Hey everyone, to help organize my thoughts better, I decided to break this review into sections. This review contains no Major Story spoilers, and the spoilers it does contain all happen within the first hour or so of gameplay! Marvel's Spider-Man Miles Morales was played on my PS4 Pro with zero issues. If you have any tips or constructive criticisms, please feel free to leave them below!
Story:
The game starts off with Miles Morales stepping out of a train and into Harlem. Right away we can tell some time has passed since the events of Marvel's Spider-Man by the snow on the ground. To be exact, one year has passed since we took control of Peter Parker and went head to head with Hammerhead.
Shortly after stepping off the train, Miles receives a text from Peter, which says that a prisoner convoy is moving. After meeting up with Peter, the duo makes their way to the convoy, ready to defend it against whatever or whomever may threaten it.
We learn that the convoy is carrying none other than the escaped prisoners from Rykers and Rhino, who are trapped in a prisoner container being carried by a helicopter. After an attempt to break free, one of the lines carrying the container snaps, disregarding Peter's order to wait, Miles rushes in to try to repair the damage with his trusty Web Shooter, but instead almost gets chopped to bits, and unintentionally free's Rhino.
Needing to get the prisoners back, Peter orders Miles to deal with the convicts while he deals with Rhino. It turns out Rhino is too much for Pete and Miles has to come in to help. After Peter is beaten by Rhino, Miles steps in, and discovers he has a new power, Venom Power. Now I know what you might be thinking and no, it has nothing to do with a symbiote, instead as Miles describes it, it's bioelectricity.
After putting Rhino in his place, Peter reveals to Miles that he is leaving town with MJ to go overseas for a "jobcation" as a photographer, while MJ covers an event over there. And that he would be leaving New York in Miles's hands.
Throughout the story, we get a glimpse at the Spider-Man in training, and the thing to remember is that he is exactly that, in training. Unlike Peter, who had around eight years of experience as SM when we played as him, this is all new to Miles. He is a teenager, isn't exactly the best at keeping his identity a secret and has to deal with family problems while also shouldering the responsibilities of Spider-Man.
The game also introduces two new "factions" The Young Mafia, also known as The Underground, and Roxxon Energy, which is a company that focuses on "clean" energy, that also has its own private security force. The enemies are pretty much the same as they were in Spider-Man, but just look different cosmetically. We have enemies that can only be hurt with aerial attacks, from behind, or by yanking their shields away. The exception is for a new type of enemy that can only be hurt by using Venom Powers, which I will discuss in the next section of this review.
The story took me around eight hours to complete, it is important to remember this is a standalone expansion and not a full game.
Combat:
The combat is the same as the previous game. That's all there really is to say. Although Miles's punches look sloppy, at least to me they do, most encounters play out the same as the previous game. One thing that disappointed me was the lack of Gadgets that Miles has. There is four gadgets that he acquires, Holo drones, which creates a holographic ally to fight alongside you, a remote mine that can stun enemies or even take them down if applied to a power box, the Web Shooter, and the Gravity Well which sucks enemies in towards it. I found my use of these gadgets to be very little with only using the Holo Drone to take a quick healing break or using the Web Shooters when the story demands it. I am highly disappointed we didn't get to have an Impact Web and Web Bomb while playing the game.
For the skill tree, there are three branches, Combat, Venom, and Camoflauge skill. The Camoflauge and Venom are new mechanics that were added in the game. Camoflauge sounds exactly like it is, Miles can turn invisible and is handy if you're running low and health. However, it only lasts a few seconds and there are some enemies that can detect heat signatures. The Venom power is where it is at. As I said before, it has nothing to do with the Symbiote but instead has to do with electricity. The bar that was previously used for finishers is now used for Venom Power. Each bar allows you to either punch someone with electricity, dash towards them and yeet them over your head, or to cause an explosion. Each of these stuns the enemies and are a vital part of the combat. Finishers now go by your combo streak. Each streak you get to 15 allows you to perform one finisher.
The stealth is more or less the same. The Remote mine can play a big part in splitting up groups if you want it to, but isn't necessary. If you stick one of these on a fuse box, the surrounding enemies will investigate it, and if you time it right and you can take out two to three enemies, and the best part is it doesn't break stealth!
Side Activities, Missions, and Crafting:
I'd like to remind everyone again that this isn't supposed to be a whole new game in itself. The side activities are almost a carbon copy of what we saw in the main game. There are four side activities (don't confuse these with side missions, which I will get to in the next section.) Like the main game, two of these activities are just gang hideouts. You go to X place, beat up X amount of people, and interact with X object. However, there are two new ones. One of the new ones requires you to go to a certain place, listen to a sound, and find the object that matches it. It's not as hard as it sounds, as there is a sound wave image of said sound on the screen and another sound wave image of the object you are looking at.
To help Miles with his training, even though Peter is gone, Peter has set up these challenges (Which I'll call the last activity). They come in threes. There's Combat, Stealth, and Traversal. For anyone who has played the main game's DLC's, they are pretty similar to the ScrewBall challenges. There is a benefit for completing them. Not only do you unlock crafting tokens but it also unlocks new skills for Miles!
A quick tidbit about the collectibles in the game. Instead of Backpacks they are instead Time Capsules and similar to Backpacks, each has a "lore item" in it that Miles comments on.
Now Side Missions and Crimes are done a bit different in Miles Morales. Instead of seeing side missions on the map, you use an app in game which NPC's used to request the help of spiderman. You can also track crimes with this. The Side missions vary and are a nice break from the story. They can be anything from rescuing a cat to rescuing a window washer who is stuck on his platform. It's the stuff that makes Spider-Man, Spider-Man.
In order to craft new gear you need tokens which can be acquired by completing activities around the city. Like the main game, you can craft new suits, mods, and upgrades for your gadget.
Conclusion:
If you liked Marvel's Spider-Man, then you will like this. It's more of the same and is an origin story for Miles. Personally, I loved seeing Miles as Spider-Man. We see him messing up, feeling insecure, and eventually overcoming the antagonists and earning the right to call himself Spider-Man.
After Credit Scene:
If you stuck around after the credits, like any Marvel fan should, you would be greeted to an extra scene. Like the one at the end of the main game, this one here is about Norman and Harry. After a brief conversation, Norman tells a doctor that Harry has been in the tank long enough and to let him out. With Spider-Man 2 confirmed to be coming out in 2023, I think it's safe to say that the antagonist will be no other then the Green Goblin.