Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales

As much as I love this new entry, it’s hard to ignore a few issues. The voice acting can be fairly grating at times, and the setup feels a bit too similar to the newer Spider Man films, almost like it borrows their structure instead of carving out its own identity. The premise behind why Spider Man is away and how everything kicks off also feels a little thin and convenient, which doesn’t help the opening hours feel as strong as they could have been. That said, while it doesn’t start off great, it really sticks the landing. The story builds into something more emotional than I expected, especially as Miles comes into his own. His character development is one of the stronger aspects, and even though the voice performance didn’t fully click for me, the writing around him improves as the game goes on. A lot of the side content and smaller character moments also help flesh him out in a more personal way, which adds to that emotional payoff. The biggest standout is easily the gameplay. The stealth has been improved by leaps and bounds, and it feels much more viable and fun this time around. The addition of camouflage completely changes how you approach encounters, letting you chain together stealth takedowns in ways that just weren’t possible before. It feels more dynamic and player driven instead of restrictive. On top of that, the Venom powers add a ton of impact to combat they make fights feel faster, more aggressive, and way more satisfying to pull off. Even though there are fewer gadgets overall, the trade off works because the abilities are so much more engaging, and switching between stealth and full on combat flows really smoothly. Movement is still top tier too, with web swinging and traversal feeling just as fluid and enjoyable as ever. Visually and technically, it’s also a big step up. The city looks incredible, especially with the winter setting, and the smaller scale compared to the first game actually helps the story feel more focused. Performance is smooth, load times are basically nonexistent, and the overall presentation has that same polished feel throughout. On the downside, the story still struggles with believability. The Underground faction comes off as a group of tech obsessed rebels who somehow end up feeling more threatening than Fisk’s entire operation, which is hard to take seriously. Like the base game, a lot of major plot points feel forced, with events happening because they need to rather than because they naturally build up to them. The pacing can also feel a bit uneven, with certain moments rushing by while others drag longer than they should. The story may not always land, but the improved gameplay, stronger emotional beats toward the end, and overall polish make it a worthwhile follow up that’s just plain fun to play.

This is a recommend but only on sale. It is just essentially just dlc for the first game. The story is really uninteresting and most of the characters suck in this one. Combat is a big upgrade over the first game however. Would say to wait until the game is half off before buying. Although feeling the exaggerated swagger of a black teen may be worth full price.

Played this game on the steamdeck, and while it ran slightly worse than Spider-Man Remastered, it is still a solid experience at 40-45fps. The story is ok, combat is still a treat, especially with the new powerset, discovering new suits is still the best part of the game. Overall, I'd give this game a 7/10, mostly because of my personal bias for the character. The game goes on sale often enough, so I suggest you buy it then.