To release a sequel to one of the most high-profile games of 2018 is a big responsibility, and doing it at the start of a new generation is even more difficult. Nevertheless, Insomniac Games took a chance, just in case, adding a note that the new “Spider-Man” is not a sequel, but a small spin-off. It seems that expectations were lowered, and a new game in the series was released. What came of this – let’s figure it out in the material.
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The birth of a hero
Miles Morales in the comics
First, I would like to say a few words about the hero himself. Miles Morales appeared on the pages of comics almost ten years ago, and the idea of creating a hero originated from the authors shortly before Barack Obama became president of the United States. The newcomer successfully integrated into the plot after the “death” of Peter Parker: the hero was “killed” in 2011 in the alternative universe Ultimate, and his place was taken by a dark-skinned teenager with similar abilities.
Brian Michael Bendis, who invented the hero, created Morales as a character with whom modern teenagers could associate themselves. Parker was like that at the beginning of his journey: Stan Lee, who created him, did not make a typical pumped-up ideal person, but a guy who, among the problems, had not only clashes with villains, but also attempts to get a girlfriend, homework and acne. Over the course of his nearly sixty-year history, Parker has changed: he has matured, managed to be a scientist, got a wife and his own company, and has ceased to be the very loser hero with whom he began his superhero career. Nevertheless, teenagers still needed a role model – and this niche was taken by Morales.
The first steps
Screenshot from Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Miles is a newcomer on the path of superhero: he received his powers just a year before the events of the game and is just getting used to an unfamiliar world. It is somewhat easier for him than for the “original” Spider-Man, who was alone with new forces and the weight of responsibility that had fallen down. Now professional Peter Parker helps young Morales on his difficult path.
But as soon as Peter is absent for a couple of weeks, another misfortune happens to his native New York: a villain nicknamed Handyman begins a series of attacks on the Roxxon corporation, during which innocent people often suffer. This time, Miles will have to deal with the problem on his own, solving many other tasks along the way – from uncovering a series of attacks on Harlem to trying to restore relations with a childhood friend.
The plot of the original Spider-Man was in many ways clinging to the fact that the player knew from the very beginning where everything would come: the personality of Octavius was immediately known, and it remained only to guess how exactly Peter would face the one whom he believed with all his heart. Miles Morales takes a small step aside: the villain appears quickly in the plot, but his personality is not immediately revealed. The raft twist is read long before its official disclosure, but this does not interfere with the story. But instead of the slow development of dynamics in the style of Otto – Peter, the new game quickly throws itself over to the already established confrontation between the hero and the villain, who are more familiar than it seems at first glance.
In the footsteps of an older brother
One of the costumes in the battle with the Rogue
The core mechanics of Spider-Man: Miles Morales have seen few changes from the original. The New Spider still moves around the city primarily through web flights, and it feels just as great as in the original. PS5 owners are even more fortunate: adaptive triggers add an extra touch of experience. When the web is released, the trigger vibrates slightly, and when it attaches to the fulcrum, the trigger is slightly tilted back. This allows for an even better experience of a flight that already deserves praise.
The situation is similar with the combat system: the player still has the ability to deliver quick blows, use the web in battle to pull opponents or objects, dodge and jump. By successfully combining them, you can achieve truly interesting and beautiful bonds. Do not forget about gadgets: Morales has fewer of them than Parker, but they are all useful in their own way, and it is not difficult for everyone to find a use.
At the same time, both aspects are changed due to the ace up the sleeve of Morales – we are talking about his bioelectric abilities. Almost early in the game, Miles discovers that he can generate electricity on his own and use it in battle. Gradually, the arsenal grows: the ability to throw opponents into the air, make a quick dash, knocking everyone in its path, or forcefully hit the ground, stunning up to five opponents at once, is added to a powerful punch. Given that Morales regularly encounters more enemies than Parker has, it helps a lot.
Miles discovers new abilities for the first time
In addition, bio-abilities can be used in flight – to make a dash or to climb sharply by releasing energy in the desired direction. It sounds more complicated than it works: in a maximum of an hour, the player will easily reach great speeds and maneuver between buildings like a real superhero.
In addition to bioelectricity, Morales also has the ability to become invisible for a short time. This helps in stealth scenes: unlike the first Spider-Man, now scenes without open confrontation can be passed completely unnoticed, and if you are nevertheless discovered, it is enough to turn invisibility on and run away to make opponents lose sight of you. This greatly simplifies many battles, which have become much more difficult.
New emotions
A short cut-scene excerpt. Attention to the number of parts
What has really changed a lot is the graphics. The addition of ray tracing was beneficial to the game: in quality mode, it produces a truly beautiful picture with excellent detail. During a snowfall at sunset, flying between glass skyscrapers is a pleasure: bright light casts beautiful glare in reflections, particles are worked out to a completely new level, and Miles’s animations flow very smoothly from one to another. Indoors, the situation is no worse: the game does not overdo it with reflections, as it happens in many titles, and shows a realistic picture.
Miles Morales uses all the capabilities of the new iron: fast movement takes just a couple of seconds, triggers work in flight and in combat (even if they are not so often needed), and vibration reproduces the sensations of impacts, passing cars and even the wind whistling around – in many ways by using the built-in speaker. To the level of Astro’s Playroom, of course, it falls short, but it still feels much more interesting than on PS4.
The same applies to the sound: when playing even through ordinary headphones (in my case, it is MyST Nail 2), and not a branded headset, you can feel a strong increase in quality compared to TV speakers. And it’s not just about detail: Sony wasn’t lying about the new surround sound system. Exactly how the developers make the sounds behind the wall really sound like the sounds behind the wall is not entirely clear, but the effect of presence is amazing.
To each his own Spider
Suit with a cat
Speaking of Spider-Man: Miles Morales, one cannot ignore the fact that it is a short game. A full walkthrough with all the side quests will hardly take more than ten hours. They offer to brighten it up due to the “New Game +” mode, in which all the accumulated experience is transferred, and techniques and costumes are open from the very beginning. At the same time, all gadgets and techniques cannot be pumped to the maximum in a regular game, and two suits become available only after completing the story. To stimulate the player, a new level of difficulty opens, at which opponents act more aggressively, hit harder, and so on. Even the fully pumped Morales from the original dies here with a couple of pokes, which pushes to the very “Git Gud” and requires the player to spend time on a detailed analysis of the entire hero moveset.
The costumes, as before, not only visually change the hero, but also give him certain abilities, ranging from animations stylized as the Oscar-winning cartoon “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” to restoring health when beating opponents struck by bioelectricity.
Alas, you can’t get the coolest costume on the first playthrough: in one of the early side quests, Morales finds a stolen ginger cat named Spider-Man, and after saving Harlem from all threats, he can take him with him as a partner – the costume includes a hoodie and a backpack with Spidey Jr. In addition to special finishing animations, where the red-haired Spiderman hits his enemies in the muzzles with all four paws, he also makes the game much more enjoyable. For example, in one of the first tense cutscenes before the battle with the Rhinoceros, Miles is extremely focused and serious. But if you have the right suit equipped, at this moment a cat will come out of the backpack behind its back and start trying to catch snowflakes with its paws, while meowing loudly. Cute.
Parker tries to teach Morales, while the third Spider in the scene finds more interesting things to do.
Side quests have changed for the better: in the original, you had to do the same type of tasks over and over again, clearing dozens of points from enemies and collecting hundreds of items scattered throughout the district. Here, most of the side quests are combined into one storyline: someone attacks the residents of Harlem, trying to get them out of the city, and Morales will have to deal not only with the performers themselves, but also get to the customer. The side-line is inferior in quality to the main plot, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Of course, the developers did not completely abandon the cleaning of the same type of buildings, but they reduced them to a minimum: there will be about three secret bases of the Underground Fighters, subordinates of the Craftsman, and Roxxon buildings, which are also to be penetrated, no more than five. In both cases, there is an additional activity in the form of finding Craftsman boxes with parts that allow you to improve gadgets and purchase new costumes. A trifle, but nice.
Gathering is also in place, but the number of types of objects has sharply decreased: memorabilia, all the same boxes with details, samples for the track that Miles writes, and postcards, which can be accessed after completing the story. The last two are different from the “come, take” formula and require a search on the ground, which is really interestingly implemented.
Everyone is a Spider
The very graffiti and costume the Harlem community gave to the new protector of tranquility
And a little about the serious. Morales is the son of an African American and Hispanic woman, which could not but be reflected in the plot. I would like to make a reservation right away that we are not talking about “imposing a agenda” or something like that: there is not a word about minorities in the plot, except for one single large graffiti Black Lives Matter, to which Morales comes in one of the side quests.
At the same time, here and there characters are scattered, reflecting the diversity of the world: Miles is friends with the familiar Parker and Ganke, an American of Korean descent. In side quests, he now and then encounters a dark-skinned deaf-mute girl, which is not emphasized. Miles knows sign language and communicates with her without problems on an equal footing, without attaching any importance to her features. And in the company “PIR”, where Morales got Parker on a part-time job, a friend of the young Spider is in charge, who recently invited her girlfriend to help. In the Russian translation, the corners are cut off, and they just became friends.
It is not these details that are more important, but those conclusions to which the game pushes already in the very final. Of course, Morales wins (anyone doubted?), And the inhabitants of Harlem, the simple guys, in general, say that now they have “their own Spider-Man”. Yes, in the game we are talking about the fact that the district has its own defender, but the meaning is deeper. It is directly stated in the end credits. “Be a hero. Be yourself”.
“Be yourself”
The cartoon about Morales of 2018 carried similar ideas: there, however, everything was pronounced even brighter. The bottom line is that in order to be a hero, you don’t need to have any special powers. The superhero is always a great metaphor, a myth that can help in a difficult situation. And if earlier the heroes were mostly white guys, then in the modern world every day more and more new characters with superpowers appear – which means that everyone can find a role model on their own. And this is really cool: no one takes away from the heroes of the past their right to exist. Miles relies directly on Peter, but comes to accept his own responsibility and finds his own unique path.
Other details shown in the game work on the same idea, right down to the very deaf and dumb girl who seeks to make the world better with the means available to her. This does not require a radioactive spider to bite you.
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