Trying to keep up with all of the downloadable games and content that's out there these days is enough to make a person cry. But cry no more, because Download Lowdown is here to help. I'll sift through the good, the bad, and the weird to help you get the most from your game system of choice without leaving your house.

Today I recount wondrous tales of chasing pies in The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom. Mmmmm...pies.

Game: The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom
System: Xbox 360
Price: 800 Points ($10)

The Lowdown:
I first saw P.B. Winterbottom at E3 back in 2008. A few college kids had made the game, and they were showing it off in the back corner of the main show floor. The game’s unique black-and-white film-style visuals immediately caught my eye, as did the interesting clone-creating/time-bending mechanics. The fact that the protagonist spent every moment occupied by the thought of consuming pies was also quite memorable. The game didn’t have a publisher at the time, but I told the developers that they’d absolutely find a partner that would help them share their Winterbottom’s misadventures with the world.

Now, almost two years later, The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom is available on Xbox Live. The release of Braid -- which has similar mechanica -- has, perhaps taken some of the luster off of Winterbottom’s interesting mix of platforming and puzzle solving. But, that doesn’t make it any less fun to create a clone, who will then smack you on the butt to knock you across a chasm, where you’ll flip a switch that flings another unsuspecting clone high into the sky to collect an elusive pie.

That sort of zany, creative action, combined with gorgeous visuals and quirky humor is Winterbottom at its best. Unfortunately, the entire game isn’t all butt-smacking, pie-grabbing fun -- it can be very frustrating at times. Occasionally the controls will let you down, or sometimes a level will be too complicated to be any fun. Usually the two go hand-in-hand. There are also times where the game’s too easy. This uneven difficulty is too bad, because it will prevent some people from seeing this fun, bizarre adventure to its conclusion.

What YouTube commentors say:

Ben_silverman went with Winterbottom over a hockey game in standard-def on MSNBC. Good call : “Apparently there was a big hockey game yesterday. too busy playing PB Winterbottom to care. major style points 2k!”

JKeverne will soon realize that just like the gameplay, the music is both brilliant and insidious: “The music in P. B. Winterbottom is either brilliant or insidious I can't decide which.”

Bradgallaway is probably in the minority here, but he’s not the only person on Twitter to find the game more frustrating than fun: “Just tried the Winterbottom demo. Not feeling it. Seems like it'll get annoying real fast.”

Richardcobbett is a fan of the pie: “Just tried the P.B. Winterbottom demo on Live. Really nice. Very Braid, but I much prefer the controls in this one.”