Marvel's Spider-Man, Miles Morales

The Start of the Next-gen

Context

This being my first game on PS5, I will have to deviate a bit from the only talking about the game to also talking about the system itself and how the game utilizes some of its new functionality throughout this post.

Having played the original spiderman on PS4 back in 2018 and again in 2020, I was already familiar with how this type of game and how its mechanics worked. I found the original spiderman an incredible game full of fun activities, missions and a really living world, a marvel that I am still surprised could run on the original PS4 from 2013.

Although the combat system at its core is not my favorite (button mashing) its Spider man’s abilities created enough variation in the combat to make it satisfy and fun enough to make me really enjoy the combat and require some actual skill to progress.

I will probably replay this game at some point prior to the sequel and complete my thoughts on that post, that said let us get on with Miles Morales.

In the future should I have a post on a certain game, this context section shall be much shorter and will probably just link to said post.

My Setup

Spider-Man Miles Morales was played using a PS5 outputting on a 4k TV with HDR on (not HDMI 2.1). In terms of sound setup, the PS5 was plugged into a receiver and there to a 2.0 system.

There is not that much to say about console setup, it’s pretty much just plug and play, no hassle like on PC.

Sound and Music

Let us start with music, the game’s soundtrack is at its core similar the original spiderman’s soundtrack with the typical superhero tracks that play as you swing across Manhattan. But on the outside the music selection for Miles is more of reflection of his personality, with a more Hip-Hop based beats that overlay the original. Now this is not what I would usually listen, but the tracks fit very well with the game, and I can recognize that and even enjoy the music withing the context that it is presented in.

In terms of sound effects, something to note: this feature is not exclusive to PS5 but some of the in-game actions like swinging objects to throw at enemies activate the controller speaker making it a cool gimmicky feature. Other than that, there is not that much to add in terms of sounds the swinging sound good and are consistent with the actual gameplay, combat sounds great and add weight behind it making you feel as powerful as you seem.

Gameplay and Story

In the mini sequel to the 2018 Spiderman, you play as the 17-year-old Miles Morales. Dealing with the aftermath of his father’s death, moving to Harlem and learning his new power. Peter must obviously leave on a trip and leave Miles to deal with this on his own just as a new mischievous group arises to try to take over Harlem. And this is main theme of the game, not saving New York but a more localized experience of a teenager saving his new home of Harlem. It just feels cozier and more personal this way.

Now this being a short game; 5-10 hours just for the main campaign or 15-20 to 100% it. I will not be able to go much in depth without spoiling it, but I will just say that it is a Spider-Man game, and it follow the same themes of dealing with the notion of sacrificing oneself to save the larger scale, betrayals and more of the same Marvel tropes. These were very predictable but did not alleviate the impact of the most important scenes in the game.

The gameplay is where the game shines, I played this game in RT performance mode, so 60 fps with some raytracing on the most important reflection surfaces, and let me tell you, wow, winter was a great season to showcase this game in especially at night with it snowing and all the Christmas lights around the city, very impressive on the technical side.

The combat closely resembles the original but introduces some very important mechanics that are unique to Mile’s powers. Those being his electricity venom attacks and his invisibility, meaning that you can vary your attacks and strategies in a massive way compared to the original and excites me a lot for the future of this series.

All over Manhattan you can collect different collectibles, do different challenges and destroy enemy bases, this sound familiar? Yes, they are the same as the 2018 game with a different skin. They are optional but if you want to upgrade your gear, they are less so. Speaking of gear, let us talk about suits, they are all new and unique to this game and they are very cool aesthetically speaking and very worth it to unlock them all. Unfortunately, some of them are locked behind a new game plus barrier.

Overall, the story and gameplay complement each other extremely well and managed to keep me entertained and engaged throughout my playthrough.

Bottom Line

In conclusion, this game was a great entry for the Spider-Man franchise, introducing a new character for the future, new mechanics on a new hardware system, taking advantage of the haptic feedback of the dualsense. Spider-Man again show just how insomniac games and PlayStation studios always show up with great games and leaves me with the feeling of excitement for the future of the franchise

Link to the Game