Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales | PS4 Review

December 28, 2020 Zack Parkerson

When I started reading Miles Morales comics at the character’s debut in 2011, I never would’ve fathomed he’d be a household name less than a decade later. Between Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse and 2018’s Spider-Man, his cultural dominance has begun. And here, already, is his titular video game outing, Spider-Man: Miles Morales.

The Ultimate Fallout

I’ll say upfront, so you’re aware, that I am a massive fan of the Miles Morales character. I’ve read every issue of his ongoing title, and have followed him through more than a few of his team-up adventures. The young Peter Parker successor struck a chord with me all those years ago, and I’ve stuck to him like a radioactive man-spider ever since.

So it was with great excitement that I started up Spider-Man: Miles Morales. The game was always billed as more of an expansion/interquel than a true sequel, and that’s exactly what we’re getting here. Swinging and combat from Spider-Man are close to identical here, though there are some small variances.

Swinging has implemented a rudimentary trick and boost system, but it’s nothing overly engaging. The “Venom” abilities Miles gets early in the story, however, do switch things up for combat. Whereas Peter had his myriad gadgets in the first game, Miles gets a bioelectrical power to utilize in combat and stealth encounters. These end up providing a very similar function in combat to the first game’s gadgets, though they’re more easily accessed via snappy button combinations, rather than the cumbersome gadget wheel. Between the cool effects, bumpin’ music, and easy access, I utilized Venom far more than I ever dabbled with Peter’s gadgetry.

Stealth has been upgraded from the bare-bones effort of Spider-Man, but only minimally. Miles can enter full camouflage and become invisible, which makes the already forgiving stealth even more so. What is nice is that encounters can actually be finished entirely by stealth in Miles Morales, unlike the first game that would force at least one combat wave on you before allowing progression.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

Where Spider-Man: Miles Morales truly differentiates from its predecessor is with its story. Everything happens on a much smaller scale this time around. You won’t be saving all of New York, but rather Harlem, your home borough. The first game did hammer in how much Peter Parker looked out for the little guys, but Miles Morales put a more personal emphasis on this friendly neighborhood aspect of the character.

Miles’ best friend Ganke finally gets his due in this game, and he eventually makes the so-called “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-App” for people around the city to put in requests of the new hero. These charming and occasionally silly side quests really help to endear you to the citizens of Harlem. They begin to feel like your own community, and you want things to work out for them. So when things get dire later in the narrative, you’re every bit as invested as Spider-Man himself. You want to be absolutely certain these folks are taken care of, and luckily Harlem has its own Spidey to look out for it.

Getting Up Under Pressure

It’s really that story of Spider-Man you’re going to get so wrapped up in. Peter essentially leaves New York in Miles’ protective custody at the start of the game, and the plot is all about Miles deciding what kind of Spider-Man he should be. There are plenty of powerful scenes (especially his first proper suit-up scene) throughout the eight or so hours of the game. It ends up providing the same mix of superhero bombast and human relatability Insomniac Games so effortlessly put on display their first go-around at bat.

Tinkerer is the primary villain of the game, who seems like a remarkably weird choice at first, but things get a lot more interesting once the game’s very obvious plot twist gets revealed. To say much more would spoil things, but there are other villains included that are going to make fans of the comic books very happy. The boss battles aren’t as stand-out mechanically as Spider-Man’s were, but a lot of them carry an emotional weight that adds poignancy to the conflicts. So while they may not be as fun, you’ll nonetheless be incredibly invested.

Style and Substance

The style of Miles Morales is truly something else. This is where the game shines brighter than its predecessor in many ways. There’s a youthfulness in the game I was surprised to see, between the incredible soundtrack and colorful personalities. We’ve seen the origin stories of Spider characters endlessly, but the energy and vigor makes it feel fresh despite the familiar trappings.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales is the kind of game nobody should pass on. Yes, it’s incredibly familiar to its predecessor, but with such a strong foundation, that’s hardly worth complaining over. The brevity of the main narrative and focused design of its open-world makes a for a very easy sell to anyone interested. Don’t pass up on playing if you have even a moderate interest in superhero storytelling.

To hear me talk more about Spider-Man: Miles Morales, be sure to listen to Episode 321 of The Gaming Outsider Podcast around the 53:58 time stamp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTunTURbyUU

This review is based off of a purchased PS4 copy of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which was played on a PlayStation Pro. It is also playable on the PS5.