Hot Shot Burn comes from publisher Artiflex Mundi and development team Flaming Flamingo and it’s the next arena party brawler you should check out. At the show floor of EVO 2019, attendees were invited to check out the first public hands-on in person on a more suitable environment: a living room couch. From the onset, Hot Shot Burn is competitive and designed for quick pick up and play.
There’s one button assigned to attack, one for specials, and you use the left stick to move around. That’s it. Simplicity is key here. Up to four players can get into the action fairly quickly and my sessions were mainly focused on getting a handle on the different level designs and heroes. Some environments feature a black hole that lets loose all laws of physics, while others contain traps that are triggered by a huge big button. A reprieve from the games of the genre, Hot Shot Burn doesn’t appear to take itself too seriously.
Hero characters can range from a cactus who can shoot thorns in all directions; think AoE (area of effect). I mainly gravitated towards the sharpshooter character, Nova, who can turn invisible for a period of time and charge up an accurate shot. The name of the game is one shot, one kill. Probably the most exciting and frenzied action comes from ricocheting bullets off surfaces to score that fatal blow. Unexpectedly, I’d be at the receiving end of those more often than not but that joy of landing one was even more memorable. At other times, I took enjoyment using the environmental hazards and scoring a kill that way.
Matches themselves are designed for short sessions, rather than prolonging a battle. A battle royale line of destruction appears when two people are left and forces confrontation sooner than later. Points are earned after each round, with the winner usually earning the most. However, the tables can turn really quickly. In addition to earning points for each kill, you can earn additional for killing the person that’s ahead as well as collecting the nachos on the field. Hot Shot Burn seems to reward more tactical and stylish play so if you’re into the unorthodox, unconventional way of playing you’ll feel more than at home here. Depending on when the first player reaches the goal line, the strategy changes to eliminate the leader. This end game shift changes up the action quite rapidly and urges more mutual cooperation towards a common enemy.
There’s quite a layer to Hot Shot Burn that’s inherently uncovered as you play. A feeling of both camaraderie and trash-talking that’s all boiled down into this arena party shooter. Developer Flaming Flamingo hopes to add on to the madness over time with new playable characters, each with progressively tactful abilities for intermediate and advanced players. For now, you’ll just have to check out the Steam Early Access debut on PC on August 15th. If you can’t wait, well you can jump on Hot Shot Burn’s Discord and give the open beta a try.
