The halfway point of the Indie Scene series throws a changeup our way. Instead of rounding up a handful of M-lettered game per usual, I enlisted the help of fellow Bitmobber and all-around indie-game guru James DeRosa to talk about a little title generating a ton of buzz right now: The Misadventure of P.B. Winterbottom.
In the spirit of the classic Electronic Gaming Monthly editor showdowns, we’re going to break down this game Final Word style.
M:
The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom (Xbox Live Arcade, $10)
First off, let’s figure out if this game is even in the right column. 2K Play publishes The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, so how can you consider this an indie game?
James: I think it is most definitely an indie title because of its roots as a student project. If something gets picked up for wider distribution because of its quality, that doesn't change the fact the initial design ethos stemmed from something smaller and more independent in spirit.
Greg: Totally agree, James. And to build on your point, I’m going straight to Winterbottom Lead Designer Matt Korba for his answer from my interview with the developers at The Odd Gentlemen a few months ago: “There's always a huge argument as to what ‘independent’ means. I try to stay out of it,” Korba says. “We try not to worry about that and just try to make a great game, keep our independent values, do what we want to do, and try to break out of the mold and not make games already out there.”
Makes sense to me. Indie Scene approved!
The game’s visuals immediately stand out. What's your take on the old-timey-movie art style? Sepia-toned gimmick, or would it make even Charlie Chaplin proud?
James: As a fan of old silent films, I have to say that the '20s-era look is woefully underused in the gaming industry. When I play Winterbottom, I can't help but be reminded of Austrian and German silent film auteurs like Marnau and Lang.
Couple that with the game's setting — which appears to be a Burton-esque, faux-London backdrop — and I think you've got something that's really appealing to just about anyone.
Greg: I’m not going out on a limb when I say I’m a fan of the style as well. As I’ve made my way through dozens of indie games in my alphabet-themed adventure, I’ve come to appreciate the creativity developers go through to make their games stand out, particularly when it comes to visuals.
Obviously, they don’t have the resources to create a world as detailed as Heavy Rain’s, so they have to be creative with art direction. P.B.’s movie-themed setting is a great example of this.
P.B. Winterbottom’s adventure skews on the short side, but it sure gives your noggin a floggin’. That in mind, be honest: Did you resort to a walkthrough at any point?
James: To be honest, I didn't…but I tried to. I downloaded the title the day it came out and beat the game within 48 hours. When I got to the second-to-last puzzle, it really stumped me. I went online to find the solution but was unable to find a walkthrough. No one had posted one — at least not that I could find. After I put the game down for a few hours, I came back and solved the puzzle with relative ease.
Greg: Weak!
Actually, I got stumped enough to have to resort to some YouTube-based walkthroughs three times. Levels 2-9, 3-9, and the last stage were all toughies for me. Let it be known that on the last stage I was one umbrella swing away from success on my own, so let’s not even count that one, OK?
Winterbottom’s personal clones: mindless pie-fetching drones, or jubilant, pie-eating companions?
Greg: I’m going with the former. To me, they serve a straightforward purpose and look cute while doing it. In fact, the more I think about it, these guys are modern-day lemmings — a fine lineage indeed.
James: I have to agree, Greg. As great as it would be to have friends with common interests — such as eating pie — P.B.’s clones are definitely expendable. Why divvy up the pie when you can keep it all for yourself?
Better artsy-fartsy puzzle platformer: Braid or P.B. Winterbottom?
James: Definitely Braid. I think a lot of people find Braid really unapproachable, and I can understand that: It's confusing, and it's far from a flawless game. But what I think people fail to appreciate is the audacity of what the title tried to accomplish.
It's the first game I've ever played that actually tried to marry the gameplay with the narrative experience — each world's time mechanics tie in to the mistakes and trespasses of the main character. I could talk at length about Braid, but needless to say, the creators' aspirations for P.B. Winterbottom are far more humble. Also, P.B.'s fundamental mechanic is basically a reimagining of World 5 from Braid.
Greg: You almost had me convinced, James, but then I thought about which game I’d actually want to play again.
Braid did some amazing things, marrying an obvious homage to Super Mario Bros. with an existential story. I appreciate that. Where it stumbled for me was in the gameplay. A lot of levels would take me multiple retries not because I couldn’t figure out the puzzle, but because it had a tough time handling precise control inputs.
As a gamer who puts gameplay first, I consider that a huge crime. P.B., meanwhile, is more lighthearted, controls well, and is a game I’d more likely replay.
I will concede, though, that Braid has the superior celebrity review.
In a three-way race between Yogi Bear, the Hamburglar, and P.B. Winterbottom — for picnic baskets, hamburgers, and pies respectively — who would win?
Greg: This one’s a trick question! P.B. would always win because even if he does lose out, he’ll just tap into his personal flux capacitor and take another shot at it. Or does messing with time break the spirit of the competition, James?
James: Hmm…I'm going to have to go with P.B. Winterbottom, too — but not because of his time-traveling capabilities. I honestly think that P.B. is the most committed. It's not a spoiler to say that early in the game, he goes back in time and steals a pie from himself. If that's not a dedicated larcenist, I don't know what is.
Do you dig the time-attack challenges, or did they leave you wishing you could turn back time?
James: I actually only played the time attack modes for about 10 minutes. In general, time-attack modes aren't really my thing, and in P.B. Winterbottom especially, I found them somewhat frustrating. I can totally dig why the developers added them — overall the main adventure is pretty short — but the added value does feel a bit tacked on.
Greg: I had the same initial reaction as you, James, but then I gave it a second shot after I finished the game. Time-attack modes typically don’t excite me either, but two things about this one work for me.
First, in addition to trying to finish a level under a goal time, you also have to try to complete levels using fewer than a target number of clones. That gives you two ways to win, or gloriously fail. Second, rather than taking slices from the main game to work through, P.B. dishes up unique levels, sort of like vignettes, all filled with the same charming puns and rhymes the game proper uses.
I probably spent an extra two hours playing this game as I kept getting that "one more medal" itch. And hey, it has online leaderboards.
Showdown complete! Who do you think made the better case: James, Greg, or the Hamburglar? Regardless of your answer, next time we'll be back with the regular format and a focus on the letter N.
Previous entries:
A, B, C, D, E,
F, G, H, I, J,
K, L
The Indie Scene Interview: The Odd Gentlemen