In 2018, I played Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS4, and it was amazing. 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 fiancé bought my copy for me as a Christmas present, and I installed it right away. This past weekend, I finished the story, 100% of all 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, could 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 Miles’ “Venom Blast,” which is a bioelectrical charge Miles can build up and blast enemies with. It’s 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, Miles’ 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 Miles’ 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 Miles’ experience growing up in Brooklyn and moving to Harlem. 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 8 – 12 hours to finish. 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 that the Miles Morales game wasn’t on the same level. It’s disappointing to say the least.

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.