Off the Shelf Media

I know, I know, two games and one review? Unheard of circumstance but to be fair these games are nearly identical when lined up. The few differences that seemed major I will mention for each category below. For how similar they are it might become clear as to why they have both received the same review but in short, I would have enough material to talk about both which can be a good or bad thing. That being said this review might be more relevant to the PC community even if the price isn’t always like that, but things look better for the future from a price standpoint – don’t have the same expectation for support.

Gameplay: 1

I’m not opposed to the challenges in the game; the crime hideouts you encounter on the map have their own challenges that actually feel rewarding because you are often practicing combat, movement, or stealth skills in a real scenario. They can make you appreciate certain moves and gadgets you might have ignored but the “Taskmaster” and similar challenges only highlight the flaws the game mechanics have. This occurs when every move is important and can determine failure and the realization that the fluidity in combat and movement is so often decided by the game determining what your intent is rather than the literal use of control or action in the environment. Had these challenges not been present you would save a few hours trying to ‘platinum’ the game if you wanted but also would probably be less likely to come face to face with the targeting issues inherent in the controls. They remove you from the pleasure of two overall excellent games.

Story: 2

Yes, both the Spider-Man games are good. Originally released for the PlayStation 4 and later rereleased for the PS5 along with the DLC, it was praised for its gameplay, especially the mastery of navigating New York City by slinging webs and hopping across rooftops, the ability to run vertically up buildings was an excellent touch that made movement completely fluid. The combat is similarly clean and dynamic not to become boring and when you get in the flow it truly makes you feel like a master of form. The story also lends itself to an engaging narrative in the Spider-Man universe that compels the player to move forward. The same can be said for both games, they are excellent to play when they work.

Atmosphere: 2

Between the crashes and mis-targets, the city does feel alive. Taking selfies with the NPCs feels more hammy than anything especially because there is nothing tied to doing it. I’m not suggesting a gameplay reward but seeing an actual screenshot when doing it would have added so much immersion. That complaint feels nitpicky relative to the massive scale of the map so it will not change the score. It feels real as you move through the crowds or cars when you swing low to the street. The interactions and story may use language that is artificially more polite than the real-world setting but you forget about that with how well the camera tracks your moves across the screen. Especially when encountering robberies in a convenience store and the camera pans like suddenly you are in a comic book or 2D sidescroller. It is a small thing but adds a lot of character to this recurring event.

These games excel at setting the stage and continue when you are required to perform. The main problem comes from both of them having issues with overall length, one game (Spider-Man) being too long for the wrong reasons that make it feel more like a chore than a game, and the other (Miles Morales) being too short for the wrong reasons, leaving you wanting more content from a character that has only recently been in vogue in common culture. In hindsight, there is no excuse for this simple issue to exist in the next iteration seeing as how the fault has leaned in both directions even if it was an over reaction to criticism. I like to think Miles Morales was given less of a game because they did not want to bore people with the repetitive challenges and not because they thought this character had less of a story to tell.

Value: 1

The PC community had a more recent release of the game but also for PlayStation players there were some noticeable performance issues. As a disclaimer, my experiences are only from the PC version of the game but they come from a range of four different hardware setups; I happened to be playing these games while upgrading my fiancé’s, my own PC, and making another for family so this is a rare test case across a few machines I usually do not have available. The final report is both games are glitchy messes. While playing both games I experienced: severe lag randomly in and outside of combat, game crashes especially during cutscenes, and unresponsive controls and I will be the first to admit when I am forced to respawn from a lack of skill. At first, I thought it was exclusive to PC and they might happen more frequently because of poor optimization across platforms but other players have similar complaints in the console community.

It is one thing when the hardware requirements for a game are above your PC but in this case, I played with a PC below, as close to the same, and better than the hardware of the PS5 so for those that may be experiencing similar issues, your hardware is not to blame. Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered had the most reoccurring issues and it is hypersensitive when it came to the DLC. It was hard to get through a single mission without a full game crash. To be blunt I have experienced less game breaking glitches in all my time playing Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I can only presume the effort shifted to working on the Miles Morales or upcoming Spider-Man 2/3 titles for those working on the game and thus a less thorough testing process occurred before release. One would assume then that Miles Morales would be a perfectly refined gem of a game.

Duration: 1

Which is half true. Miles Morales did run better during my playtime compared to its predecessor but those with a sharp eye might have noticed the significantly less playtime accrued. It’s not from a lack of completion, according to the game I have 100% completion, same goes for the first game, I did every mission and challenge to a three-star rating. The amount of overall content was simply lacking in Miles Morales to a massive extent. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing when so much of the first game is wrapped in convoluted challenges but the gesture of selling it as a standalone game seems like a wholeheartedly selfish effort. Rather than being bundled as an overhaul expansion for the base game.

This leads me to my major complaint with gameplay for both: the challenges. They certainly are challenging but do more to hurt the gameplay than give a feeling of accomplishing a difficult task through mastery. Almost every time trial offers some sort of suggested path but they are useless distractions that will slow down the player if followed exactly. I would be amazed if a player manages to get three stars while following the trails, it’s better to memorize the locations for the trial and rush accordingly. It doesn’t make you better at navigating the city practically or show off your skills but forces you to fail enough times until its memorized and still barely make it with enough time. The combat challenges are more rewarding but have you ‘min max’ your skills and equipment to finish on time and that leaves the stealth challenges as a cruel twist of both, not making you better at the game just good enough for the challenge. This type of gameplay somehow feels out of place in an otherwise superbly crafted game. It pulls you out of any enjoyment trying to get three stars for upgrades or unlocks which is such a shame.

Total Score: 7/10

These games feel equal for their tradeoffs. Miles Morales was certainly more refined and the leveling and perk system was better paced even though I did not think the first game needed improvement while playing, it was well received. They certainly cut the most annoying or unnecessary content from the first game but in a baby with the bathwater scenario, the story fell short of feeling like a complete game, and some tasks that remained left the same feeling, though nothing as bad as the “Screwball” tasks. While these optional challenges can be avoided honestly I’d recommend it if you don’t want to unlock everything.

They serve a double negative by highlighting the small issues with the mechanics which truly are near flawless but not worth an excuse for a AAA title. The crux of the issue here is that both games are so similar they should not be considered separate. As a developer, I would feel some shame for this and as a buyer, I would feel cheated. They were an excellent title to play for the first time but received cushy ratings in my opinion. Yes they were reminiscent of Spider-Man 2 game which I also have fond memories of playing but that does mean the game gets a free pass from critique. The games are easy to recommend but not at full price, and remember you do not need to overhaul your computer just to play them, they crash for everyone.