The second campaign of explosive helicopter action game Cleared Hot has been shown off with several new images.
Before we get into details on the upcoming campaign, it’s worth noting that the developer has – as promised – announced that they’ll be slightly increasing Cleared Hot‘s price. It’ll increase to $17.99 (though we don’t yet have confirmation on exactly how that’s going to land in GBP, the current currency rates will give it a roughly £1 increase). If you already own the game, that’s not an issue, but if you’ve been eyeing it up it might be a good time to take the plunge!
On that note, if you haven’t had the pleasure of playing the game, Cleared Hot is a “classic helicopter shooter”. In the same vein as the “Strike” games of old, with light tactical and physics elements, you pilot a helicopter around an isometric map, completing various militant objectives and just generally having a grand old time with missiles, magnets, and other ems that I can’t quite think of right now. We reviewed it in January at an earlier stage of the… erm… Early Access program, and Dann called it “a fantastic purchase — even while it only has one of the three planned campaigns — and not exclusively for fans of its influences”
Cleared Hot is the Desert Strike succcessor we’ve been waiting two decades for
New images of chapter 2 have been released, which you’ll find littered through this article, and the release window has now been revealed to be Fall 2026, with more information coming closer to the time. However, some future features have also been detailed.
The next addition are confirmed as flares. These are actual physics objects that are released from your helicopter, as with real anti-missile flares, and these work as the heat seeking missiles actually look for “heat” (a value assigned to objects in the game), further working into the game’s intricate engines. How do you equip the flares? Utility slots! Each ‘copter now has a single utility slot that can be set as a load out or swapped out mid-mission. Other utility items are currently in consideration, including chaff, smokes, and air strikes!
Those are the major highlights of the announcement, but full details can be found on the Steam page for Cleared Hot, and a Helicopter Wishlist poll is currently running on their Discord.