Heliborne Takes Off February 15th

After several months of closed testing, JetCatGames' Heliborne is entering Steam Early Access on February 15th. The game is an online vehicular combat game centered around helicopter combat. Players must do battle in the air, supporting units on the ground wherever possible. In order to capture bases, players will even have to pick up and drop off infantry.

During Early Access, the game will feature an arcade/simulation hybrid flight model that accounts for "over 70 different aspects of flight." An impressive 31 helicopters with multiple loadouts will be available to choose from. The number of helicopters will slowly raise towards sixty over the course of Early Access. Three maps based on the real world conflicts "Operation Nguyen Hue, Afghanistan, and the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam" will be playable. Two modes will be playable. The skirmish mode involves a standard base capture formula. Frontline involves defending convoys that spawn when you capture bases so that they can continue to "fortify bases and positions."

Early Access is expected to take a year. During that time, the team wants to add additional maps, modes, and helicopters. The game will, at some point, make its way from Unity 4 to Unity 5. A "progression and tech-tree system" will be added. Helicopter customization will be made available. The flight model will continue to receive updates, possibly including a realistic mode.

In a Q&A thread on Steam, one of the developers confirmed that the price would be no more than $10. No microtransactions are planned, but the price will change after Early Access.