Cleared Hot's jungle campaign lands October 15, and it brings a level editor
Chapter 2: Jungle Storm is a free update for the Early Access helicopter shooter, adding nine missions, two new helicopters and a unique ability for all eleven. It also opens the door to mods.
Cleared Hot, the Desert Strike-shaped helicopter shooter that MicroProse put into Early Access last November, has a date for its second campaign. Chapter 2: Jungle Storm arrives October 15 and is free to anyone who already owns the game.
What is in it
The headline is a nine-mission campaign the developer says runs comparable in length to Chapter 1, ending in a new boss fight it is not describing. It comes with a weather system - rain, lightning and thunder - and a new water system with buoyancy physics, plus enemies to match: BTRs, Shilkas, gunboats, swift boats, drone swarms and new turrets.
Two helicopters join the roster, the Ka-52 Alligator and the MH-53 Pave Low, both picked by a community poll. More interestingly, all eleven helicopters now get a unique ability keyed to one button, meant to reflect how each aircraft is actually used: the Comanche cloaks itself from turrets, missiles and drones, the Chinook drops a tank that fights on its own, the Pave Low lands and disembarks a ten-strong squad, the Apache fires a missile salvo at everything near the crosshair. Abilities run for a set time and recharge by picking up a crate in the level rather than on a timer.
A separate utility slot adds flares, chaff, EMP, airstrikes and smoke grenades, available both as in-world pickups and as hangar upgrades. Gun overheating has been reworked into a forced cooldown with a clearer indicator, there are currency-unlocked helicopter skins, and the developer lists performance optimisations.
Mods, finally
Jungle Storm also ships a level editor and early file-based modding support - enough, the developer says, to build your own missions or write custom mods. For an Early Access game whose appeal is a tight physics sandbox, handing that sandbox over is the update's most durable addition.
Why it matters
Cleared Hot is a small game with an unusually specific audience, and the ability list reads like it was assembled from that audience's suggestions, because it was. GamingOnLinux, which flagged the date, notes the game runs natively on Linux and is Steam Deck Verified.
Why it matters
A free campaign the size of the original, plus a level editor and modding support, turns an Early Access curiosity into something players can keep extending themselves.