I love how Spider-Man has had an absolutely spectacular comeback in the last two decades of cinema. Starting with the Sam Raimi films and right up to the current spate of Spidey appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The world of gaming only just seems to be catching up with this resurgence but by gum, Insomniac Games have picked up the mantle. In the year we saw Kratos come bursting back into our lives we also saw Insomniac’s Spider-Man land to critical acclaim. Thanks to Sony warming to the PC platform we saw a port arrive early this year and it was excellent. It was just a matter of time before Miles Morales also made the journey over to PC, but I honestly didn’t think it would be the same year. So let’s see how Miles is shaping up as the other friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man. 

Coming out Swinging

There are going to be obvious comparisons to Spider-Man (2018) as they shadow each other in so many ways. A good number of the moves and traversal methods have moved over in an almost identical transition. Swinging, point launching and running across buildings are all back and so this is where things will feel very familiar. However, there is also something a little different happening under the hood. While Miles is just as strong and fast as Peter, he is still learning how these new abilities work and this is conveyed perfectly in the way he moves. There is both that hint of him being a little unsure as he leaps off a hundred-story building: but also an unmistakable teenage swagger. 

It never reaches an outright cockiness that you might expect from most teens given superpowers: Miles is incredibly grounded for his age and has been brought up well. He sees this Spider-Man gig as his way of honouring his late father and also fulfilling his civic duty to the city. All though Peter isn’t quite over the hill yet, the age gap between him and Miles is also noticeable. That is reflected by the conversations he has with his obligatory ‘dude in the chair’ Ganky and his greater understanding of social media. Something that meshes nicely with the app Ganky sets up for Miles in order to let the people of the city request help. 

New Kid on the Block

So after a brilliant opening sequence involving OG Spider-Man and his new apprentice, the game starts proper. Peter is going away for a few weeks leaving Miles to fly solo for the first time. Of course, Miles has his doubts about how ready he is for this, but as they say: destiny waits for no man. Peter Parker being the good mentor has left lots of assistance for young Miles: including a new suit and a scattering of AR simulations to get him into shape. 

Like traversal, there are a number of carbon copy moves you will be familiar with if you played the last game. Knocking goons in the air, smashing them into the tarmac and webbing them to the walls is all here. There is a wonderful meshing of momentum and damage, like point launching to a railing and immediately leaping at an enemy. Or dodging into a wall and then leaping off it to perform a knockdown. There is also a range of minor additions to the way Miles is animated to show he is less confident facing the thugs of New York. I also love that there are lots more clever ways Miles will negotiate obstacles in a very Spider-Man way: swinging around does feel distinctly better here

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Whatever a Spider Can

As Miles was bitten by a different spider, it isn’t surprising that he has a notably different set of powers. He can do everything Peter can but also has the ability to produce a bio-electrical charge. These Venom powers, as christened by Ganky, have been worked into combat and even traversal. As you dish out punishment and dodge attacks your venom charge builds until you gain a full bar. At this point, you can unleash one of your impressive electric attacks that will do some serious damage to those around you. My only slight criticism here is that they all feel like the same area of effect win button. 

There are a few effects more on the subtle side, like pulling someone back towards you and clobbering them with a venom punch. Also using a blast of electrical power to give you a boost when swinging is really handy. Like the prior game you can pull off a number of tricks when airborne but now these actually build venom charge. This whole showmanship thing fits perfectly with how our teenage hero moves, almost like he’s in the local park doing tricks on his skateboard. 

If being able to charge his phone on the move wasn’t enough, Miles also picked up invisibility as an added bonus power. I have always thought that where ever we have seen Miles, either in Spider-Verse or anywhere else, not enough fuss is made about this. Invisibility, even on its own is an incredibly powerful gift and I think future games could really play with this. Like the Venom powers, I think we see a safe but fun version of this that lets you cloak for a limited time which is great for picking off random goons. 

I am actually really happy with the new skill tree and the way it unfolds. The fundamental improvements to each facet of Mile’s abilities are unlocked by doing the AR challenges. The remaining skills have a three-section tree to work through. As you will have guessed, you gain XP for playing and this levels you up awarding skill points. I like many of these skills as they gel with our young hero’s new powers. Like allowing you to open from stealth with a blinding flash or using cocooned enemies as weapons to smash into the ground. 

Winter Wonderland

As some of the screenshots may have given away, Miles Morales is set in the same city as before but it looks noticeably different due to a winter setting. In actual fact, it’s Christmas in the Big Apple which is worked into dialogue and themes of the story. Of course, the most obvious indication that it is winter is that the city is covered in snow. Like with Spider-Man 2018 the weather and time of day are intrinsically linked to story progression. On completing the main campaign you will unlock the option to change the time of day as you wish. It is a shame you get this at a late stage in the game as most people will be done at this point. It is also strange that a fair amount of bonus content is locked behind new game plus. Speaking of content, what is there to do aside from the main campaign?

As with before, there is always something for you to be heading towards, whether that be a set of time capsules, resource crates or secondary missions. There are also a set of faction arena battles that unlock at various points in the story. As with the crimes you happen across, there are also bonus goals which make these events stay fresh a lot longer. There are also plenty of cool suits to unlock including the extremely awesome Spider-Verse tie-in suit. 

Is it PC?

So how this port runs is the real question and I’m very happy to say it runs like shit off a shovel. Most people who had played the prior Spider-Man on PC were quietly confident that it would deliver the goods thanks to an amazing port from Nixxes. All the graphical options you could want have been added including the increasingly important DLSS. With the new 4000 GPUs from Nvidia we also now see DLSS 3.0 supported and this really does send the fps orbit. My rig is running an i9 12900K, 32GB of Ram and an overclocked 3080ti. I play on a 1440p monitor as I still think chasing high fps on a small 4K screen is just not worth it. With every setting maxed out and full RTX, I am getting a very limber 60-90 fps. 

I am really happy to see Sony supporting their new Dual Sense controllers on PC. When plugged in you get all the awesome features such as haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. The latter is an absolute treat as you can actually feel the tension build in your web as you reach the fulcrum of the swing. However, after playing the last game with mouse and keyboard I knew an even greater experience could be found with my old faithful. This game running at blistering framerates feels so much better than on console and so being able to turn the view in a heartbeat is essential. These two combined send the traversal satisfaction levels through the roof. Just to complete the package you can rebind all the keys and enjoy lots of accessibility options.

As you would expect with any big-budget Sony title you know the music will come with a high bar of quality. After a fantastic job done on Spider-Man (2018) John Paesano was also the lead composer for Miles Morales, which he actually won a BAFTA for. As well as dramatic orchestral scores we now also have a mix of hip-hop beats that represent a younger hero and his taste in music. I love this shift and now I think about it maybe we could see a few different music channels built into Peter and Miles suits? 

Conclusion 

Miles Morales is a smaller game than the prior Spider-Man, but that is fine as bigger doesn’t always mean better. In actual fact, I think the slightly more compact nature of this title is the perfect way to follow the massive campaign in Spider-Man 2018. There is a much more personal story here about family, friendship and how those institutions can be tested when living a double life. The success of this story is in part due to just how well the last game developed its characters and in turn laid the groundwork for this chapter.

On the gameplay side of things, I honestly can't think of a single reason why you wouldn’t want to play this game. Considering the complicated nature of the way Peter and Miles move (for a video game to replicate) Insomniac have made the whole thing feel as natural as breathing. Out of all the Sony games I’ve enjoyed on PS4/PS5, these two were up there with my most wanted on my new rig. Now we have them and they make for the quintessential version on PC.