If you’re missing the thrill of helicopter destruction, this game can fill that void.

Sometimes, you just need to climb into a big helicopter and blow things up from an isometric perspective. You can do that in Cleared Hot, released last year. Not Knowing Corporation‘s helicopter action game brings back the destructive joy of 1992’s Desert Strike and its diverse, environmentally themed successors. Currently in early access on Steam, the game is preparing to take off with its next update. Chapter 1B will expand the experience with a number of new features.

Cleared Hot equips your helicopter with a winch-operated grapple that lets you lift objects off the ground. This includes obvious things like health and ammo pickups. However, since Cleared Hot has flexible physics, we can also pick up enemy foot soldiers and throw them around or grab a shipping container and turn our helicopter into a flying wrecking ball. We can even knock enemy missiles out of the air and throw them back, causing the enemy to die a fiery death. This kind of mechanical twist can sell an entire game. However, Colin Karpfinger of Not Knowing Corporation explains that this ability wasn’t very rewarding in its initial form. The next update, Chapter 1B, will remedy this.

“I know this isn’t a top priority. But I’ve been waiting months to work on this again. Basically, it was possible before, but it wasn’t very rewarding because it didn’t work with all the missiles, and when it did, they didn’t do much damage. Now, the missiles can be more reliably redirected back to the turret (or NPC) that fired them. They will do three times the normal damage if you pull it off,” wrote Karpfinger.

Better missile defense isn’t the only innovation that Chapter 1B brings. The update improves the performance of the Steam Deck by 30%. It introduces optional arcade missions ranging from survival mode to eclectic options, such as skeet shooting and rocket mini golf. The update also introduces a new water system that creates dramatic splash effects when debris from explosive attacks falls into it. Additional additions to Chapter 1B were planned, such as a new helicopter and customization options for it. However, these have been postponed for the time being. This was done so they could release the update quickly while starting development on Chapter 2. Their main priority is to deliver the main campaign content as soon as possible.

Chapter 2 replaces the arid landscapes of Chapter 1 with a rainforest environment, paying homage to Desert Strike‘s sequel, Jungle Strike. Although Chapter 2 is still far off, Chapter 1B is coming on March 17.

Source: PCGamer, Steam