Hotshot Tales, Part 5: Barrel Barrage

Hotshot Tales, Part 5: Barrel Barrage

Having previously discussed what the most difficult event in Hotshot Racing is, I'll give you a general overview on the game mode it uses: Barrel Barrage, the fourth and final mode in Single Race (and, unlike the other three, one that was added in the Big Boss DLC pack). It's identical to Arcade Mode, but with one big difference: players can collect barrels for completing sectors (although they can't carry more than two at a time), and use those to attack each other by dropping them onto the track. Once a barrel has been dropped, it will remain where it is for a long period of time, until it despawns or a player's car hits it. And just as in Drive or Explode, cars will receive damage as normal from collisions with each other, as well as walls. 

Unlike in Drive or Explode, however, players cannot be eliminated by any means other than collisions with barrels, and a single barrel will cause 20 damage to any car that hits it, so it will take five direct barrel hits to eliminate a fully intact car. Moreover, you will only receive 10 health for completing a whole lap. Finally, unlike in Drive or Explode, the standard time limits for each class still apply, so you have to be as fast as you are safe (in the sense that you avoid hitting barrels too often. The ultimate objective, however, is still to finish in first place - which is guaranteed to happen if you end up being the last player standing, although even then it's still possible to be eliminated if your car is destroyed before completing the full race distance, since the race will never automatically end if there is only one player remaining - a trait this mode shares with Drive or Explode.

Barrel Barrage is all about speed, survival, and aggression. Here, Marcus (me) and Toshiro are battling for the lead, in cars that are barely holding together after several collisions with barrels. Viktor, Xing, and Alexa have already been eliminated by now - who's next?

To place a barrel on the track, press the Drop Barrel button (which, by default, is the Shift button on the PC port) when you are carrying at least one barrel. There is a brief delay before the barrel is dropped, and it will spawn a short distance behind your car. You can also hold the barrel by holding down the Drop Barrel button, although a held barrel will explode and cause damage to your own vehicle if it is held for too long and not dropped quickly enough. When dropping a barrel, make sure to do so when you are absolutely certain that you can hit someone with it - using the rear view camera helps in this regard. You will be notified onscreen whenever an opponent hits a barrel that you have previously placed, regardless of whether or not it resulted in their elimination. 

As with Drive or Explode, you will receive a message whenever an opponent is eliminated. You can even push opponents into barrels if you get the chance, although you will only be credited for a hit if you were the one who put the barrel there in the first place, and it's also possible (though rare) to hit two opponents with the same barrel. Finally, players are not immune to the effects of their own barrels (and can eliminate themselves if they're careless), and it's even possible for a previously eliminated player to score an afterlife hit or kill by having an opponent hit a barrel they had placed before elimination. The game doesn't keep track of which players scored the most hits or kills, though.

A successful "kill" in Barrel Barrage - Marcus drops a barrel right in Keiko's path, eliminating her from the race after a fierce struggle for the lead.

The fact that Barrel Barrage relies on avoiding obstacles just as much as getting to the next checkpoint within the time limit (thus forcing you to adjust your racing line depending on where the barrels are, as well as the overall condition of your car) makes it the most difficult of all the available game modes, especially when the race distance is set to the full 7 laps (and even more so with certain track/car combinations). However, AI-controlled players don't always understand this, even though they are never subject to the same time limits as human players are. Sometimes, they will lose a lot of time (either by braking too hard or crashing into a wall) just to avoid elimination, and in that case, their only hope of winning is that every other player gets eliminated before they do. However, if you are the last person standing, you won't need to drop any more barrels, and can instead concentrate on surviving for as long as you can without running out of time.

The typical result of  a 7-lap Barrel Barrage - you can be the only car to complete every lap (or at least be the last player left alive), while none of your opponents finish. Then again, I've seen AI opponents pull this off as well...

In short, Barrel Barrage adds an explosive twist to Hotshot Racing, without compromising the core gameplay, and it's a barrel of fun to boot, especially when you play it online. In general, I have found this mode to be more difficult on narrower and/or twistier tracks (such as Surf City) than ones with plenty of wide road sections and/or long straights (such as Alpine Town), but even on these more challenging tracks, it's bound to be a blast.