Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS4) Review

It’s been over a year since the 2018 smash hit Marvel’s Spider-Man, and Miles Morales has spent the time since then training under the watchful eye of Peter Parker as well as adjusting to moving to Harlem. After another great opening sequence (this time following the Spider-Men as they try to stop an escaping Rhino), Peter reveals to Miles that he’s going overseas with MJ to help her cover the situation in Symkaria, home of Silver Sable. As such, Miles will have to fly solo to protect the city. No sooner than Peter leaves does our young hero find himself caught up in a conflict between the supposedly-benign energy corporation Roxxon and a group of high-tech criminals calling themselves The Underground, led by the mysterious genius known as the Tinkerer. Much like his mentor, Miles finds himself in an adventure that will shake both his personal and superhero lives and he will have to find the strength and confidence to stand on his own and be his own Spider-Man. Can the new entry from Insomniac Games fly on its own like its titular hero or is it just a glorified expansion?

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

It helps that the game continues the same high quality as the first entry across the board, both in storytelling and gameplay. Voice acting is just as good as before, and the graphics are just as amazing on PS4 as the last one, and while everyone may be talking about the PS5 version of Miles Morales and its improved visual power, that doesn’t take away from how good it still looks on PS4. The music still hits those same highs from the previous game, while still different enough to fit Miles and his new home in Harlem. This gives the game an identity all of its own.

The game controls great! My only initial issue was that my muscle memory from the previous game had me messing up in the beginning because Miles has his own unique moves. Once I got used to it, I was doing tricks through the air over the city and taking down squads of enemies intuitively. It is incredibly fun playing as Miles. While he doesn’t have as many gadgets as Peter, nor any of the suit powers that Peter had, the game is built beautifully around the new offensive venom movies and the camouflage stealth mechanic. With enough time, I was taking out an enemy, disappearing before the rest of his squad knew what was happening, and then launching three of them with a single venom attack, taking them down in midair.

Combined with the various suit and visor mods you get from either crafting or unlocking new suits, you can customize the young web-slinger to fit your playstyle. The game also benefits from a more streamlined system for tracking side activities. In-game, Miles and his best friend Ganke create an app for people to report crimes in progress, or to ask for help with the side quests. Throw in a bunch of side missions, ranging from hologram training that Peter left behind that also unlocks some of the high-level skills from the previous game, to several bases that you can raid to take down foes and score points toward crafting.

Overall, the experience is more streamlined than the previous game, which is a good sign for how the next entry in Insomniac’s Spider-Man games may turn out.

The only downside I could find, and this is subjective, is that the game is shorter than the original 2018 game. The main story campaign can be completed in between 8 to 10 hours, and yet I didn’t feel too bad about it. While the story is still epic, it also benefits from being smaller scale, as Miles becomes the new hero of Harlem, and the story focuses on him, his family, friends, as well as the villains at work in Harlem. This all makes it feel incredibly personal. In addition, there are new moves and upgrades that can only be obtained through the New Game Plus, which led me to immediately start a new file, once I managed to unlock everything in my main save.

While short, Spider-Man: Miles Morales is as worthy a successor as Miles himself is to Peter; its many new additions set the stage for the next Spider-Man game to achieve even greater heights.

For more information about Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, take a look at the official website. A PS4 copy was purchased by the reviewer.

Read about more PS4 slamdunks in my review of God of War (2018) or my thoughts on the incredible Streets of Rage 4. For some of the biggest releases of the year, read our thoughts on Immortals Fenyx Rising, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, or Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.