Do you remember Desert Strike? Cleared Hot is an unofficial remake. The developer has the Reddit community to thank for its release.

In 1992, the first game in the Strike series was released by Electronic Arts, followed by four sequels. However, the last game in the series is already 27 years old, which is far too long for indie developer Colin Karpfinger, so he developed a helicopter shooter in the style of Desert Strike himself.

The value of the Reddit community

“This is so crazy” , writes Karpfinger under the Reddit post, in which he thanks the forum members for their support. His game Cleared Hot generated so much attention thanks to the enthusiastic users that he was able to land a deal with a publisher

Thanks to r/gaming, after 4 years of work, I finally found a publisher for my nostalgic helicopter game! (Cleared Hot)
byu/cfinger ingaming

☻

In a comment , the developer explains:

Thank you, r/gaming! Three years ago, I posted a prototype here and that’s how I caught the attention of the CEO of [publisher] Micro Prose, who got in touch with me on X. We stayed in touch and when you guys celebrated the new trailer so much, things really took off.

When asked why he isn’t launching the game himself, Karpfinger explains that he has built up a whole team over the last three years because he believes the game has potential. The personnel costs and the growing marketing budget made a partner necessary.

How does Cleared Hot play?

It is an isometric helicopter shooter, just like its role model. Players can buy and upgrade new helicopters and create different loadouts to shoot their way through a single-player campaign.

One highlight is the game’s physics-based features. You can use a grappling hook to pick up enemy soldiers and vehicles and fling them around. You can also drop off a squad of allied soldiers to fight for you.

A release period does not yet exist, but you can already find Cleared Hot on Steam& and you can add it to your wishlist if you are interested.

Karpfinger shares a poignant memory from his childhood in his post and recounts how his mother bought him the flight simulation game Falcon 4.0. The game was developed by Micro Prose in 1998 and it feels a bit unreal to him to now see the publisher’s logo on his own game. So with Cleared Hot, the circle is now complete for him.

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