Spider-man is a big deal to a lot of people. To someone like myself, a comic book nerd growing up in New York. He was an even bigger deal. The places where the Webhead squared off against Vulture and the Rhino were real, and I would regularly see them. As video games got, more and more impressive Spider-man games were some of the first where I got to see digital representations of my backyard, Couple that with the fantastic gameplay of Insomniac’s first outing with the NYC Wall-crawler, and it was only natural it was one of my favorite games of 2018.
Spider-man: Miles Morales might mark the first solo outing for the Spider-man in-training, but it shows that Insomniac has found their groove with this series, and while it may be a pint-sized sequel, it shows what a great protagonist Miles can be in his own right and feels just as fun as the original.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS4[reviewed], PS5 )
Developer: Insomniac Games
Publisher: Sony
Released: November 12, 2020
MSRP: $49.99
While the Playstation 5 version is undoubtedly the ideal way to experience this at 60fps and fantastic lighting and particle effects, I had to make due for the moment of my PS4 Pro, and the title still handles itself well. Here you can grab a stable 30fps, and swinging around NYC still feels as good as the original. Miles even adds his unique flair to swing animations. There’s a bit more style to everything, but Miles’ movements are also less calculated than Peter’s. He’s a fledgling Spider-man, but he’s having fun with it.
Gameplay will feel natural to those stepping back into this Spider-verse. Combat still has that natural acrobatic freeflow that felt so great in the original. While Miles only retains a handful of Peter’s gadgets like the gravity well, he gains new ones like holographic combat decoys. He has two unique powers, bioelectricity dubbed “venom” and a natural camouflage ability allowing him to turn invisible for a limited time.
The same sort of challenge-based collectibles like villain hideouts and stealth challenges are dulled out as you progress the story giving you a steady stream of content to tackle. These stealth-based VR challenges setup by Peter Parker provide a surprising amount of challenge if you’re going for the high score; no doubt they’re intended to flex Miles’ invisibility powers.
Miles has a plethora of suits to unlock along with suit mods and new abilities on his skill tree to shake up gameplay. Miles Morales may not have as long of a comic book history as his mentor Peter Parker, but there’s no shortage of love for this character amongst comic fans, and that’s made abundantly clear here.
The story picks up a few months after the events of the first game. Miles is getting comfortable learning to be New York’s second Spider-man and Peter seems to be enjoying his role as a mentor. After a prison transfer gone awry results in both Spider-men taking down a rampaging Rhino and Miles discovering his bioelectric superpowers, Peters announces that he’ll be taking a bit of a working vacation. MJ is headed overseas for the Bugle and Peter is headed along as her photographer, making Miles New York’s only Spider-man for a few weeks.
Miles being on his own, is the right move. It gives our fledgling hero a chance to grow without a safety net and an opportunity to spotlight his personality and personal relationships without feeling overshadowed by the Spider-man that came before. Some of the best moments in the story come from these scenes in Miles’ apartment in Harlem. Dinners with his mother Rio, who’s now running for city council, and his best friends Ganke Lee and Phin make for a solid supporting cast. Miles’ uncle, Aaron Davis, aka The Prowler, also plays a pretty pivotal role and finds a nice balance to the frenemy relationship without retreading story beats players might be familiar with from the Spider-verse film.
The shorter nature of Spider-man: Miles Morales makes it feel like a far less bloated open-world game. As I mentioned above, there’s plenty of side content to engage with, but the main story doesn’t waste too much time. Shortly after Peter leaves, Miles is tasked with dealing with the Tinkerer, a new take on a classic Spidey villain that manages to up the stakes for Miles personally. He also fares with the evil Roxxon energy corporation and the Prowler, but you don’t feel overwhelmed with villains.
Verdict: Spider-man: Miles Morales is a leaner and shorter experience than its predecessor, but that’s okay. It feels like a half step before a proper sequel that will hopefully feature both Spider-men in equal parts. Cramming a coming of age tale for Miles on top of all that Peter has going on would’ve felt cultured, and I’m glad Insomniac decided Miles needed his own time to shine before the Wall-crawlers could come together again. This is a buy for me, and I can’t wait to see what the studio does for Spidey next.
Buy it
Author: Rich Meister
[This review is based on a retail build of the game purchased by the reviewer]