Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales review

I was concerned that Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales wouldn’t work well on my base model PS4 as I’ve had issues with that recently. (I complain about the otherwise great Cyberpunk 2077 here.) Happily, there are no such glitches here and it plays brilliantly smoothly.

If you haven’t played the original, then you should, it is excellent. My review is on my other site – check it out here.

Quick synopsis

If you have played the first Spider-Man game, you will know Miles Morales. He’s also in the comics. Well, in this game, Peter Parker has gone on holiday and has left Miles to look after Manhattan.

Predictably, there is a big corporation called Roxxon that is developing new tech that everyone thinks is great. Predictably, they aren’t great, they are evil. I really think Spider-Man / Spider-Men should aggressively investigate any Manhattan-based technology company over a certain market value. It would save a lot of time.

Miles’s mum is a politician campaigning in Harlem. Oh, and there is a gang who have one type of tech, the corporation with another type of tech, and loads of prisoners who broke out and seem to multiply all over the city committing very similar crimes.

I won’t go into much more without spoiling much. The story is fine.

Spider-Man Gameplay

The Good

When I reluctantly decided to stop playing Cyberpunk 2077 until the February patch, I wanted something that was just fun. The opening sequence of Spider-Man Miles Morales is probably some of the most fun I’ve had playing a game in a long time. It is a superb introduction and I ended up playing it twice.

As in the original, things settle down and various characters find reasons to make you visit every corner of the city to collect stuff. Which is fine, the game would be really short otherwise. This time, you are collecting stuff like time-capsules, spare parts and music-samples. There are also Roxxon bases to take down, training missions and so on.

In addition to these non-mission activities, there are crimes and sub-stories. There is a lot to do but some can be a tad repetitive. Happily, the repetition is fun. Fighting is satisfying and well done and Miles also has electrical powers for some reason. It is lucky that he does have these powers because he needs electricity all the time. Without that random mutation, he would have failed in nearly all the main missions.

The highlight is still simply swinging around and punching people en-route. It is the same as the first game and remains a joy. I never once used fast travel.

When it comes to graphics, even on a base PS4 console the game looks great. Traversing the city at speed is flawless and fights with multiple enemies and explosions look fantastic.

Spider-Man Miles Morales is a lot of fun to play. If you liked the original, you will like this.

The not so good

I couldn’t bring myself to write ‘bad’ for the sub-header above. Nothing is bad here. There are a few things that weren’t spectacular, however.

The game is pretty short and uses the same map. I know Spider-Man is a friendly neighbourhood kind of a fellow, but it did make the game feel a bit like DLC. The main difference is that this time it is winter. Even the movies are now allowing Spidey to travel (and in this game Peter Parker is on holiday).

The collectables are there to give you perks and extend the game. I did a few main missions until all the collectables and challenges were all on the map. I then dedicated an hour or two to just swinging around town picking them up. They are varied enough that it is not dull and there are crimes and events to break up what would otherwise feel like a bit of a chore.

The crimes are all pretty the same. There are a few of them, but they are often repeated. Bad guys holding up a truck and trying to open the door; bad guys hi-jacking a car and you have to chase; bad guys take over a helicopter gunship and start shooting stuff. It makes you wonder how many weaponised helicopters are over Manhattan at any given time because I saved several. Happily, they are all highly enjoyable, so it’s not too bad.

Conclusion

Although it doesn’t feel like a full game, it isn’t priced as a full game. Spider-Man Miles Morales is a lot of fun and there are sequences that are every bit as exciting as a movie. It helps that the game runs smoothly, looks great, and the controls are easy and intuitive.

Miles Morales is a likeable character, as are those around him. The game feels like a great episode in a well-polished franchise. If you want 10-12 hours of sheer enjoyment, you can’t go wrong and there is bound to be more DLC on the way.

Highly recommended.