REVIEW: Spider-Man: Miles Morales — Be Greater, Albeit Shorter

Marvel’s Spider-Man was a spectacular game and arguably the best iteration of a Spider-Man game in a long time. We all knew that the franchise was in good hands with Insomniac Games, quickly following up with Spider-Man: Miles Morales. The short interval between titles has some worried that this was going to be a re-skin or remix of the original, or that it might feel more like a standalone expansion than a full-blown sequel. Though the short answer to both of those is yes-ish, Miles Morales is still a worthwhile friendly neighborhood adventure.

[The PlayStation 4 version was reviewed. Screenshots are based on a standard PS4]

STORY

If the title wasn’t already an indicator, the game’s story revolves around Miles Morales, who has only recently been initiated into the superhero lifestyle. Without spoiling anything, the Story takes Miles through his own struggles and challenges of being Spider-Man and all the responsibilities that come with it, with Peter Parker conveniently out of the picture. The main campaign itself consists of only 15 missions and can be pretty short if you deliberately avoid all other activities, but Insomniac managed to cram in a hefty narrative within the 9-12 hours of Campaign time, managing to really flesh out Miles’ character separating him from Pete.

As is true for any good Spider-Man story, Miles Morales’ campaign also revolves around the balance (or lack thereof) between his superhero persona and his personal life. Morality versus family, personal feelings over responsibility, the consequences of action, and inaction; It’s all here. Woven and written expertly into not the main story but also in each side activity that you choose to tackle. Many of the supporting characters in the side stories even play a role in parts of the main story. It’s an exciting and very entertaining narrative overall, even excellently setting up what is to come to the series.

GAMEPLAY

As good, albeit short, as the story is, it’s in Miles Morales’ gameplay that really brings the Spider-Man series to new heights. Spider-Man’s swinging mechanics was already top-notch but Miles Morales smoothes out all the rough edges to make an even more satisfying web-slinging experience. For those that may not know, Miles Morales can do everything Peter can and then some. He has bio-electric abilities that allow him to absorb, conduct, and release massive amounts of energy. He can even turn invisible for short periods of time. These extra abilities add on a fresh new level of gameplay from the original Spider-Man in all combat, traversal, and stealth elements. On top of that, Miles also has his own set of gadgets and upgrades to add in a few extra layers. Overall, the game plays out like a more refined version of the original with a few added features and gimmicks that make the game feel fresh.

The story may be shorter than we’d like, but the game makes up for it with all the side activities that riddle Manhattan for you to find and complete. These activities award tokens used to unlock costumes and upgrades, welcome incentives to an already fun set of side activities to sink your spider teeth into. Granted some of them are simple collectible type activities, but there’s a good number of them that are unique and require a lot more work to accomplish. Even if set pieces can be quite similar to one another, there’s never a dull moment. Heck, just traveling towards your objective marker is loads of fun in and of itself.

VISUALS & PERFORMANCE

If there was ever a game that didn’t need a fast travel option, Spider-Man would be it, but if you do end up using one, you’ll find that loading times are unbelievably fast considering the amount of detail this game has at practically all locations. We played it on a standard PS4 and loading takes no time at all. Replaying challenges, fast traveling from distant points are super convenient and never get in the way of the action.

The game also looks phenomenal, even on a standard PS4. There are no obvious visual compromises in the PS4 version of the game and doesn’t feel like a down-ported game at all (unlike some games that were released between PS4 and PS3). Not only that, but Miles Morales also comes as a free upgrade to PS5 should you choose to purchase the latest-gen console in the future. The game also has a really good soundtrack around it, too, with a very similar vibe with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’s soundtrack. Speaking of which, the game also comes with an Into the Spider-Verse unlockable costume that not only manages to capture the full look of the costume but even allows you to set it to the low-fps style similar to the film!

VERDICT

Miles Morales is a smaller package than the original Spider-Man but comes packed full of quality-of-life improvements that bring the franchise to new heights and even set the stage for what comes next. Though short, the campaign offers a gripping story that rivals even those of its silver-screen counterparts. Combat, traversal, and stealth are all so well-refined now that even just swinging throughout manhattan doing random Superhero stuff is a satisfying experience in itself.

[This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.]