Hotshot Tales, Part 13: Sea View Slugfest

Hotshot Tales, Part 13: Sea View Slugfest

Remember when I scored six kills in a single Barrel Barrage race in Hotshot Racing, on the Downtown variant of the Desert map? Well, I did it again, but on the Sea View variant of the Coast map. This time, though, I came very close to scoring a seventh kill right at the very end, and in fact would've done so if the last opponent hadn't taken themselves out by driving straight into a barrel I hadn't placed.

The recipe for this rampage was simple: take the fastest car (Marcus' Carbon) on the longest race (7 laps), in the fastest speed class (Expert), and wreak as much havoc as possible until you get eliminated or finish the race (whichever comes first). Also be sure to avoid running out of time, and prioritize survival over speed where possible if you're the last player standing. And so, the challenge was on.

Right from the start, I jumped out to an early lead from the back, thanks to a perfect launch (which occurs when you keep the RPM in the yellow zone on the tachometer when the starting countdown ends). Just before the last turn of the second sector, I got my first hit (against Aston's Shadow), even though it meant hitting the outer wall. I quickly recovered to catch back up to the leaders, and on the next lap, hit Xing (in a Blaze) twice to eliminate him - my first kill of the match. And shortly before completing the second lap, I managed to get a double hit against Aston and Keiko at the same time (the latter of whom was driving an Eight Rock). 

Above, from top: It didn't take me very long to get my first kill in this match - and I even scored a rare double hit for good measure.

I scored no eliminations on the third lap, but got two of them a few seconds apart on the next one: Toshiro's Wild Line and Mike's Eagle. Both of them got taken out when each of them hit a barrel I'd placed earlier, to serve as a trap. And then Keiko bit the dust when she slammed into another barrel I'd left behind after completing the first sector. It was mostly quiet from then on, until Aston succumbed to the pressure and fell into yet another barrel trap I'd placed before the S-curve in the second sector - right before I commenced the seventh and last lap.

Above, from top: Three kills within just a few seconds on the fourth lap is quite impressive, especially since there was only one opponent challenging me for the lead by then - the other two kills were against rivals who had fallen very far behind.

The last lap left me with a crucial decision: Should I go for at least one kill, or simply cruise to an uncontested victory instead? Feeling brave, I went for the former, and quickly caught up to Viktor's Rennen - I took it out with one hit, after realizing that it had already been critically damaged from multiple previous barrel collisions. I then set my sights on Alexa's Mirage, only for it to disappear when it, too, drove right into a barrel before it could start its last lap of this race. So it wasn't the total wipeout I'd been expecting, but 6 kills in a single Barrel Barrage is still an amazing showing by any standard.

Above, from top: I missed out on a seventh kill by a whisker, but I still got two more kills in the closing laps to bring my total to six - which is still an impressive result.

Any Barrel Barrage in which the same player scores six kills is rare, but this one is noteworthy for how much closer I came to getting seven compared to the previous one. Thankfully, there is no achievement for such a feat, because it's extremely difficult to pull off.

Above: Some of the highlights from this chaotic Barrel Barrage on Sea View in which I scored six kills - and came within a whisker of claiming a seventh.

In short, I didn't expect to do so well in this Barrel Barrage, but I'm lucky and grateful that I did - although I could've done better, but not by much.