The year is 1992, and Desert Strike has just come out for the Genesis and the Super Nintendo. The premise of this flight sim was delightfully simple: you and your Apache helicopter are there to kick some ass, and the game gives you plenty of targets in its isometric view.
The little Desert Strike did, it excelled at. Then came Jungle Strike, Urban Strike, Soviet Strike, and Nuclear Strike. The latter was my introduction to the series, dishing out death and destruction over a little paradise with that beautiful PlayStation 1 water.
One franchise does not make a genre alone, but in 1999, the ‘isometric helicopter shoot-em-up’ formula was put to the test with a completely new setup, and it rocked. Army Men: Air Assault took the best part of Toy Story and hooked it up to helicopters. The evil Tan Army did not stand a chance as Sarge’s heroes buzzed about living rooms and backyards to dish out plastic pandemonium.
Until recently, I was convinced that this specific subgenre was one of those great little gems that we’d never see much of again. Isometric beat-em-ups are plentiful, and the selection of flight simulators is not too bad these days, but it seemed that developers had forgotten about the quiet masses that crave good heliborne destruction… until Cleared Hot came along, that is.
How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Cleared Hot
Developed by the aptly-named Not Knowing Corporation, under the leadership of software developer Colin Karpfinger, Cleared Hot is nothing but a corny trip down memory lane, and that’s what makes it so good.
In an amalgamation of overdone tropes, you play a washed-out retired pilot who is forced to come back to defend a little town in Texas and maybe save the world while you’re at it.
The voiceovers are on par with the finest arcade beat-em-ups, and you can fly a wide range of helicopter models, including the totally-not-Airwolf.
Although Cleared Hot advertises itself as physics-based, it does not take itself too seriously. You can sling load a tank in your helicopter and throw it against an incoming missile, or use your helicopter blades to slide and dice through enemy soldiers.
The gameplay in Cleared Hot is abject nonsense, but in the era of overhyped realism and pedantic fidelity, especially in flight sims, it’s refreshing to be able to fly and be stupid at the same time.
Suffering From Success
A day before the early access release, developer Colin Karpfinger mentioned he had expected about 7,000 wishlists over two years. When Cleared Hot came out, it had over 150,000.
The game shot up to number 39 on Steam’s best-selling list, chilling right between live service giants War Thunder and newly-released Escape From Tarkov. As of the time of writing, Cleared Hot has a striking 98% positive rating on Steam.
Does it do anything particularly new? Nope. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. The world will never quite run out of fans of hyperrealistic helicopter games like DCS, but right now, I want to be fun, stupid, and exciting. That’s why Cleared Hot works.
