Marvel's Spider-Man Miles Morales

As much as it’s become a memetic proverb, Rocksteady and even WB Montreal’s attention to detail and systematic throughlines within the Batman Arkham titles sans Knight allowed the player to invoke ‘control’ of the titular superhero. Probably my favorite trick in this regard involves the physical proponent: an up close shoulder camera to signify Bruce’s sullen gaze, as his ‘eyes’ (right stick movement) dots his environment or the speaker, before it widens out in brawls to not only orchestrate the peripheral/encircled awareness that they contain, but also highlight the enemies within and outside the occupied area. Compounding the connection through clever use of controller/screen rumbles, Riddler’s tasks that doubles up on nods to even the heaviest D-List in Batman’s rogue castings, UI shifts within cutscenes or otherwise playable antepieces, careful integration of the villains as (side) functionalities of the titles - especially in City and Origins - and it’s no wonder the phrase took off as it did.

This is important to note, cause my biggest gripe regarding Insomniac’s first Spider-Man outing revolves around the idea; with little exceptions (most prominently found within utility and traversal slices), nearly every aspect that made Arkham the juggernaut it was are either missing, or utterly limp by comparison. Stock light and camera works for every cutscene? Taskmaster’s integration being woeful as his second boss fight is just the same as the first, despite his near-extreme adaptability of a hero’s abilities? An abhorrent use of enemy archetypes bodied with meek strategies, that only become notable when you’re almost done with the base campaign even on Ultimate difficulty, when titles from 2009 and 2011 were able to evoke such bravado and heightened consideration, in spite of the ease? Aggrandizing police forces when one of the pillars is their trepid relationship with the Spider? A bloated story schematic where the first act is nothing but inane tutorial and setups, abounded by elongated flashback stealth sequences that could be excised purely by iotas of critical thought (excluding Grand Central Terminal and perhaps the supply run), and where the star-studded Sinister Six don’t even come together until the end of Act 2 - where only Mister Negative and Doc Ock are fully characterized to boot - when it should be the climactic turning point? While competently constructed overall, revisiting the title felt so placid, a mix of milks and toasts with a side of oats.

It was surprising to me, then, that the expansion-sized PS5 launch title not only addressed every single one of my criticisms, but also took what did work and put an even greater shine onto them. The most immediate change is within the combat’s several aspects: introducing bioelectric Venom powers and conjoining them with the Focus bar is an ingenious wrinkle, as it means having to prioritize either healing off damage whiffed and/or shot by, or fully embracing the power trip and conserving them for one big pull on multiple baddies. Helping this is from chained use - Finishers giving you some supply, Venom moves being allowed for chains to weave away or setup devastating combos, and more available by default or with upgrades allow for fulfilling and freeform encounter types than what could’ve been done before, doubly so now that the vertical escalation of enemy types are at a constant increase instead of drip fed and locked behind the main story. Another benefit of Venom’s inclusion is how it makes the already joyful sandbox traversal even better to comb over. Venom Jumps and Charges being available for the Y and X axis increases on the fly, with easy bar buildup thanks to the slight retooling of the trick system to keep increasing that bar, means that you’re able to zip by further and faster than Peter ever could before. It’s even to the point that utilizing them in a constant focus amongst the standard movekit develops a game of “where and how could I use this to continue the momentum?”, such as Charging towards a Point Launch object, then incorporating the Jump in tandem with a well-timed Boost for higher elevation. Taken altogether, and you have an outline of what had already worked now gratifying to a degree higher than before, thereby emboldening both the skill and tangential relationship between the player and the line. Exploring the urban jungle hits so good when you’re blarin out LTJ Bukem and Gerald Simpson as you’re swinging. Maybe Venetian Snares too.

Insomniac’s oeuvre for soft builds are in full effect here too, as you can opt to equip suit/visor mods to emphasize either of these two, or forgo them and instead prioritize damage, web output, stealth, or gadget use - the latter two, if I’m honest, I prefer here as well. Miles’ stealth adds are rather obvious, so no point in going over them, but while I did like ISM1’s toolkit and the symbiotic relationship they could offer (most evident during Screwball’s gadget challenges in The City That Never Sleeps episodes), I find that culling the 7 extra doodads to merely 3 help incentivize not only Miles’ differences from Peter, but weigh their integral applications. Something like the Holo-Drones could be used to keep the ante on your end, but it’s also vital in delineating the foes’ focus onto you or even the objectives; Gravity Well’s subversion of the Suspension Matrix - a black hole suction instead of an airlifting ‘freeze’ - helps bundle up everyone up for Venom usage, or to slyly garner them over to ledges/walls/what have you for a sticky trap; Remote Mine allowing for quick electricity means free access to web throws, which also spreads that shock factor onto other people, keeping the threat level lower. Alongside the upgrading side of the equation, and having to juggle between my options, the enemies and what they’re currently carrying, and how to best approach all of these components in question, leads to hectic and succinct cleanups. Also nice that I actually face every type of opponent no matter what type of activity I’m doing and how late I am in getting to them, finally.

The core gameplay was my deciding factor as to what game I ended up preferring, but the writing and overall presentation has seen a much needed lift as well. Instead of vaguely (albeit commendably) gesturing a theme of community via “when you help someone, you help everyone!”, Miles’ CoA tale, and the impending threat of a high-profile conglomerate gentrifying black-populated boroughs, are a constant presence everywhere, even reintroducing Wilson Fisk to connect these dots in the Harlem sidestory. The pacing is solely focused on this too, meaning everything you expect to occur does instead of plodding and stretching them with useless baggage. Instead of ho-hum effects populating the visage, there’s like, actual color, cinematography tricks regarding mood indication and reflected scenery, and incredible VFX going on. Instead of the humor falling flat and leaving me stonefaced as Yuri and Peter prattle about nonsense, I was chortling at several gags - some of which are gameplay and even glitch related - and I was willing to let Ganke have all he wants to say since he felt like the right kind of bro we all experienced. Even Prowler and Tinkerer, both maligned aspects (especially the latter for understandable reasons), are much more compelling than the equivalences within Doc Ock and Martin Li (who, mind you, were already well done), since the former’s inherent failing and desperation to keep the family he has left together ties into the struggle and hostile bargaining done to keep things “on the level” as a complacent bystander, and Tinkerer’s victim status ties right back onto the thesis of gentrification’s harmful actions. Some facets don’t work, granted, such as Rhino’s inclusion and how exactly they try to justify the fight against Tinkerer, but people dare to criticize this story solely for being “short”? Please, I’ll gladly accept this straightforward compactness over the bloat the last game was offering.

A summation of my thoughts can be as thus: I only ever did Ultimate NG+ for ISM1 purely to nab Steam’s completion ribbon, skipping nearly every side content unless the game had me do something during its downtime, and went for an uninstall the moment they were unlocked, clocking in 55 hours. For IMM, I was still extraneous activities in Ultimate NG+ in spite of their unlocked achievements, simply because they were enjoyable to witness, meaning I had to force myself to stop just to get a move on at about 30 hours. Never underestimate the meat and capitulation expansions are capable of.

Additional Notes:

• Neither of these titles were my Christmas presents, I’ve actually had them since 2023. What I did get, finally, was a Galactic Purple DualSense, meaning I could actually take the tech demo elements of both games to full effect. Gotta say, using it on both made me an immediate fan of what it has to offer, especially ergonomically and in feedback!
• I will say one of the cooler aspects of the game was how it continued the events of the predecessor. Seeing Phil Chang pop up in the social feed was sweet, as was the Stan Lee statue and some area repurposing coming back for optional stuff here.