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Rating 5
5
Amazing

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales - Review

Another Year, Another Fantastic Spider-Man Game
Score: 5/5
Reviewed by Oliver VanDervoort on PS5 - December 23, 2020   

As a general rule, there are few games out there that can really make me feel something. I like horror video games but I’m not someone who usually gets “scared.” I might feel the tension of the moment, but I’m not about to jump out of my chair.

I did say, “in general.” There are some horror games that genuinely spook me. Resident Evil 7 and PT are two that come to mind at the moment. I know I was pretty spooked by the original Silent Hill when it first launched. 

If it’s hard to scare me, it’s even harder to elicit emotions like actual joy and sadness when playing a game. Even when I’m really immersed in a story, I’m still outside the game enough to not really feel as though I’m “in” there. My heart doesn’t beat harder or faster during action sequences, I don’t feel sad when a character dies. 

All of this needs to be followed by the caveat, “most of the time.” There are a handful games that leap to mind when I start trying to think of games that really made me care about anyone and everyone in a story. Beyond Human is one. Spider-Man is another. And Spider-Man: Miles Morales is the third. 

I absolutely loved the original Spider-Man game. Loved it. Outside of games as a service titles like Destiny 2 or The Division 2, there isn’t a game I’ve spent more time with. Miles Morales is likely going to take that title.

As much as I loved the original Spider-Man game, I’m a bit surprised to announced, Miles Morales is better. If you’re just reading this to find out how I would score the game? It’s my Game of the Year winner. 10 out of 10. If that is indeed all you’re here for, then you got to the crux of this review quickly. I’d encourage you to read on as to why this game got a score I don’t hand out all that often.

Feeling Feelings


Miles Morales follows in the footsteps of its predecessors nicely when it comes to not only the major characters being well acted, but the supporting characters as well. Even Miles’ mom, who doesn’t appear on screen for more than 10 minutes total at most, is done in a way that makes you believe there’s a connection between he and his mom. 

When there are periods of time when her life is put in danger (because a comic book story wouldn’t be complete without the mom/aunt being in trouble) there’s actual worry for her. 

It should be pointed out that there are more characters to care about in this game than the original Spider-Man. There’s a couple of best friends you’ll get to know fairly well. There’s also a couple of different villains that have some decent back story. They’re all fleshed out. They’re all well written.

Combat and using Miles’ power is certainly the name of the game but the story is riveting. I was both happy to get to the end and see how they finished it and was also sad to see it over.

Peter Parker was a very likable character in the original game. Miles is even more so. I’m looking forward to getting into the side quests that are still out there to play, just so I can take the reins of Miles Morales some more.


Brevity Isn’t a Drawback


If there is one “negative” about Spider-Man: Miles Morales, it is the length of the main story. It’s pretty short. I mostly played the main story, and mixed in some side quests and tasks in order to get a feel for what the game offered.

There’s still quite a bit of the side stuff left to do, but the story itself is about 6-7 hours. The game fleshes that out some by encouraging you not to go from one story beat to the next. It will attempt to get you to play a side quest before you move on. Every now and then, you are in fact, forced to play a side quest. 

For a $60 or $70 game (if you bought the version with Spider-Man Remastered), there are some who are going to claim that’s not enough story. The good news is that the there are side missions out there that might not advanced the main campaign, but are still plenty fun to mess around with. 

There’s even one side quest track that will introduce a whole new villain (no spoilers) completely outside the main story. It’s hard to say exactly whether or not a longer story would make the game better.

Certainly there is one particular baddie that could benefit from more coverage. They are quite prominent at the beginning of the game and fade into the background as you near the end. Their reappearance is less than compelling towards the finale.

On the other hand, you never want story inserted into a game just to make it longer. I was ready for the end to come, when it came. Even if I will admit I was a bit surprised when I got the message that I was entering the end game. The finale didn’t feel particularly rushed. It was a complete story for sure.

Beauty Doesn’t Cover It

One the reasons the world of Miles Morales feels more immersive is certainly because on the PS5. It’s just a beautiful game. There’s something new to see and marvel at as time passes in the game. The days are gorgeous, but the nights are incredibly pretty to look at as well.

The details on the faces are well done as well. There aren’t any weird expressions or lack of emotion in those faces. They look very, very good and that helps the game overall. 

One of the things this game does so well, that other lesser games don’t even try, is that even when you are walking through a crowd of people, everyone in that crowd looks like a real person. That makes the game quite a bit better. It allows the player to immerse themselves even more, when there isn’t someone on the street that looks like a faceless automaton.

Obviously, there’s a new standard when it comes to the next generation consoles. It’s possible that Miles Morales won’t stand the test of time when other PS5 and Xbox Series X games hit the market. For now, the way Insomniac works colors and realism into the game makes this just gorgeous to look at.

Enemies Are A Bit Generic


While the game is short, the time of the story isn’t the real negative of Miles Morales. If there is a place where this title falls a bit short it’s the originality of the villains. The boss fights are great. The brawls against the minions however, feels very, very similar.

This time around, you’re taking on Roxxon and The Underground. But other than coloring of their uniforms there’s really nothing all that different from the bad guys in Miles Morales and the bad guys in Spider-Man.

That’s especially the case when you look at the design of The Shocker in the first game and The Prowler in the second. 

The weapons are also incredibly similar. Both the demons in the first game had shields and whiplike devices that were meant for the stronger minions. Bigger, thicker guys tend to still denote a tougher guy to fight too. 

If the combat wasn’t so fun, this would be a much bigger problem.

Miles Gets His Own Spin On Great Combat

One of the things that made Spider-Man so good is that it was truly fun to get into a pack of bad guys and just rough them up. Whether your thing was stealthily making a dude hang from the rafters, or brute forcing your way through a group, it was plenty fun. 

Insomniac outdid themselves with the combat in Miles Morales. Some of that is thanks to using a character that’s similar enough that you know how to play, if you’ve played the first game, but also different enough to not make it feel repetitive.

Miles has the old web swinging powers and everything that comes with it. He’s also got the reflexes that allow you to dive and jump and twist your body out of the way of oncoming bullets, rockets and punches. But he’s also got some moves and some powers Peter Parker should be very jealous of. 

One of the conceits of Miles Morales is that he’s a new hero. He’s just learning his powers. This makes it that much more realistic as the game goes on and you pick up new powers. It’s believable that they would unlock this way and that he might not know how to use them right away. 

By doing it this way, the game continues to stay fun and fresh as well. You’re not always taking dudes down with the same combo or trick every single time. I don’t want to give away too much in this regard, but you’re going to need all those powers to finish off the game.

Final Word


Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a fantastic game that is hampered a little bit in how similar it is in spots to the original Spider-Man. The good news is that this doesn’t feel just like DLC, which was the concern of some when the game was announced. It stands out on its own and does a great job. The fact that this is a launch title for the PS5 only makes it that much more impressive. 

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