Is Miles Morales: Spider-Man worth buying on PlayStation 4.
PlayStation 5 made its debut in select countries on November 12th. The console was selling out of pre-orders the day they were made available and it’s more than likely going to continue to sell out of stores for the foreseeable future – especially with Christmas around the corner. The game that launched the PlayStation 5 was Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
This was undoubtedly a smart move since Spider-Man for PlayStation 4 was one of the best games of the year. But Peter Parker isn’t the star. This time, Miles Morales is taking the reins as the lead Spider-Man.
For those of you who haven’t purchased a PS5, don’t fret. Sony made sure to release one for PS4 as well.
This writer couldn’t wait for this game to drop – not just because the first project was so good but because he’s a huge Miles Morales fan as well. Since debuting in 2011, Miles has gained a lot of warranted attention. He’s unlike Peter Parker in more ways than just his powers and this is something that comic book fans appreciated. Miles wasn’t a lazy reboot. He was carrying the Spider-Man legacy by being his own hero.
As good as he is in Marvel Comics, it was certainly a gamble releasing another Spider-Man game and not using one of the most popular comic book characters of all time to led it. That game paid off because the good news is that this game is everything you could have wanted and more.
Continuing where we left off
At the end of the original campaign, Miles tells Peter that he has spider powers. Peter then reveals that he’s Spider-Man. At the end of The Heist campaign, Peter takes Miles web swinging for the first time. The story picks up a while later. Miles is working with Peter until Peter has to leave to go to work with Mary Jane as a photographer in Symkaria. That leaves Miles alone to be Spider-Man for the first time.
Some games will drop you off in a game without explaining what’s going on. In an age where you can find out with a simple YouTube search, it isn’t unheard of. In this game, however, you get a brief video package recapping what happened previously before the game starts. When you begin playing, the initial tutorial showcases Miles still in training but on a mission with Peter. Why is this a good thing? It adds to the story and his relationship with his Spider-Mentor.
Due to this, everyone who plays Spider-Man: Miles Morales will feel like they have played the previous game. This gives the new players a way to get what happened without having to dig too much. Another positive is you get involved in the development of Miles Morales. As the game continues, you see why connecting the two stories was so important.
Gameplay
A great story can turn an okay game to a fantastic one. However, if the gameplay is terrible, the story won’t matter. It can take you right out of what’s going on. You can always look up what happened if you’re invested in the tale.
The trailer for Spider-Man made the game look complicated. There seemed to be a lot of buttons to press to do simple things. When you play the game, however, you realize that it isn’t difficult. It’s actually rather simple. Going into Spider-Man: Miles Morales, you’d hope that the phrase, “ If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” would be the case here. Thankfully, it was.
For the most part, the button controls remained the same. Since there seemed to be little complaints on the controls, there wasn’t a point in switching things up. The problem now is Miles has more powers than Peter Parker. He has his camouflage mode and his venom strikes. This meant that new control configurations would have to be added. The team who made the controls did a great job. They combined specific venom moves with things you already did. For example, there’s a venom move where you jump. They just added the jump button with the new venom control button. Keeping it simple was the right move.
Suits and side missions
Side missions have become a regular part of games. Even NBA 2K makes you go through team practices to make your character better. The previous Spider-Man game had a lot of side missions to do. A lot of them were redundant. Others were fun and creative. You get more of the same here. Missions like taking down bases are fun. You can be stealthy, creative, or test your skill by revealing yourself to your enemy early. But, again, they can be redundant.
The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man app was a nice touch. We use our phones for everything, so why wouldn’t Miles? After all, he’s a 17 year old kid. The app made it easier for you to determine which side missions you wanted to do and even let you know about crimes in progress. A simple, but nice touch.
With the side missions came the capabilities to unlock new costumes. Miles hasn’t been around a long time. This meant there weren’t as many options for costumes. Peter Parker has been around for decades and has had more costume changes than most – even if they were subtle. The team that designed Miles’ costumes for the game did a phenomenal job. Some of them had nothing to do with Miles’ comic book lore but were colorful and creative. Especially the ones that tied into the game’s story. They were cute add-ons. Hopefully there are more to come.
The antagonists
Every game needs an antagonist. Not necessarily someone inherently evil, just a being that the hero can go up against. Miles has two. First, he has the underground: A group being led by the mysterious Tinkerer – the genius who’s out to destroy Roxxon. Then there’s Roxxon. If you’re a Marvel Comics fan, you knew they were up to no good the second you saw their name. In the middle of these two warring factions are the innocent people of Harlem. With Peter Parker gone, it is up to Miles to protect them. As the story progresses, Miles becomes their Spider-Man.
Warning! This next paragraph may contain spoilers
On one side, you have the Tinkerer. If you know the character’s name in the comics, you saw where this was going early. It was a move that turned into the most emotional ending this writer ever experienced. There were literal tears. Everything between Spider-Man and the Tinkerer leads to one heck of a finale.
With Roxxon, they’re just another corporation who doesn’t care about anything except money – which made their company’s slogan ironic. As the story goes on, you realize that no matter how much you can relate with the Underground, when you find out who their team consists of, you may lose your connection to them. This writer can’t express how great this was.
The characters
We’ve discussed Miles, Peter, and the villains, but there’s so much more to Spider-Man: Miles Morales than just those guys.
We have Ganke. He was a crucial part of this game. Miles wouldn’t have been able to do most of what he did without his tech and moral support. His mother Rio was sweet and strong. Despite being threatened and people attempting to intimidate her, Rio kept on her campaign trail. The story between Phin and Miles was also something special – the less said the better. And with Miles Morales’ story comes his Uncle Aaron. He was everything we’d seen in the comics and eventually the movie. Flawlessly done.
Those are just the main characters. Throughout the game you meet random people who contribute to Miles becoming their Spider-Man. Hailey was a deaf woman who helped Spider-Man stop a mysterious crime boss. After helping her, she gave him his scarf. We see Gloria again. She was the first person Peter sent to F.E.A.S.T. in the previous game. There was even a bodega cat named Spider-Man. It was the little touches like this that made this special.
There was a lot of inclusion and representation as well. There were more than a few LGBTQ flags around the city and Gloria had a girlfriend. There were strong female antagonists – something we don’t see enough of in video games. Miles and Rio continued to speak in Spanish throughout. Hailey and Miles even spoke in sign language. How cool is that?
Is it worth the money?
In our previous video game review, we discussed Marvel’s The Avengers. This writer was honest about most of the game’s criticism being true. As we’ve seen, The Avengers still isn’t doing well. Now, we come to Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Is it worth your money?
In the words of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, “Oh, hell yeah!”
The game is incredibly fun from start to finish. The amount of non-Spider-Man parts were cut down dramatically and even when you have to do them, they’re short and enjoyable. Moreover, it was everything the previous game was and then some. The creativity used with Miles’ venom blasts and how they evolved was perfectly executed. Miles getting over his insecurities helped move the story along. And the gameplay is superb. Honestly, the only complaint here is that the game is too short. Even still, there is a lot of replay value.
Rating: 9.0 out of 10
It’s very rare that you’ll get a perfect game. There were some flaws here but for the most part, Spider-Man: Miles Morales is everything you could have hoped for.
Yes, the game is short. It was released on the 12th and this writer had completed the story by the 14th. That said, there’s still costumes to unlock, missions to complete, and a ton of stuff this writer hasn’t found yet. It’s definitely worth your money. And if the PlayStation 4 version is this fun and looks incredible, imagine what the PS5 version looks like.
What did you think? Are you enjoying Spider-Man: Miles Morales? Looking forward to buying it? Let us know in the comments below.