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I apologize for the lateness of this review. The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom was released on Xbox Live Arcade back on the 17th of last month, making this review pretty late by online standards. I feel that it's important to recognize how behind schedule I am with this review, because Winterbottom is a game about time. If I had the time-manipulating powers of our dastardly title character, I'd go back and produce this review in a more time-appropriate manner. But I don't, so I'm forced to acknowledge that this little game about time forced me to progress slowly through it, thanks to some clever puzzles that require a lot of thought to sort out.
Publisher: 2K Play / Developer: The Odd Gentlemen / ESRB: E / 800 MS Points

For a game with some wickedly tricky puzzles, Winterbottom has a simple setup: P.B. Winterbottom is a selfish, hungry man with an uncontrollable craving for pies. After following a flying pie through a mysterious portal, he emerges with time-manipulation powers which he uses to further his pursuit of the magical flying pastry. It's a completely nonsensical tale made all the more charming thanks to the "silent film" presentation - everything is black and white, save a few color highlights. The story unfolds in title cards between stages, a film grain effect makes everything look a little fuzzy and scratched, and a silent film-inspired score completes the package. With art direction that recalls at times both Tim Burton and the comic Penny Arcade, Winterbottom has a unique, likable style that's one of the game's highlights.

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Of course, a pretty face is nothing without solid gameplay, and Winterbottom delivers on that front as well. The game is divided into short little puzzles that (at first) will only take you a minute or two to complete. The first round of puzzles revolve around using Winterbottom's power in the most basic way: You can "record" your actions, and when you're finished a copy of Winterbottom will appear and perform that same action. Need extra height to reach a ledge? Record yourself standing in front of it, then use your double as a step stool. Solutions are pretty simple at the beginning, but like any good puzzle game, they get consistently trickier, forcing you to think about your abilities in new ways all the time.

The deeper you get into the game, the more you're forced to think creatively and consider every aspect of how Winterbottom's powers work. In the best of them, once you figure it out, you'll be done with the puzzle a few seconds later. However, some stages require such pinpoint execution of the solutions that even though you might know the answer, it may take several tries to make it work. In very few instances I felt like the controls weren't quite as responsive as I would have liked in order to pull off the puzzle's demanding solution, but with enough persistence (and the right solution) you can get through any puzzle. In short, The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom is unique, clever and occasionally maddening. In my mind, that's exactly how a puzzle game should be.

The Official Verdict: 4 out of 5

This review is based on a copy of the game provided by the publisher.