The Gladiator slot machine is one of the few games you can play at Games & Slot Machines that hasn't had a B&M casino release...it is, for now at least, an online-only slot game but it's one of the best there is IMO.
Along with Playtech's Marvel slots (you can play the Iron Man 2 slot machine here too), Gladiator broke new ground when it was released in mid-2008. Clearly it's a licence from the motion picture of the same name and the graphics, video sequences and sounds all come from imagery and sountrack accompanying the movie. Thing is, it's all well and good having big brand names but without decent game-play, a slot like Gladiator can fall flat on it's face. in the mud probably.
Thankfully, and thanks mainly to Novomatic's popular Book Of Ra slot machine and it's expanding scatter concept, Playtech's Gladiator slot turned out to be very decent. There are two bonus features, one of which is pretty standard fare while the other is where the bones of the Gladiator slot lie. It's the free spins bonus but with a bit of a twist.
This doesn't mean that when you hit the free spins on Gladiator you are always going to be hitting up a goldmine however. 3 or more colosseum scatters get you into this feature and you are required to select a block to reveal a number of spins and then a multiplier. If you are lucky, you then get to select a symbol (randomly) that becomes an expanding scatter (the nod to Book Of Ra I was referring to) and finally, hopefully, you get to pick a symbol that becomes an extra wild, reminiscent of Aristocrat's Where's The Gold slot machine I guess except you only get one.
If you are lucky you will end up playing 9 free spins, a 2x multiplier, a good expanding scatter symbol like the 'Q' or 'J' (Queen or Jack) symbols which appear a lot on each reel and an extra wild. Then you stand a chance of walking away with 100x your bet or much more even. Without the expanding scatter symbol then the Gladiator slot will slowly gobble away at your bankroll, although it is a low volatility game so you will get some bang for your buck.
As low volatility slots go, Gladiator is among the best. Other slot machines on this site like the TV-franchised Deal Or No Deal slot are similar in this regard but not as much fun as Gladiator in my opinion. You can of course play higher volatility slots like the aforementioned Book Of Ra, Novomatic's games like Sizzling Hot Deluxe, the perennially popular and very streaky Dolphin's Pearl or IGT's popular but money-hungry Pharaohs Fortune slot machine but if you are the sort of player who likes to get a lot of play-time from a modest bankroll, the Gladiator slot machine, like IGT's two Elvis slots (Elvis The King is also featured here) finds the middle-ground balance of entertainment and potential for decent wins very nicely.