Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5)

Following the success of Marvel’s Spider-Man from Insomniac, a stand-alone follow-up game, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, was announced as a PS5 launch title, alongside a digital-only PS5 remaster of the previous game. Having liked the first game and gotten to like Miles Morales as a character through Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, I was curious to see Insomniac’s take on him and how they were going to keep fans sated until they release a full sequel to the first game. While Miles Morales also launched on PS4, I weighed my options and went for the PS5 version, helped by the Ultimate Edition (which comes bundled with a voucher for Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered and bonus content) being included in a PS5 launch bundle from Costco, which also included an extra controller.

The bundle itself took much longer than expected to arrive, an annoyance I wasn’t alone in experiencing, though once it finally arrived, I didn’t get to actually play the game until receiving it as a Christmas present. After finally getting around to it, I found it a worthwhile experience despite its short length.

Upon starting the game, you are given the option to view a small recap of preceding events, which tells parts of Marvel’s Spider-Man as seen from Miles’ perspective. Following this, Miles helps Peter watch after a prisoner convoy on Christmas Eve, learning the ropes of being Spider-Man on the job. Things go awry when the prisoner, Rhino, manages to escape, leading to the two Spider-Men working together to stop him. After Peter is incapacitated, Miles takes down Rhino on his own after discovering he has developed new powers, though Rhino is taken into custody by the company Roxxon. Later, Peter informs Miles of a job he has to do for the Daily Bugle that would leave him away from New York for a few weeks, leaving Miles as the sole Spider-Man in the meantime. As Miles struggles to grow into the role, he comes head-to-head with a criminal group known as The Underground, uncovering a large conspiracy along the way.

The main crux of the story is Miles Morales working through the struggles of being Spider-Man and standing out from Peter Parker, as well as themes such as the meaning of family. While this story has also been featured in works such as Into the Spider-Verse, this game goes about it in its own way, told through a combination of cinematic cutscenes and gameplay. Some side missions in the game have their own stories to tell, though these are done entirely during gameplay, which makes them memorable in their own way.

Though such features are becoming increasingly common amongst AAA titles, the game features a number of accessibility options on startup, among them a number of options on how you want to render subtitles. I will also mention that Friendly Neighborhood, the lowest difficulty setting and the one I played on for expediency, prevents you from being knocked out in combat. This option is good for those who are not used to rhythmic combat (see: Batman: Arkham Asylum) and just want the story, though higher difficulty features exist for those looking for a challenge.

The gameplay of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is largely similar to that of the earlier Marvel’s Spider-Man, which is something I was expecting. However, there are some differences that allow Miles Morales to stand out from Peter Parker gameplay-wise, much like in the campaign. Your actions in combat, mainly attacking or dodging, fills up a Venom Meter that grants access to various Venom abilities, activated by pressing L1 on the controller and different combinations of the face buttons (Square, Circle, Cross and Triangle). The Venom Mater starts out with one bar and gradually increases to three, though something to keep in mind is that, while most Venom powers take at least one meter to pull off, some require up to three (the most powerful move even refills your health upon use). Additionally, the Venom Meter can be used to quickly heal yourself by pressing Down on the D-Pad, which can come in handy when taking on bosses or large groups.

Venom powers open up more combat options.

Another ability you can later in the game is Camouflage, for which my frame of reference is Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. By pressing Up on the D-Pad, you can become invisible for a short period of time, enabling quick getaways and making stealth takedowns a lot easier to pull off. Naturally, the Camouflage Meter has a cooldown period, however some Skills on the Skill Tree improve on the Camouflage ability, including reducing the amount of Camouflage you lose in combat.

Along with these other features, swiping left on the touch pad brings up an in-game social media feed, known as the Friendly Neighborhood app. Here, you can view Activities or Crimes in a more convenient way than looking at the map, and completing these earns you bonus XP and rewards. XP can also be earned by performing midair tricks while webslinging around New York and chaining combos with said tricks, making the next level up a little easier. The Weapon Wheel also returns to access different gadgets to aid in combat and stealth, which can be upgraded by completing activities for Activity Tokens and raiding Underground caches for Tech Parts. While New York is a fairly-sized map, the ability to fast travel makes traversing it a lot easier, with said ability unlocked after you advance the story enough to obtain a one-year unlimited subway ride pass.

Similarly to the previous game, there are also a number of customization options in the form of different cosmetic suits, this time based on different versions of Miles Morales, as well as Visor and Suit Mods that have an affect on gameplay. Some of these can be accessed at the start with the Ultimate Edition, upon redeeming a voucher, including the T.R.A.C.K. Suit, the Into the Spider-Verse Suit, the Bam! Pow! Wham! Visor Mod (which causes sound effects seen in Into the Spider-Verse to pop up in combat) and the Vibe the Verse Suit Mod (which causes Miles’ animations during gameplay to replicate the animation style of Into the Spider-Verse). Though those last two Mods are more for flavor, I liked them enough to keep them equipped the entire time and even kept the Into the Spider-Verse Suit equipped for the full effect. Upon fulfilling certain conditions, you can unlock the Bodega Cat Suit after completing the main story, which sees Miles wearing a backpack carrying a cat wearing a Spider-Man mask and has the chance of a humorous Finisher in which the cat attacks the enemy.

Much like the previous game, New York boasts an impressive level of detail, making the city feel truly lived-in and selling the Christmas-time setting of the story. While there are a few different graphics options depending on your preference for graphics or performance, I played on the default Fidelity setting, which runs at 30 FPS and includes additional visual effects, and the game ran very smoothly during my playthrough without any noticeable slowdowns. Perhaps owing to the power of the PS5, subway fast travel and transitions into and out of buildings was instantaneous, plus the system ran very quietly despite the amount of objects rendered at once.

Camouflage adds a layer of stealth to gameplay.

In a notable change that carried over from the PS5 remaster of Marvel’s Spider-Man, Peter Parker’s face was given a major redesign. According to Insomniac, this change was due to Peter’s face model being replaced with someone whom they believed was a better match for his voice actor Yuri Lowenthal. Though Peter doesn’t have much screen time in this game, I am of the opinion that he looks a bit young for his age as a result, not helping that his new design ends up being a dead ringer for Tom Holland, who plays Peter Parker in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The voice acting in this game is well-cast, with good performances all around. Since he has the most screen time, Nadji Jeter, who has voiced Miles Morales in other contemporary Spider-Man projects, brings a solid performance to the character, reflecting his hardships and character development over the course of the game. The rest of the game features some great audio design in general, though one nice touch of immersion that stood out to me was how Spider-Man’s web sound effects can be heard coming out of the controller speaker in addition to the TV.

On one final note, completing the campaign brings up a shout-out to Spider-Man and Miles Morales’ creators after the credits, followed immediately by a tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, who played T’Challa/Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Despite being privately diagnosed with colon cancer, he managed to work through it until his passing out of sheer dedication to his craft and his performance as Black Panther has had a noticeable impact on pop culture. Other smaller tributes to him can be found within the game world if you know what to look for, including a Wakandan flag and a street named after him, as well as a reference to his role as Jackie Robinson in the film 42. May he rest in peace.

While a little short, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is an enjoyable launch title for the PS5 that shows off the capabilities of the system’s performance. The fun gameplay and engaging story make it a good game in its own right, though the initial price tag can understandably turn some people away. Regardless, this side story may be enough to hold Spider-Man fans over until the inevitable full sequel to Marvel’s Spider-Man, teased in the post-credits, comes around.