Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales picks up not long after 2018s Marvel’s Spider-Man concluded, although Insomniac Games have chosen to focus this follow up as a side story and on the growing popularity of Miles Morales. While Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales takes the, if it is not broke don’t fix it approach, it adds more than enough to be worth a playthrough for any action and superhero fans.

Continuing from the first game and The City That Never Sleeps DLC, Peter Parker has been mentoring his young prodigy, Miles Morales, which forms the basis of the spectacular opening sequence that introduces a playable Miles and his special electric Venom power. At the conclusion of this mission and after taking down one of Spider-Man’s largest rogues, Miles is introduced to the Roxxon Energy Company and their director, Simon Krieger (voiced by stalwart Troy Baker), who portrays exploitation for the sake of making money. At the conclusion of this opening, Peter Parker lets Miles know he will be taking a short hiatus to follow Mary Jane around Europe for a working holiday, and that he is the lone guardian of the city over the Christmas break.  

The story quickly continues, with interwoven factors, such as our young hero’s mother, Rio Morales, running for City Council who is a spokeswoman against Roxxon and their forces. The Tinkerer and his high-tech militia called the Underground, with the goal of wiping out Roxxon anyway possible, and Aaron Davis who is Mile’s estranged uncle with a dishonest past. With all this going on, plus a number of Marvel Universe cameos, the story puts Miles on an emotional roller-coaster of protecting the ones he loves, his Harlem neighbourhood and the responsibilities  of steping up to become Spider-Man. This reviewer really enjoyed this story and safe to say, Insomniac has continued to improve their story telling.

Miles controls very similar to Peter Parker, and even for newcomers it is easy to learn the ropes of web-swinging, combat and stealth. The biggest change is Miles’ Venom powers. In Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the Venom powers are electrical based, with the player learning the Venom Strike right off the bat. Other Venom attacks include a ground bash, dash and jump. These moves stun other enemies and groups, making them easier to deal with. The other major move Miles has compared to Peter Parker is his camouflaged invisibility. This is used throughout the majority of the stealth sections thrown at the player. Miles must use a number of stealth techniques to pick off enemies, as Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a lot deadlier in the stealth sections.Trying to use brute force will very likely get the player killed if they get into a large combat situation; literally making the camouflaged invisibility a lifesaver to get out of trouble quickly or deadly when taking out enemies one by one.

When progressing through the narrative, Miles will unlock new moves but players can also do this by completing Spider-Man lessons created by Peter Parker. There is also much to be done outside the missions. Miles’ best friend Ganke Lee has created a mobile application allowing people to contact Miles for assistance. These side missions range from finding stolen cars, rescuing a cat through to uncovering a real estate racket that involves another famous Spider-Man rogue that is pulling the strings. There are also random crimes, Underground hideouts, Roxxon venues and a slew of collectibles hidden throughout the map. While the story is 7 to 8 hours, the 100% competition will take at least double the time.

Completing these side activities gives the player star and tech points that are used for upgrading. After levelling up or completing side activities, Miles can upgrade his suits that are unlocked throughout the campaign. Like the last game, there are a number of suits from the Miles Morales universe, including my favourite from Into the Spider-Verse, which moves at 12 frames per second to mirror the fantastic film. Gadgets such as web shooters and other goodies can be upgraded to make them stronger and house more ammunition. There is also a skill tree that can be added to by levelling up. The skill tree focuses on attacks, venom and camouflage and Miles levels up via earning experience for everything he does, including tricks while web slinging.

Manhattan is once again the star of the show but this time in its white Christmas glory, with everywhere outdoors literally covered in snow with Christmas celebration lights lighting up apartment blocks. On the PlayStation 5 the city is more alive than ever, with NPCs (non-playable characters) literally everywhere making the city feel well and truly alive. While the graphics are not ground shaking, there are noticeable improvements, including the ray tracing and light reflection off puddles, windows and even tops of vehicles, which all look great from the air. Players can choose to play in either the highest 4K enhanced mode but at 30fps or at the smoother 60fps but less enhanced. While there are some differences when swinging between buildings, it will just come down to the player’s preference.

The sound design is also fantastic, with the city feeling alive through its real world counterpart noise, be it the moving of traffic to the chatter of pedestrians. The music chosen also reflects Miles and his choice in beats, very similar to Into the Spider-Verse.  The acting and voice performances of all main and support actors is what we have started to expect from Insomniac, making Miles, his family and friends through to the games villains all feel like real people who have real motives.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is somewhat a family friendly game, while it is a classified M (mature), there is no blood, coarse language, sexual references and Miles is as wholesome as any parent would want their child to be; the game does include a lot of comic book violence that is similar the majority of Marvel movies though. For parents of younger children, it should be checked out first before they play. The game can be paused at anytime and it is a single player game with no online components.

Pottsy for One More Game

9 – Amazing – as near to a 10 as you are going to get without it being a 10. It’s an amazing experience that just requires that little something else to make it a masterpiece. Your hard earned cash and time would be well spent here.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales was reviewed on the PlayStation 5. It is also available on PlayStation 4.

The thoughts of this title are ours and ours alone.