Free Car Game for Windows
HELP! NO BRAKE is a free Windows game by developer Edgar Mendoza. As the name implies, you don’t have a brake to help you in this difficult-to-categorise arcade game with a car.
This title has little to do with racing-like games such as Auto Racing Classics, where you race your opponents, or FUMES, where you obliterate them with your weapons.
In fact, in HELP! NO BRAKE, you’re your own worst enemy. From a top-down perspective, you race alone, trying to reach the end line while navigating past obstacles. A single mistake is fatal, and while this sounds all too familiar, a key game mechanic makes this game different.
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Won’t stop, can’t stop
True to its name, HELP! NO BRAKE consists of, well, not braking. But that’s not all. You start with some initial momentum that remains constant throughout the track, so you don’t need to hit the pedal.
Therefore, the two main controls are left and right, plus an occasional jump. With them, you navigate each track full of obstacles like sawblades, gaps and other features, trying to survive until the end in the best possible time.
As basic as it gets
Even if the game did have brakes, you wouldn’t expect any brake lights or other graphical features. HELP! NO BRAKE’s retro, pixelated graphics look like something that came straight out of MS Paint or similar software.
Music accompanies this with a 16-bit-era-like soundtrack that fits the action perfectly. It sounds straight out of other old-school car games, such as Outrun. In fact, the music is a lot more polished than the graphics and sound effects, which are abysmal, perhaps on purpose.
Not the worst way to spend some time
HELP! NO BRAKE is a fun arcade game to toy around from time to time if you can stomach the graphics. It’s surprisingly fun, and you can even play it in your browser. However, it’s sometimes punishingly tricky, especially the jumping parts.
If you manage to endure that, it becomes addictive fun. It’s also not suitable for perfectionists since you’ll lose a lot. Because of the challenges you face, it’s highly rewarding when you progress through each track based on your many previous attempts since it gives you a sense of accomplishment. Taken for face value, it’s an excellent little game that can keep you entertained for a while.
