Game review: Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS5)

Marvel's Spider-Man from Insomniac Games released in 2018 and it was easily one of the best Spider-Man video games ever made. Developer Insomniac Games has now released a follow-up game, but this time the main character is the younger Miles Morales.

While Marvel's Spider-Man was a PS4 exclusive title, the upcoming release of Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is coming out for both the PS4 and PS5 consoles. We were lucky enough to spend time with the PS5 version, and the game is looking great for a launch title.

At the end of Marvel's Spider-Man, Miles Morales was bit by a spider and he now has the same super powers as Peter Parker. This new game picks up shortly after the last game with Peter Parker serving as a mentor to Miles Morales.

Even though Miles Morales might be a rookie superhero, he's still very powerful and can do all of the neat tricks that Peter Parker can. Miles Morales can still walk on top of buildings, and he can also web sling across the city at a very fast pace too.

In order for Miles Morales to fully become a great superhero, Peter Parker entrusts him to be New York's saviour while he's out on vacation. Peter Parker has been invited by Mary Jane to visit Europe so Miles Morales has to step up to be 'the man' of the city.

Miles Morales does not have an easy time with Peter Parker going overseas. This is because the young hero has to deal with numerous factions and enemies. One of the first villains he has to encounter is a female version of 'The Tinkerer'.

The Tinkerer has some beef with a rich corporation called Roxxon and she's seeking revenge. Miles Morales is however caught in the middle since he doesn't want innocent people dying while she's on her rampage.

The first thing you will notice about Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is how excellent the visuals look on PS5. New York City already looked great on PS4 Pro, but things are much better looking when you play the game on the PS5 console.

There are two graphic modes you can choose for this game. The first is 'Fidelity' which renders the game at native 4K resolution and also adds ray-tracing and other special effects. The other mode is 'Performance' and this is where the game runs at a blistering 60fps at all times.

Since I don't game on a high-end PC, I have never seen ray tracing before. It was awesome to finally see ray tracing running on Miles Morales as the reflections and effects look very next-generation. However, I actually preferred playing at 60fps because it made the game looks very fast and fluid. It felt very satisfying web slinging across New York at 60fps. 
Gameplay wise,

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is similar to the 2018 video game, although there are some more special powers that Morales has access to. One of the biggest changes is that Miles Morales has bioelectricity skills. He can power up objects using electricity, and these powers are also helpful in combat.

One of my favourite special moves from Morales is the punishing Venom Punch. By pressing the L1 button and Square, you can make Morales' punches be more powerful than ever before. This attack is really helpful against the bigger brutes that always like to block your normal punches.

Morales' bioelectricity abilities also come in handy because they can stun enemies and even bosses for a limited amount of time. Another unique skill Morales has is stealth camouflage. For a limited amount of time, Morales can turn invisible and knock out enemies without them knowing. The camouflage is really helpful when you want to do stealth missions.

General combat is still very snappy and responsive like the previous Spider-Mangame. Miles Morales can still dodge attacks and enemy gunfire by using the circle button. Triangle controls his webs while kicks and punches are mapped to the Square button. The game has the nice fast and fluid combat system that was first popularised in the Batman: Arkham video games.

I remember I didn't like all of the rocket launcher guys in the previous Spider-Mangame as there were far too many of them. While rocket launchers still exist in this new game, Insomniac Games has thankfully decreased the number of this particular enemy type. The developer also cut down the number of quick-time events that you need to press too.

While Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a near perfect game, some people might think the game is a little too short compared to the 2018 title. I managed to complete the main story around 10 hours. Even though the game is short, you can play through all of the side missions in order to prolong your enjoyment. There's loads of enjoyable and entertaining side missions as most of them feel unique and fun to play through.

Another thing that might upset some people is the use of New York City again. In my opinion, it would be fresh for a Spider-Man video game to take place in another city instead. We've played Spider-Man games so many times in New York City since the release of Spider-Man 2 in 2004. I know this is the character's hometown, but I reckon a Spider-Man game set in Asia or Europe would have been more fun.

Overall though, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is still a very fun game especially if you really enjoyed the 2018 video game. The game still offers great gameplay, but the PS5 visuals makes this release look very next-gen. If you're getting a PS5, you must play this game as it showcases how powerful the new console is.

Verdict: 9.0/10