Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales: PS5 Review

Developed by Insomniac Games

Platform: PS5

If Insomniac Games' Marvel's Spider-Man was a mission statement about how to reinvent the comic book hero for the gaming console and provide a deeply immersive and challenging spectacle, their follow up, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales improves on that and delivers more diversity than you could ever expect.

Set in New York City, Insomniac Games do an even greater job of setting their stall out from the very beginning. This is a multicultural game, a game that lives and breathes the cultural melting pot of the Big Apple from its opening moments as Miles negotiates the stairwell out of the underground.

From speaking Spanish to local residents to a later mission involving a girl who signs, and a Spider-Man who signs back, this is the first video game to really feel like it's embraced all elements of the world - and it's all the better for it.

Talking of the story, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales sees you taking on the titular hero and sole guardian of New York City after Peter Parker skips town for a working vacation with MJ.

But as soon as Parker's left town, a mysterious organisation called Roxxon and a new villain called the Tinkerer spring up to cause chaos for the newbie...

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales does an excellent job of one-upping the original game, whether you play it on PS4 or PS5. 

Obviously, with the PS5, you get faster loading times, no whirring from the SSID, the DualSense coming to life with haptic feedback, adaptive triggers and immersive sound, but aside from the technical tweaks, the game is an upgrade on the original in simple subtle ways.

Colours pop in the upgraded PS5 version; animations are smoother and the game just feels right as you jump off rooves, hurtle through the skies, and basically feel like a newbie attempting to be Spider-Man.

From upgraded combat moves (named Venom moves, despite the wider Spider-verse) to incredible action scenes, every second of Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales feels natural and engaging.

It helps that you learn as Miles does, and that he's not infallible when it comes to making mistakes. This means the game makes for great bedfellows, no matter who is playing, or at what level.

All in all, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is the superhero game any self-respecting gamer needs - from smoother execution to a richly rewarding world to swing around it, this is one game that's a must have on every single level.

A review key for Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales was provided by PlayStation New Zealand.