Miles Morales may not be a household name yet when it comes to Spider-Man, but he is having a watershed moment as of late. In 2018, Miles was introduced to mass audiences in the Oscar-winning film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Best Animated Feature) and with a cameo in Marvel’s Spider-Man for the PS4. Now he’s back in the titular sequel Spider-Man: Miles Morales, where he proves over the course of the campaign that he’s more than the new face of Spider-Man; he’s the unwavering heart and soul.
The story this time around is not as expansive as the first game’s, but the smaller stakes and new villains are more intimate and integral to Miles’ character arc than the mentor-mentee relationship was between Peter and Dr. Octavious. Using your webs to swing around the city continues to be an impressive feature, but Miles is so young and inexperienced that his unpolished form leads to some intentionally awkward and funny mid-air positions. These moves made me laugh, but they also served a practical purpose as they made recovering easier in situations when a building was in the way or when I got close to hitting the ground as I was freefalling.
While I own the physical PS4 disc, putting it into my PS5 made me eligible for a free upgrade to the PS5 version. I was originally apprehensive about the process, but that feeling quickly turned into awe when I saw just how much the graphics have improved in just a matter of years on this new system. Everything from the pores on each of the characters’ faces to the ray tracing reflections on my suit at various points of the game made me want to stop so I could take screenshots and share how gorgeous the in-game graphics are.
Nadji Jeter returns to voice the enthusiastic character of Miles Morales, and while Yuri Lowenthal returns to voice Peter Parker, he gets a total redesign in the PS5 version of the game (hence my apprehension). But the outrage over the redesign of Peter is overblown, considering that it did not distract me in the slightest in my playthrough. I understand that Peter had a more aged look that made sense with his character in the first game, and his new makeover kind of negates that, but 1.) he is barely in the game, and 2.) his brief heart-to-heart with Miles at the beginning is one of the game’s best moments! Peter briefly took on the Uncle Ben/Tony Stark role in that scene, and every so often, he checks on Miles to see that everything is going okay while he is on vacation in Europe with Mary Jane. Taking over her place in radioing you throughout the game is Miles’ friend Ganke who helps give him advice and intel like Ned does in the MCU Spider-Man movies.
While Spider-Man has been a pretty consistent franchise as far as video games go—especially when compared to other superhero properties—Insomniac’s PS4-exclusive Spider-Man reset the bar for superhero video games moving forward. Playing as Peter Parker was an immersive experience that included seamlessly swinging through New York, listening to J. Jonah Jameson rant about the “menace” of Spider-Man on his podcast, webbing your enemies, solving puzzles, and fighting all of the best Spidey villains from the comics.
Fans of Spider-Man for the PS4 will be happy to know that Spider-Man: Miles Morales transfers the game mechanics and story from the first game to the PS5 in brilliant fashion, proving that you don’t need Peter Parker to make a great Spider-Man game. Running at 60 FPS, swinging around, and jumping off of buildings turns the chore of traveling into a seamless joy. Sure, you can take the subway to get to locations faster, but why would you when you can get a birds-eye view of different parts of New York? Insomniac also revamps Spider-Man with some new moves, including invisibility and electric pulses, which can be used against enemies. This improves the gameplay from the first one and adds a whole new dimension to what you can do when trying to take out baddies, whether you want to attack quietly without being seen or buy yourself some time when fighting large hoards of Roxxon guards or the Underground.
To be sure, Peter’s absence leaves very big shoes to fill, but Miles Morales proves he’s more than capable of protecting the people of Harlem and doing so in his own unique way. Miles may not have Peter Parker’s sarcastic wit, but he has a connection to his family and the people in his community that set him apart from other versions of Spider-Man we have seen in the past. His Afro-Latino heritage is handled with respect and care, and some of my favorite moments come when Miles drops some Spanish during action scenes with lines like “siesta time” (nap time) or in conversations with his mother because they are authentic to his character and help level the playing field in a gaming community where minorities hardly ever get to lead these properties.
The game picks up after the tragic death of Miles’ father, which puts him in a new apartment in Harlem where he is trying to balance his school and home life with the responsibilities of being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man at the same time. Add in an old childhood friend in Phin and an uncle who are both carrying secrets of their own, and the story turns into a family affair pretty quickly. Some of the more tedious parts of the first game were when you had to play as Miles (minus the suit) or Mary Jane because it felt like it was padding out the story and made me miss playing as Peter. Miles Morales has you playing only as Miles 100% of the time. This gives you hours of playing time to live in the character and see the world through his perspective. I almost didn’t unlock all of the suits the first time I played through Spider-Man because I had wasted all of my gear on abilities instead (oops), but in Miles Morales, unlocking the suits was a lot easier, which allowed me more time to focus on side missions or collecting loot.
I also greatly enjoyed the added powers of invisibility and bioelectricity because they made the fighting more dynamic, with even more possibilities in which to take down villains. You could sneak up from behind or above and take them out stealthily or use your bioelectricity to blast guys through the air—or even use both at the same time. Add this with the previous fun options of throwing sewer grates (my personal favorite) or webbing enemies to the wall or to the floor, and it makes fighting a new experience every time and challenging when playing on Hard or Ultimate mode. Aside from one mission where you have to record different sounds in the city for your uncle to finish a mixtape that he and Mile’s dad never finished, it never gets boring. (I get that it’s a way for Miles to still connect with his dad after his death, but some mixtapes are better left unfinished…)
Another element that made me enjoy the gameplay experience even greater was the decision to set the game during Christmastime so that every setting has Christmas trees, decorations, lights, and, most importantly SNOW. I don’t know if it was just to show off, but if I didn’t already think the locations looked gorgeous, adding snow to the mix made every scene look like a Christmas card. It was a choice that played perfectly for the sense of cheer that Miles always has despite the hardships he faces; there is never an ounce of cynicism in his interactions with people.
One touching moment has him signing to a deaf girl on the street, which is something I had never seen in a superhero story before, and the fact that she was a gifted graffiti artist made the scene even better. Another memorable mission requires you to save an orange cat named Spider-Cat in order to unlock a suit where you carry him around in your backpack with him peeking out wearing his own Spider-Man mask. It’s these detailed flourishes that make this Spider-Man game stand apart from others.
I know that this isn’t the longest game—or the most inventive—but it didn’t have to be. It took the solid foundation of the first game and updated the graphics and gameplay to fit with a new protagonist who is just as easy to fall in love with as Peter Parker. After beating it twice and collecting all of the trophies, I can confidently say that this now takes the spot as my favorite Spider-Man game of all time, and I can’t wait to see what they do in the next installment.
Final Rating:
‘Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ is available now on PS4 and PS5.
Rated T for Teen.
(Photos: Captured on PS5)
