This review contains spoilers
I thought Ubisoft was the only one still doing those expansion pack sequels that I think they themselves invented sans PC shareware back in the late 90s, but here comes Insomniac to give Sony SOMETHING for the PS5's launch. I do recommend playing this on a PS5, as the next-gen graphics do help in masking the fact that this is just Spider-Man PS4 but called something different. ...Wait, I can't call it "Spider-Man PS4" anymore because now it's on PS5. And I can't call it "Marvel's Spider-Man" because I can feel the capitalism dripping out my mouth when I say that. Oh God and I can't call the sequel "Spider-Man 2" because then I could be referring to the 2004 movie or the still-famous video game of the same name OH GOD INSOMINAC WHY DID YOU GIVE THESE GAMES AWFUL TITLES?!
Anyways, I suppose since this is just more of the same, it's best to cover what Miles Morales does better and worse than its predecessor. As for the positives, Insomniac wised up and removed the human character stealth missions, because naturally I come to a Spider-Man game to NOT play as Spider-Man. They removed the lab puzzles, which I honestly found fun in the original, but the ability to skip them entirely showed an astonishing lack of confidence which is frankly embarrassing for a developer. They also gutted the "waves" format for enemy bases which is appreciated, as it felt defeating to have my reward for taking the time to stealth kill every enemy in a base to have waves of enemies pre-alerted just spawn in after anyways. Depending on how you view it, it's shorter length can provide for a more streamlined, focused experience.
What stood out to me the most were the side quests, as they're leaps and bounds better than the first game's, mainly because they feel more personal to Miles' relationship to New York as its new Spider-Man. The Harry science missions were some of my favorite moments in the original since I love the idea of Peter Parker, this man gifted with great power, utilizing it not just to fight crime and bad guys, but participate in science experiments to develop tech that can make New York a better, safer, cleaner place to live in. His great responsibility as it were is not just to fight supervillains, but to be a hero in his community by unblocking trash backups and plugging plumbing leaks. While you could argue that some of the side quests in Miles Morales are Harry science missions rehashes (and yeah, some of them are) what sets them apart is the small supporting cast of Harlem neighbors Miles interacts with. My favorite was Hailey, not just because it's the first time I've ever seen a deaf character so naturally integrated within a game, but because she's responsible for what is easily the most heartwarming, and my favorite, moment in the game. Speaking of, I also like how you unlock certain suits by completing these side quests, and are directly rewarded with them as opposed to unlocking them offscreen; it makes them feel a little more special, even when they're tiny but meaningful changes in visuals (Hailey still the GOAT).
Combat I'm in two minds about. On one hand, because I breezed through the last game on normal mode, I chose hard mode for this game, something I rarely do when starting games I've never played before. I was right to do so, and recommend playing on this difficulty for players coming off the original game. If I played this game on normal, I think I would've curbstomped it even harder considering the new Venom and camo powers. Stealth missions where you don't automatically lose if you get spotted get bent over the bedsheets when you can cloak yourself from goons every 15 seconds, effectively making you a pseudo permanent stealth god. Venom is a lot more balanced against Underground and Roxxon goons but everyone else gets shit on when you can thunder punch, thunder jump into stun, thunder smash form the heavens, and thunder throw into other goons. I feared that had I played on normal, these moves would've trivialized combat, but hard balances it out with big hits and dodging bullets. Traversal is pretty much the same, although Miles does move with a lot of personality, one might even say, swagger of an exaggerated variety.
That being said, that's about all Miles has going for him, as I come to the game's biggest shortcoming: the story and characters. Honestly? I'm not sold on Insomniac Miles Morales. See what's cool about Miles Morales from Into the Spider-verse is that he's a little awkward and nerdy, but has to struggle to BECOME Spider-Man. He EARNS his transformation in that legendary scene. What sets him apart from the other Spider-Men that surrounded him, aside from his inexperience and unique powers, was his hesitation and self-doubt. Compare him to Insomniac Miles Morales, who is a somewhat awkward, nerdy genius who becomes Spider-Man and fights crime in New York and must balance his normal life with his superhero life. Sorry, but I just lied to you. I was describing Peter Parker that whole time. Miles is just a young black Peter where his only real difference being his connection to his own personal neighborhood as opposed to Peter's general guardianship of New York. At least in the original game he was just a teen unwittingly dragged into conflict and had to step up when his father died. That one-two punch (get it?) pair of scenes where Peter teaches Miles how to throw a punch and him saving a guy from prisoners using that knowledge was better than any Miles moment in this game. It also would've helped if he wasn't so bad at Spider-Man-ing. Peter Parker went to great lengths to keep his identity a secret from his loved ones with only MJ knowing the truth, but not only does Miles have a best friend with magic hacking powers into criminal and high tech companies, but he knows he's Spider-Man. And then his uncle just figures it out. And this he tells his enemy. And then his mother. And then his side quest neighbors. Look, I get the theming they're going for, but it makes me think "Boy, Peter, don't you look foolish with your attempting to keep your loved ones safe by hiding your identity for years. Miles is out here chadding it up so hard he tells his final boss enemy his identity and she has the decency not to expose this information to the whole world despite having every reason to do so."
The story is more focused than the original but not quite as good. The stakes aren't as high as a citywide pandemic. Also I just wanna point out how weird it is that Insomniac not only predicted COVID, but because of development times, kinda also predicted the 2020 riots as the mostly black Underground have direct confrontations with the mostly security "peace-keeping" Roxxon forces. I'm just saying maybe write something a little nicer next time, Insomniac. For all of us. Anyways, yeah, story is kinda basic and the fact that this incredible asshole billionaire guy does the most evil shit in the series behind Doc Ock and there's not a moment where you get to Venom Punch him into a wall is a wildly missed opportunity.
A lot of the open world collectible side quests are just copy pasted form the original but called something different which is lame. The final sequence has this INCREDIBLE pace killer just before the final boss like what the fuck were they thinking? And lastly, the game is noticeably buggier than its predecessor. The original had a couple bugs, but got ironed out quick and all its glitches weren't game-altering. Here, likely rushed to meet the PS5 launch deadline, I encountered pop-in, invisible platforms, pause menu preview assets not loading, and worst of all, straight up missing voice lines.
At the end of the day though, Marvel's Insomniac's Spider-Man PS4 2018 PS5 2020 is one of my favorite games of all time and this is just more of that but slightly less so. I enjoyed it, but I hope the true sequel innovates more on this formula instead of just slapping some new villains, crimes and collectibles in New York and calling it a day.
Anyways, I suppose since this is just more of the same, it's best to cover what Miles Morales does better and worse than its predecessor. As for the positives, Insomniac wised up and removed the human character stealth missions, because naturally I come to a Spider-Man game to NOT play as Spider-Man. They removed the lab puzzles, which I honestly found fun in the original, but the ability to skip them entirely showed an astonishing lack of confidence which is frankly embarrassing for a developer. They also gutted the "waves" format for enemy bases which is appreciated, as it felt defeating to have my reward for taking the time to stealth kill every enemy in a base to have waves of enemies pre-alerted just spawn in after anyways. Depending on how you view it, it's shorter length can provide for a more streamlined, focused experience.
What stood out to me the most were the side quests, as they're leaps and bounds better than the first game's, mainly because they feel more personal to Miles' relationship to New York as its new Spider-Man. The Harry science missions were some of my favorite moments in the original since I love the idea of Peter Parker, this man gifted with great power, utilizing it not just to fight crime and bad guys, but participate in science experiments to develop tech that can make New York a better, safer, cleaner place to live in. His great responsibility as it were is not just to fight supervillains, but to be a hero in his community by unblocking trash backups and plugging plumbing leaks. While you could argue that some of the side quests in Miles Morales are Harry science missions rehashes (and yeah, some of them are) what sets them apart is the small supporting cast of Harlem neighbors Miles interacts with. My favorite was Hailey, not just because it's the first time I've ever seen a deaf character so naturally integrated within a game, but because she's responsible for what is easily the most heartwarming, and my favorite, moment in the game. Speaking of, I also like how you unlock certain suits by completing these side quests, and are directly rewarded with them as opposed to unlocking them offscreen; it makes them feel a little more special, even when they're tiny but meaningful changes in visuals (Hailey still the GOAT).
Combat I'm in two minds about. On one hand, because I breezed through the last game on normal mode, I chose hard mode for this game, something I rarely do when starting games I've never played before. I was right to do so, and recommend playing on this difficulty for players coming off the original game. If I played this game on normal, I think I would've curbstomped it even harder considering the new Venom and camo powers. Stealth missions where you don't automatically lose if you get spotted get bent over the bedsheets when you can cloak yourself from goons every 15 seconds, effectively making you a pseudo permanent stealth god. Venom is a lot more balanced against Underground and Roxxon goons but everyone else gets shit on when you can thunder punch, thunder jump into stun, thunder smash form the heavens, and thunder throw into other goons. I feared that had I played on normal, these moves would've trivialized combat, but hard balances it out with big hits and dodging bullets. Traversal is pretty much the same, although Miles does move with a lot of personality, one might even say, swagger of an exaggerated variety.
That being said, that's about all Miles has going for him, as I come to the game's biggest shortcoming: the story and characters. Honestly? I'm not sold on Insomniac Miles Morales. See what's cool about Miles Morales from Into the Spider-verse is that he's a little awkward and nerdy, but has to struggle to BECOME Spider-Man. He EARNS his transformation in that legendary scene. What sets him apart from the other Spider-Men that surrounded him, aside from his inexperience and unique powers, was his hesitation and self-doubt. Compare him to Insomniac Miles Morales, who is a somewhat awkward, nerdy genius who becomes Spider-Man and fights crime in New York and must balance his normal life with his superhero life. Sorry, but I just lied to you. I was describing Peter Parker that whole time. Miles is just a young black Peter where his only real difference being his connection to his own personal neighborhood as opposed to Peter's general guardianship of New York. At least in the original game he was just a teen unwittingly dragged into conflict and had to step up when his father died. That one-two punch (get it?) pair of scenes where Peter teaches Miles how to throw a punch and him saving a guy from prisoners using that knowledge was better than any Miles moment in this game. It also would've helped if he wasn't so bad at Spider-Man-ing. Peter Parker went to great lengths to keep his identity a secret from his loved ones with only MJ knowing the truth, but not only does Miles have a best friend with magic hacking powers into criminal and high tech companies, but he knows he's Spider-Man. And then his uncle just figures it out. And this he tells his enemy. And then his mother. And then his side quest neighbors. Look, I get the theming they're going for, but it makes me think "Boy, Peter, don't you look foolish with your attempting to keep your loved ones safe by hiding your identity for years. Miles is out here chadding it up so hard he tells his final boss enemy his identity and she has the decency not to expose this information to the whole world despite having every reason to do so."
The story is more focused than the original but not quite as good. The stakes aren't as high as a citywide pandemic. Also I just wanna point out how weird it is that Insomniac not only predicted COVID, but because of development times, kinda also predicted the 2020 riots as the mostly black Underground have direct confrontations with the mostly security "peace-keeping" Roxxon forces. I'm just saying maybe write something a little nicer next time, Insomniac. For all of us. Anyways, yeah, story is kinda basic and the fact that this incredible asshole billionaire guy does the most evil shit in the series behind Doc Ock and there's not a moment where you get to Venom Punch him into a wall is a wildly missed opportunity.
A lot of the open world collectible side quests are just copy pasted form the original but called something different which is lame. The final sequence has this INCREDIBLE pace killer just before the final boss like what the fuck were they thinking? And lastly, the game is noticeably buggier than its predecessor. The original had a couple bugs, but got ironed out quick and all its glitches weren't game-altering. Here, likely rushed to meet the PS5 launch deadline, I encountered pop-in, invisible platforms, pause menu preview assets not loading, and worst of all, straight up missing voice lines.
At the end of the day though, Marvel's Insomniac's Spider-Man PS4 2018 PS5 2020 is one of my favorite games of all time and this is just more of that but slightly less so. I enjoyed it, but I hope the true sequel innovates more on this formula instead of just slapping some new villains, crimes and collectibles in New York and calling it a day.