

How Wrath Reels Reveal Their Multipliers

Wrath Reels are the base game's central mechanic: when scatter symbols land, the reel they occupy expands to fully cover itself and reveals a multiplier ranging from x2 to x300. Should multiple Wrath Reels appear within the same spin, their revealed multipliers are added together before being applied to the win, and up to 5 additional random Wild symbols can also spawn on the grid during the sequence, adding further win potential on top of the multiplier itself.

Fear and Flame, Wrath and Ruin and Ares Ascends

Three scatters trigger Fear and Flame, ten free spins where any Wild symbols spawned through Wrath Reels display their own random multiplier between x2 and x100. Four scatters unlock Wrath and Ruin, the game's standout bonus: rather than a fixed spin count, players get 3 lives that refill with each new Green or Red Disc Multiplier that appears. Green Discs add their value (x1 to x100) to a running reel multiplier total, while the rarer Red Discs instead multiply against that running total (x2 to x10), compounding considerably faster. Battle Horse symbols land once per reel during the bonus, each hiding its own x2 to x50 multiplier that only gets applied once the bonus round finally ends. Five scatters reveal Ares Ascends, the Hidden Epic variant, guaranteeing a full grid of Disc Multipliers plus at least one Battle Horse from the very first spin of the round.

Four feature buy options are on offer: BonusHunt FeatureSpins at 3x increases the trigger chance fivefold, Carnage FeatureSpins at 60x guarantees a minimum of one Wrath Reel, Fear and Flame can be bought directly for 100x, and Wrath and Ruin for 200x.

RTP, Volatility and the Realistic Odds

Base game RTP ranges between 92.28% and 96.26% depending on configuration, with the Wrath and Ruin feature buy running at 96.3% and the other bonus buy options between 96.21% and 96.28%. Volatility is rated high, reflecting a game whose life-based respin system and stacking Disc Multipliers can either compound quickly or run dry within just a few lives.

The 15,000x max win is most realistically chased through Ares Ascends, where a full grid of Disc Multipliers and a guaranteed Battle Horse from spin one gives the round its best possible starting position. Bets run £0.10 to £100 per spin.

Similar Slots Worth Exploring

Fans of Hacksaw's Greek mythology catalog should also try Spear of Athena, another release from the same mythological batch, trading Ares' brutal life-based respin system for Athena's steadier sticky-frame accumulation instead. Players who enjoy a life-refilling respin structure specifically might also appreciate Chaos Crew 3's own take on a similar mechanic.

Our Verdict

Army of Ares distinguishes itself from Hacksaw's wider mythology catalog through Wrath and Ruin's life-based respin system, which gives the bonus round a genuinely different rhythm than a standard fixed-spin structure — a hot sequence of Disc Multipliers can refill lives indefinitely, while a cold one ends the round abruptly. The combination of additive Green Discs and multiplicative Red Discs gives players two distinct flavors of escalation to hope for, and Ares Ascends' guaranteed full grid from spin one makes the Hidden Epic Bonus feel like a genuinely different tier of play. High volatility fits the god of war's brutal presentation well.

Where to play it

We recommend Gamdom for playing Army of Ares with real money: 15% Rakeback for 7 Days.