Miles can energize his body with “venom”, a kind of orange lightning. With venom, he can hurl enemies through rooms, make them immobile, or simply provide them with an electric shock. He also uses electricity in puzzles. Miles needs, for example, to charge generators or connect electricity networks to venom.

Electricity also plays a major role thematically. A new energy company, Roxxon, appears to have a very big say in New York City’s work. Roxxon’s motives therefore seem double. Miles’s mother, who still has to recover from the loss of her husband in the first part, therefore turns to politics.

There is therefore a lot, um, tension (see what i did there :p ) between the family members. And then there is Miles’s best friend, who, together with her brother and Miles herself, is closely involved in the development of new technology. They are working on a new form of energy that could replace electricity: NuForm.

The story in Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a bit silly, but the game gets away with that because even the somewhat silly narrative brackets remain entirely within the acceptable comic book spectrum. This game contains some strong and genuinely emotional narrative moments. Developer Insomniac Games does that very well. Miles Morales goes through bizarre things, but feels more human than superhero.

Peter Parker doesn’t play a big role in this story, if you think that after the trailers. He is going on vacation with his now well-known girlfriend, and so Miles,  for the first time, has to take over from him for a week or two.
This part was therefore completed much earlier than the original. You’ll be through it within twelve hours, but it feels much faster. The pacing is very high and exciting turns follow each other in rapid succession. It is therefore difficult to put the controller down. Compared to the original Marvel’s Spider-Man, Miles Morales feels trim. After completing the game, you can still play the friendly neighborhood hero. Miles has his own app that residents can use to call on him. It is an ingenious alternative to a quest system.

Also interesting are the special powers that Miles has. The normal combat, against normal enemies, was a bit more aggressive in the previous part, given Miles has invisibility and Peter Parker had some strong area-of-attack attacks. Perhaps the subtlest difference between the two games is the music. Miles Morales leans a little more towards hip hop. Beats are mixed through the symphonic orchestral music, which you hear well during fights, among other things, a subtle but appropriate addition.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales will be released on the PlayStation 4, but also on the new PlayStation 5. This game is very nice on the PlayStation 5, partly thanks to ray tracing. You play at 30 fps. Without ray tracing, the game runs at 60 fps.

There is a time when ray tracing almost perfectly is on display . You then enter an enemy base under supervision. The hallway is infused with purple lighting and flashing monitors with an Outrun-esque aesthetic. In this shot, the lighting reflects on the shiny coats, but especially on the floors.

Ray tracing also gets the literal opportunity to shine on the windows of flats and in the well-placed rain puddles. Whether all of that justifies the loss of 60 fps is personal. I don’t think so. That high frame rate is really nice, especially during the hectic fights. But you have to make that decision yourself.

In the game you don’t notice much of the new adaptive triggers, although they do make sure that you have to press “harder” while spinning through the city,  a great effect. The haptic feedback is not very impressive either. You only really notice when very heavy enemies thunder through the image, such as an enemy of rhino-like proportions.

Whether you play this game on the previous or the new PlayStation, Miles Morales is very rewarding. It tells a concise yet intense story, introduces some really entertaining twists, and there’s a lot to collect, solve and battle out in New York.