If I were to ask you to name a web-slinging hero, who would you think of? Let me guess – some guy who wears a red jumpsuit, while flying around New York City, protecting the innocent and taking out bad guys — right? Normally I would tell you that your guess is correct, but not this time as there’s a NEW do-gooder out there in the form of – well, a spider.
Enter Alien Spidy, an other-worldly action/puzzle/platformer from the folks at Kalypso Media Digital and Enigma. You take the helm as Spidy, who has crash-landed on the planet Earth after having lost contact with his explorer friend Virgi. With pieces of his spacecraft now scattered all over the place, it’s now up to you to recover the missing pieces, track down Virgi, and repair your ship to escape this strange planet and head back home.
And to accomplish this, you must traverse through 69 levels that span three areas (Forest, Pond, and Cave) all the while collecting stars, racking up points, and completing challenges.
Throughout the levels, the landscapes are brightly colored with the foreground being somewhat reminiscent of the XBox Live Arcade game “Limbo” (minus the whole creepy setting and such). Just don’t allow yourself to become too distracted by your surroundings, as danger lurks around every turn. Also, don’t be expecting much from the audio department either, but at least there’s plenty of groovy music to accompany you on your mission.
The gameplay is very simplistic and strangely addicting, and it’s definitely a nice test for hand-eye co-ordination while also testing your brain with the numerous puzzles. There are stars to collect for each level (maximum of 5 per level) and there are score/star challenges to be met in order to unlock further levels and even special levels. So really the key here is to watch your step, be careful where you do your web-slingin’, and score as much points as possible to grab all the stars (somewhat similar to the style of “Angry Birds”).
I can’t say I found much fault in Alien Spidy. The only real noticeable issue I found was there was some minor slowdown in some places, but that was about it. This game is certainly an interesting mix of “2D-meets-3D” that requires quick reflexes. I’ll admit that at first it was a little too cutesy for my personal taste, but it quickly grew on me. It’s not what I’m used to, but it is definitely a nice change of pace from my usual hacking, slashing, beat-’em-up ways.
Overall, I have no complaints here. There’s plenty of fast-paced platforming action, items to collect, and achievements to snag – not to mention the fact of being able to play as an actual spider without fear of being squished. So if you ever find yourself wondering just what it’s like to be an arachnid hero without the jumpsuit, then Alien Spidy just might be for you.
Sean Boley
Platform: XBox 360 (XBox Live Arcade)
Developer: Enigma
Publisher: Kalypso Media Digital
ESRB: E (Everyone)
Price: 800 Microsoft Points
Alien Spidy’s Official Website
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |   |
| The backgrounds are very well done, with the surroundings not being too busy and distracting on the eyes. | |
| Sound | |
| Not much audio is required in a game such as this, but at least there's some cool catchy music. | |
| Gameplay | |
| Even as simple as the controls are, you still have to be on your toes -- er, I mean your 8 legs | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| A solid game throughout, without it being TOO cute for some. Plenty of replay value too, which is an added bonus. | |
