That intervention comes in the form of The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom on Xbox Live Arcade. P.B. Winterbottom is a renowned and dastardly Victorian pie thief and his love of pies has caused him to be trapped in some sort of time travel conundrum by a magical super-pie and it's your job to help him escape.
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| Behold, the miraculous self-captioning screenshot! | Oh! Here’s another one. |
The Misadventures of P.B.Winterbottom is a puzzle-platform game that invites players to use time-travel mechanics to solve a variety of different puzzles in the quest to escape a time warp and capture the ultimate pie, collecting all the pies he can eat along the way.
Ah but I hear you say, this just sounds like Braid with an eating disorder. And, on a very superficial level you would be right; both games are platformers that employ time-warping mechanics to solve puzzles. However, Winterbottom, or Winterbum as the game affectionately calls him, differs from Jonathan Blow’s concept piece in several interesting ways creating a humorous curio that stands apart from its narrative-driven counterpart.
Instead of winding time back and forward Winterbum has the ability to clone himself performing tasks. This allows him to be in several places at once in order to satisfy his never-ending thirst for pastry.
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| And another one. | Hang on a minute. |
The cloning process is simple. Just hold down the right trigger and carry out a task, then let go when the task is complete and, hey presto, your clone will repeat the task until deleted or all the pies in the level are collected.
The pie love never runs smoothly (as Jason Biggs will testify) and each level has its own curveballs to master. Some levels require you to collect the pies in numerical order, some only have pies that your clones collect and there are an array of switches, see-saws, catapults and other mechanisms as well as fire to contend with.
On the gameplay side of things Winterbum is rather enjoyable. The story mode has a decent length comparable to Braid’s and there is the added bonus of challenge modes that unlock as you complete the story worlds. The controls are simple enough and actions never feel too laboured to carry out.
The final thing that sets Winterbum apart is the theme of the game. The look is distinctly Victorian with an overlay that is heavy on the early silent movie motif. The music is characterful and just goofy enough to inject the right amount of fun into the mix.
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| I’m beginning to feel a bit redundant. | Next, the self-reviewing game. |
On the downside, occasionally the solution to a puzzle will not be immediately evident and will require a certain measure of staring at the screen. This is compounded by the fact that there is no hint system to help players through and novice players may find this a bit off-putting.
Whilst the Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom may not be everyone’s cup of tea it is a quirky and whimsical jaunt through the mind of a man addicted to pies and probably well worth a look for anyone wanting a change from the endless FPS cavalcade.
Top Game Moment:
THE MISADVENTURES OF P.B. WINTERBOTTOM VERDICT
Whilst the Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom may not be everyone’s cup of tea it is a quirky and whimsical jaunt through the mind of a man addicted to pies and probably well worth a look for anyone wanting a change from the endless FPS cavalcade.
TOP GAME MOMENT
Bashing an endless parade of clones into a baker’s oven. Quite a nice stress reliever.
