Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is considered by many as the second game of the original 2018 Spider-Man game, developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. This action-adventure game picks up a year after the events of Marvel’s Spider-Man, and by all accounts, it feels like a stand-alone game exploring the rise of Miles Morales’ Spider-Man. This, in turn, leads to the actual second Spider-Man that will feature both friendly neighbourhood Spideys set to be released in 2023. Though this is the culmination and conclusion of the original game and The City That Never Sleeps expansions, I like to think of it as its own entity.

Miles, as the main character, brings his flavor and style, quickly becoming a more well-known and loved Spider-Man, especially for those who are not big into comics, and hopefully, if you haven’t already picked this up, you will. It is worth it. The reason I keep saying that this is not a stand-alone game, but it feels like it is, is Insomniac cleverly put in a ‘Previously On’ at the start of the game which runs through the events that lead to the events of this game. This allows you to quickly catch up without having to play as Pete Parker, though I highly recommend you do because this series is amazing.

Picking up from where we left off, Pete is currently training Miles in the way of the Spider-Man, after a not-so-smooth prisoner transport that was kind of Miles’ fault, and allowed Rhino to run rampant before being re-captured. Pete lets Miles know that he is going away with MJ for a few weeks and he will be the only Spider-Man, leaving Miles feeling quite unprepared and worried about his ability to fill Peter’s shoes. Pete reassures him and states that he had to learn on his own and that he has confidence in Miles to step up. He quickly has to do so, as The Underground, with the support of their weapon maker, The Tinkerer, wage war against Roxxon Energy Corporation, but he also has to deal with the return of a mysterious gangster pulling the strings of the criminals trying to take over his home, Harlem.

Initially, I was using the mouse and keyboard to play, but it didn’t last too long before I switched to a controller. Someone with more PC gaming experience may want to use a mouse and keyboard, but I find it easier and more fun with the controller. This plays pretty much the same as Marvel’s Spider-Man, though Miles tends to be a little more acrobatic with his combat style. However, the biggest difference is in the actual abilities Miles has.

He can do what Peter can, but he has extra powers such as his Venom Blast or Venom Strike, which is a bio-electric discharge that can stun his enemies. Miles can also camouflage into his surroundings, making him nearly invisible, though in the game it seems he is, as people looking directly at him are unaware of his presence.

Along with these powers, Miles also gets his gadgets, like a device that summons solid holographic training dummies that fight for you, remote mines that set off an electric charge, and a gravity well trap that keeps enemies in place to make them easier targets. These, as well as his other abilities, can be upgraded by finding caches of tech for his gadgets and skill points for his spider abilities, which you gain as you level up. There are also collectibles and training challenges, along with side quests to help drag the game out longer for more Spidey fun.

For optimal visuals, try and have a PC that meets the recommended system requirements, otherwise, you may need to lower the settings. Luckily, my PC is pretty good, and I was taken aback by the visuals, specifically the backgrounds, like the buildings and such.

When I first started the game, the surroundings hit me before the character models did. It looked pretty flawless, and as hard as it is for me to say, even better than when I played it on the PS5. The character models are just as impressive as the previous original game and DLCs, and though the new Peter still looks weird, I am not one to get annoyed by minor changes as others seem to be. One of the things I like doing is going to locations of other Marvel characters to find little Easter Eggs, like the Avengers Tower or the Sanctum Sanctorum.

The Music transitions between the Peter Parker Spider-Man styles and R&B music that stereo-types Miles Morales as being of African American and Puerto Rican descent, but that’s not my place to have an opinion on. It is pretty good music though, so you will not find me complaining, especially when they blend both styles of music for the heroic Spider-Man music with a beat. They use similar, or at least, close to the same combat sounds and background noises from Spider-Man, though now and then, you will hear civilians comment on how you are not the main Spider-man. Also added in, which I do like, is the podcast of Danika Hart, a character from the Miles Spider-Man Comics. This brings a nice back-and-forth between Danika’s Danikast and J. Jonah Jameson’s podcast.

Overall, I love these Spider-Man games, and adding Miles straight off the back of the movie, Enter the Spiderverse, carried on the momentum and excitement for the character. The way both Peter and Miles play off of each other keeps me excited for future games. I highly recommend that if you have played Marvel’s Spider-Man game, you also pick up and play Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. If not, just play it anyway. You get the recap, and it’s a whole lot of fun.

Written by: Adam Brasher