Cleared Hot

Drawing inspiration from classic helicopter combat games such as Desert Strike (1992) and Nuclear Strike (1997), Cleared Hot reimagines the genre for a new generation of gamers. It offers physics-driven destruction and creativity, embracing an arcade-style disregard for flight manuals. This helicopter shooter places players in the cockpit of customisable helicopters amid missions set in deserts, jungles, and arctic biomes.

Players can customise and upgrade their helicopter to suit their playing style. From stealthy strikes to full-on overkill, the physics-driven gameplay involves strafing, missile strikes and crane mechanics for lifting enemies, assets or deploying troops — essentially turning the environment into a weapon. It's a playground of destruction, driven by physics. The game excels in nostalgic, frantic arcade action and offers intuitive controls for manoeuvring and combat. There is also a voice-acted narrative that escalates from a botched military operation to cartel wars.

The Early Access version includes a large part of the single-player campaign, several mission types and upgradeable helicopters. Ongoing updates will expand the campaign, add new vehicles and biomes, and refine the gameplay based on community feedback - possibly including the option to save mid-mission. The current plan is for Early Access to last between six and twelve months.

Cleared Hot is developed by Not Knowing Corporation, a small creative studio specialising in game development. "I started learning Unity, and ended up spending a lot of time inside during 2020, making games out of cubes and programmer art. I got up the courage to try to make a helicopter fly. I made a prototype called 'Kinda Air Support' where you did humorous tasks with a helicopter. One day my childhood Desert Strike memories got ahold of me and I thought 'what would this game be like with guns and missiles?'. It turns out, it was pretty damn fun. Then it took 4 more years to finish it. (and there is more to come!)," said Colin 'cfinger' and the Cleared Hot team. The game has been in development for five years.

On Wednesday, 06 December - two weeks after the launch - the creators shared the following numbers:

• Steam Impressions: 18,720,000
• Steam Page Visits: 993,641
• Wishlists Outstanding: 237,111
• Wishlists Added in 2 weeks: 121,170
• Reviews: 2,062 at 97% positive

The game is being published by MicroProse, a company with a long history. It was founded in 1982 by Bill Stealey and Sid Meier. This American developer and publisher is renowned for its vehicle simulations and strategy games, including Falcon, B-17, F15 Strike Eagle, Silent Service, Highfleet, and the original XCOM and Civilization games. In 1993, MicroProse became a subsidiary of Spectrum HoloByte; however, key personnel left before the company was acquired by Hasbro Interactive. MicroProse ceased to exist in 2001, when Hasbro sold the IP to Infogrames Entertainment. Since then, there have been attempts to revive the brand, but without success, and ownership has changed hands again. In 2018, David Lagettie, an Australian and former developer at Bohemia Interactive, bought the brand from the Cybergun Group. In February 2019, MicroProse returned with simulations, including those featuring military vehicles, as well as strategy games such as Sea Power: Naval Combat in the Missile Age, Carrier Command 2, HighFleet and MechEngineer. With this focus, MicroProse is primarily competing with Slitherine, also known as Matrix Games. The company's publishing portfolio is specifically aimed at small studios.

Cleared Hot was released on Early Access on 20 November 2025, priced at €14.79.

Conclusion

Cleared Hot is an entertaining and nostalgic helicopter shooter with chaotically fun physics in the style of Desert Strike.

Features

• Nostalgic helicopter action
• Game world is a physics playground
• Excellent controls