Spiderman Miles Morales is in between game for Spiderman PS4 and Spiderman 2.

Mechanically the game hasn't changed a whole lot, but there are some welcome changes. My favorite is how the special meter and takedowns were reworked. In PS4, you simply built up meter and cashed out on either an instakill or healing. There was no real decision making as it all came down to "am I low on health right now?" With Miles, the meter is replaced with one of his unique abilities, electric powers (or venom, for some reason, when venom is already the name of something else). Venom powers add decision making into the mix by giving you different ways to spend the meter you built up. Takedowns still exist and are now earned directly from building your combo counter.

The enemy design is decent as well. A lot of the obnoxious enemies didn't make a return from the last game and the rocket guys have their telegraphing improved so they're much less likely to get cheap hits like in PS4's DLC. The new factions of enemies feel like a great fit for Miles' kit and are usually a fun challenge to fight. Even the Sable replacement, Roxxon, isn't as annoying as its predecessor.

It must be noted, however, that Miles is not an upgrade over Peter. While whatever you would consider basic moves are all present and accounted for, several of Peter's options did not make the transition or were repurposed into venom powers, adding a cost to what could previously be done for free. Miles still has options but sometimes I just noticed I didn't have something I would have used in the last game.

Which brings me to stealth as I feel it was hit negatively by Miles' changes the most. Make no mistake, the stealth is still functional and fun, but stealth is where I'd usually feel how Miles doesn't have an equivalent to everything Peter could do. You don't have a fast way to deal with two enemies next to each other and your trap setup potential is restricted to context sensitive spots in arenas. Miles does at least get camouflage you can use if you get caught which means stealth doesn't have to end from one bad enough mistake.

Now a not so smooth transition into web swinging, which coincidentally looks a lot smoother than it did before with an Assassin's Creed Unity level of animations giving a ton of visual variety to web swinging. Mechanically things are unchanged, it's still fun with ways to interact with it and go even faster than simply holding down right trigger and auto swinging. Unfortunately Miles inherents it's issues as well. The web swinging is still way too easy and refuses to let the player fail depriving some of he satisfaction from mastering a system.

While nothing from PS4 was changed, there were things added. Miles has the ability to use venom to gain extra height or distance. I don't think these are really worth it with how you can already just do what you want with the existing mechanics. Chasing choppers is the only consistent use I tend to get out of it. On the other hand, earning venom is far more worthwhile of an addition. Miles expands the trick system from PS4 by giving you 4 times the tricks to do while swinging with even more to do while diving. All topped off with an actual fail state as you get a frankly hilarious spill if you hit the ground while in a trick. The stakes are incredibly low but any sense that I can mess up helps actually succeeding feel more rewarding. Of course all the tricks just look really cool. People memed "exaggerated swagger" to death but playing around with the trick system made me realize that poor journalist was going somewhere with that statement. It's just a shame there isn't enough extrinsic motivations to really dive into this system.

Lastly is the narrative and frankly, I find the game is lacking here. The main theme is about the concept of a secret identity and weighing the importance of that secret against how much you can trust those closest to you. I'm not well versed enough in cape ♥♥♥♥ to identify if this is played out so I didn't really have a problem with this. However, Miles himself drew out no emotions from me good or bad, he just kind of existed. The main antagonist fits in well with the story's themes and works out really well at the start but the conflict between them and Miles starts to feel more and more contrived. Krieger, however, is an incredibly annoying and one-note villain and thankfully he's relegated to B plot status. The only time the story made me really feel anything other than annoyance is the scavenger hunt side quest.

Speaking of which, I should probably mention the side content. It's mostly fine with some much needed variety with randomly generated crimes coupled with the ability to trigger any specific crime of your choosing on demand. The audio sample chain of activities can get dull if you tend to get stuck but you can just look up a guide and make it go much faster if it bothers you.

You likely already know the game is very short so I'd recommend waiting for a sale before you buy.

Spiderman Miles Morales is in between game for Spiderman PS4 and Spiderman 2. Mechanically the game hasn't changed a whole lot, but there are some welcome changes. My favorite is how the special meter and takedowns were reworked. In PS4, you simply built up meter and cashed out on either an instakill or healing. There was no real decision making as it all came down to "am I low on health right now?" With Miles, the meter is replaced with one of his unique abilities, electric powers (or venom, for some reason, when venom is already the name of something else). Venom powers add decision making into the mix by giving you different ways to spend the meter you built up. Takedowns still exist and are now earned directly from building your combo counter. The enemy design is decent as well. A lot of the obnoxious enemies didn't make a return from the last game and the rocket guys have their telegraphing improved so they're much less likely to get cheap hits like in PS4's DLC. The new factions of enemies feel like a great fit for Miles' kit and are usually a fun challenge to fight. Even the Sable replacement, Roxxon, isn't as annoying as its predecessor. It must be noted, however, that Miles is not an upgrade over Peter. While whatever you would consider basic moves are all present and accounted for, several of Peter's options did not make the transition or were repurposed into venom powers, adding a cost to what could previously be done for free. Miles still has options but sometimes I just noticed I didn't have something I would have used in the last game. Which brings me to stealth as I feel it was hit negatively by Miles' changes the most. Make no mistake, the stealth is still functional and fun, but stealth is where I'd usually feel how Miles doesn't have an equivalent to everything Peter could do. You don't have a fast way to deal with two enemies next to each other and your trap setup potential is restricted to context sensitive spots in arenas. Miles does at least get camouflage you can use if you get caught which means stealth doesn't have to end from one bad enough mistake. Now a not so smooth transition into web swinging, which coincidentally looks a lot smoother than it did before with an Assassin's Creed Unity level of animations giving a ton of visual variety to web swinging. Mechanically things are unchanged, it's still fun with ways to interact with it and go even faster than simply holding down right trigger and auto swinging. Unfortunately Miles inherents it's issues as well. The web swinging is still way too easy and refuses to let the player fail depriving some of he satisfaction from mastering a system. While nothing from PS4 was changed, there were things added. Miles has the ability to use venom to gain extra height or distance. I don't think these are really worth it with how you can already just do what you want with the existing mechanics. Chasing choppers is the only consistent use I tend to get out of it. On the other hand, earning venom is far more worthwhile of an addition. Miles expands the trick system from PS4 by giving you 4 times the tricks to do while swinging with even more to do while diving. All topped off with an actual fail state as you get a frankly hilarious spill if you hit the ground while in a trick. The stakes are incredibly low but any sense that I can mess up helps actually succeeding feel more rewarding. Of course all the tricks just look really cool. People memed "exaggerated swagger" to death but playing around with the trick system made me realize that poor journalist was going somewhere with that statement. It's just a shame there isn't enough extrinsic motivations to really dive into this system. Lastly is the narrative and frankly, I find the game is lacking here. The main theme is about the concept of a secret identity and weighing the importance of that secret against how much you can trust those closest to you. I'm not well versed enough in cape shit to identify if this is played out so I didn't really have a problem with this. However, Miles himself drew out no emotions from me good or bad, he just kind of existed. The main antagonist fits in well with the story's themes and works out really well at the start but the conflict between them and Miles starts to feel more and more contrived. Krieger, however, is an incredibly annoying and one-note villain and thankfully he's relegated to B plot status. The only time the story made me really feel anything other than annoyance is the scavenger hunt side quest. Speaking of which, I should probably mention the side content. It's mostly fine with some much needed variety with randomly generated crimes coupled with the ability to trigger any specific crime of your choosing on demand. The audio sample chain of activities can get dull if you tend to get stuck but you can just look up a guide and make it go much faster if it bothers you. You likely already know the game is very short so I'd recommend waiting for a sale before you buy.