While tech-heavy games usually get the spotlight, there have been many occasions where simplistic downloadable titles have managed to impress gamers enough to warrant their own wave of attention.

Kalypso is hoping its downloadable action-platformer Alien Spidy will be one such title, when the game releases on Oct. 19 on PSN, XBLA, PC and Mac.  I recently had the opportunity to check out the game for myself, which up until then, had not caught wind of.  The gist of the game is that you play Spidy, an alien spider who has lost his friend Virgi on Earth.  After entering our planet and having his spacecraft fail to operate, Spidy instead traverses various environments in search of his friend, while also looking to find some missing pieces for his craft.

As Spidy, you have the ability to jump and use your web slinging capabilities to avoid pitfalls and enemies.  You’ll be thrusted into ponds, forests and caves through 69 levels while also picking up items along the way.  Having tried out a couple of levels, the first thing that struck me was the game’s visual appeal.  Taking cues perhaps from games like Limbo, ; the game features shadows and silhouettes while also incorporating colorful and lively elements within each level.  Alien Spidy is presented in a 3D world but the gameplay itself is straight up 2D platforming goodness.  And while the game doesn’t ask you to do anything too complicated, it’s the physics-based gameplay that is perhaps the most addicting of all.  You’ll need to time jumps and web slings, avoid obstacles and all with split second reaction.  Fortunately the game doesn’t punish you for dying much, as you’re put right near the point of failure to allow you to try it again.  Even after completing each level (and there are checkpoints), I found myself wanting to try them again just to beat my score as I knew I could do much better.  And then of course there are boss battles which you’ll run into eventually.

What I can say from my 15-20 minute playtime with Alien Spidy, is that it’s relatively easy to pick up but core gamers will likely want to put in plenty of time into each levels in order to perfect their performances and improve their scores.  Online leaderboards, as one would expect, will also be featured.

Kalypso says the game will sell for approximately 800 MS Points or $7.99 and we can’t wait to get more time with it.