Spider-Man: Miles Morales on PS4 is fun, frantic, and full of heart. While not as large in scope as 2018’s Spider-Man, Miles Morales continues to build upon the world Insomniac has crafted to deliver a heartfelt story about a kid in Harlem just trying to deal with the responsibility of balancing being a hero with protecting his family. Miles Morales doesn’t add a ton to the formula, nor does it need to. Swinging through New York is just as fun as it was in 2018, and some of Miles’ new Venom powers allow him to feel different than Peter Parker. You’re not going to get all the bells and whistles the PS5 version offers, but the story itself is a must-play.
A single thought stuck with me throughout my entire playthrough of Spider-Man: Miles Morales: it’s familiar yet new. Miles Morales walks a spiderweb tightrope between being an ambitious sequel to the PS4’s best selling game and sticking to what made the original so special. While most people will gravitate towards the enhanced PS5 version of Miles Morales, the core gameplay loop and story Insomniac has crafted in its Spider-Verse is special no matter where you play.
The major aspect of Spider-Man: Miles Morales is the visual flair added and tweaks added to its gameplay systems. Traversal by-and-large remains the same in Miles Morales, with some extra visual flair to give Miles Morales a signature style. Miles himself is new to being Spider-Man, so his web-slinging techniques are unrefined and awkward. From swinging backward to adding extra-fancy flips between web swings, Miles adds some style to his web-slinging. Other than added visual flair, the extraordinarily fun web-slinging traversal from 2018’s Spider-Man returns and feels just as good as ever. The gameplay loop of traversing the city itself, whether it be hopping mission to mission or exploring the city for collectibles, is incredibly satisfying and engaging.
The biggest change to gameplay in Miles Morales is its combat. Miles Morales isn’t like Peter Parker in that his combat style is rarely reliant on web-attacks or a plethora of gadgets. Instead, Miles relies mostly on a smaller array of gadgets and the biggest addition: Venom powers. Venom powers are Miles’ bioelectric abilities that pack quite a punch. Miles has four different Venom attacks: to either dispel enemies around him, throw a bio-electrically charged punched at an armored enemy to send them careening into the distance, a venom power that throws enemies into the air, and eventually an ultimate Venom attack power.
The Venom powers add an interesting combat mechanic that allows Miles to play like his own unique Spider-Man. There was some concern that combat mechanics would remain largely the same (because how many times can you replicate Spider-Man), but Insomniac has done a stellar job in crafting Miles’ combat style to feel unique enough to be an enjoyable differentiation from Peter Parker’s Spider-Man. It’s also just incredibly satisfying to use the Venom Jump ability while surrounded by a group of enemies and then pick them off in the air.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales isn’t all about how Miles plays, but the story that’s unfolding around him in Insomniac’s Spider-Verse. Since Miles Morales’ introduction in 2011, there has been a wide range of stories to start building up Miles’ history that is sure to last for a very long time. Insomniac, as they did in 2018’s Spider-Man, has opted to take bits and pieces from the story we know for Miles and turn it on its head. From Miles’ relationship with his mother following the events of the first Spider-Man game and her political involvement in New York to Miles’ best friend Ganke being the “man in the chair”, Insomniac presents all of its characters as familiar faces who players will grow to know and love. The overall plot of Miles Morales is certainly smaller in scope compared to its counterpart Spider-Man, but Insomniac has crafted a much more intimate look into how a kid can balance having the massive responsibility of being a hero with ensuring his friends and family are safe. Miles Morales emphasizes the “Friendly Neighborhood” aspect of Spider-Man, as opposed to being New York’s hero.
Another fantastic aspect that ties into the story of Miles Morales is Harlem itself. While players can still explore the entirety of New York City from the get-go, it feels as though Insomniac put even more time and care into fleshing out Miles’ neighborhood to feel as if it’s an interconnected community within NYC. Being a part of Harlem is hugely critical in Miles’ character, so having the neighborhood feel like a unique location compared to the rest of New York just reinforces Miles’ characterization even more.
The PS4 version of Miles Morales had some technical hiccups through my initial playthrough. From some objectives not loading correctly to full-on dialogue not playing during cutscenes, the PS4 version does not appear to be as polished as it’s PS5 counterpart. It’s difficult to knock the overall game due to several small bugs, especially since the version I played was before the Day One patch, but it’s worth mentioning in terms of issues to look out for at launch. However, those technical issues were never game-breaking and they never truly detracted from the overall experience. What I was impressed by technically were the PS4 load times, which were almost always quick. Think Ghost of Tsushima in terms of load speeds.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales on PS4 is fun, frantic, and full of heart. While not as large in scope as 2018’s Spider-Man, Miles Morales continues to build upon the world Insomniac has crafted to deliver a heartfelt story about a kid in Harlem just trying to deal with the responsibility of balancing being a hero with protecting his family. Miles Morales doesn’t add a ton to the formula, nor does it need to. Swinging through New York is just as fun as it was in 2018, and some of Miles’ new Venom powers allow him to feel different than Peter Parker. You’re not going to get all the bells and whistles the PS5 version offers, but the story itself is a must-play.
