In 2018, I played Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS4 and it was amazing. Swinging through NYC as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man allowed me to relive my previous vacation to the Big Apple. Superhero games can be great or terrible and I’m happy Marvel’s Spider-Man was the former. Once it was announced that Miles Morales would be featured in his own game, I knew I would play it as soon as it was released. My fiance bought my copy for me as a Christmas present and I installed it right away. This past weekend I finally finished the story, 100% all of the districts, and unlocked all the trophies I wanted to unlock. Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales was a genuinely fun gaming experience although I felt Miles didn’t get the same treatment as Peter Parker did.

Miles is on winter break which gives him time to finish his homework and train under Peter. Peter has to leave town for a while allowing Miles to be the main Spider-Man. Miles begins investigating Roxxon after a group called the Underground breaks into the main facility. Miles finds evidence that Roxxon’s energy invention, Nuform might be making people sick. Miles out of the goodness of his heart wants to bring Roxxon to justice, while the Underground wants to exact revenge and make them pay for their mistake. Miles is torn as he finds a personal connection to the Underground. Relatively inexperienced, Miles struggles with right and wrong while hiding his identity from his family.

The gameplay in Spider-Man Miles Morales is the same as the 2018 game. Why change a system that isn’t broken? One unique difference between Miles and Peter is Mile’s “Venom Blast” which is a bioelectrical charge that Miles can build up and blast enemies with. It’s extremely useful in combat situations and can be used to heal Miles if needed. The Venom punch is what I used most often in combat situations and helps push back powerful enemies.

I loved completing the side quests! They felt personable to Miles and his story. One side quest unlocked after completing the main story is collecting postcards. Mile’s mom hides postcards around the city and taped on the back of them were USB drives with messages from Mile’s dad. As a reminder, Mile’s dad was killed in the previous Spider-Man game. It allowed Miles to hear from his dad on his birthday. There’s another side quest where Miles has to locate a cat. After completing this side quest, Miles can unlock a suit with Spider-Cat! The orange tabby gets his mask and gets to hang out in Mile’s backpack as he glides throughout the city. Of course, this suit was my favorite to unlock.

Additionally, Spider-Man Miles Morales has a great soundtrack. The songs on the album embody Mile’s experience growing up in Brooklyn and moving to Harlem. The beat of each song has a resemblance to the diversity in Harlem and even the complexity of Mile’s identity. I have been listening to I’m Ready by Jaden and This is My Time by Lecrae on repeat.

Throughout playing Spider-Man Miles Morales, I found myself comparing it to the 2018 game. The Miles Morales game is short with the campaign taking gamers about 8 – 12 hours to beat. Marvel’s Spider–Man had a story lasting anywhere between 17 – 23 hours. Marvel’s Spider-Man was twice as long as the Miles Morales game. When playing through Miles Morales, I found myself thinking that this game didn’t take me as long to finish. Besides the length of the story, Miles Morales hasn’t been given any DLC unlike the three DLC stories for the 2018 game. When comparing the games, it’s clear the Miles Morales game wasn’t on the same level. It’s disappointing since so many fans were excited to see a Spider-Man that looked like them. It feels this game was made to make money along with setting up the sequel to the 2018 game which I find aggravating.

So what’s next for Miles? While writing my review, I looked to see if any DLC has been announced for the game and I didn’t see anything. The next Spider-Man game should be released in 2022. It seems Miles is a placeholder for fans until the sequel is released for Peter. I wish Insomniac Games would work on DLC for Miles as his story felt too short.