Spider-man Miles Morales Ultimate Edition Digital Download

TechRadar Verdict

Marvel's Spider-Human being: Miles Morales doesn't quite achieve the exciting heights of 2018'due south Marvel'due south Spider-Man, only that doesn't stop it from being 1 of the best superhero games e'er made. The price of admission is higher than we'd similar – though to have a game of this quality is a rare care for, particularly during the launch of a new console.

Pros

+
Incredibly detailed visuals
+
Blazing-fast load times
+
Ray tracing support

Cons

-
Primary story doesn't last long
-
Challenges tin can be repetitive
-
DualSense implementation is adequately express

Review information

Time played: 25 hours

Platform: PS5

The launch of a new console is always an exciting and rightly celebrated result, only it's rare that a game as good as Marvel's Spider-Homo: Miles Morales is around to share in the festivities.

Launch line ups tend to be devoid of big hitters, and oft have a addiction of bringing gamers' sky high expectations plummeting back down to earth. While Curiosity's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is certainly a cross-gen game at heart, the PS5 manages to drag the experience substantially thanks to its two display mode options, incredibly fast load times and crystal clear 4K visuals.

It's a cute looking game, then, and a fitting sequel to 2018's Marvel's Spider-Man, only it'south more akin to a generous expansion than a total-blown successor – think Uncharted: The Lost Legacy and you're on the right lines. That ways it's a more condensed experience overall, though no less entertaining. Expect spectacular, jaw-dropping set pieces, Hollywood-rivalling vox interim, and sensational HDR implementation throughout (if you take a capable display).

Check out our PS5 review
Check out our reviews of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Serial Due south
PS5 vs Xbox Serial X: which panel should yous purchase?

Marvel'south Spider-Man: Miles Morales price and release engagement

What is it? A sequel to Marvel's Spider-Man
Release date? November 12, 2020 (out now)
What can I play it on? PS5 and PS4
Toll? Standard edition is $49.99 / £49.99 / AU$lxxx, while the Ultimate Edition is $69.99 / £69.99 / AU$125 and comes with a remaster of Marvel'south Spider-Human being.

Harlem heroics

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales — (Prototype credit: Sony)

Miles exudes charisma
Snowy New York is a wintry wonderland
Traversal is still exceptional

The star of the show is – possibly unsurprisingly – immature Miles Morales. The seventeen-year old New Yorker is instantly likeable and refreshingly... well… just prissy. He loves his friends and family, cares about others, and is the type of skilful-hearted person we tin all strive to emulate. In a world where too many loud voices are vying for attending and genuine acts of man kindness are few and far between, Miles' wholesome personality really resonates. There's no unnecessary blowing or sense of misplaced conviction.

It makes the graphic symbol all the more conceivable for it, every bit Miles learns to juggle his new dual life. Interim as a normal teenage kid while helping save New York as Spider-Man is no easy chore afterwards all, even with an excellent mentor similar Peter Parker. Merely Miles also has to cope with less heroic feats, such as adapting to a new surround after moving to Harlem with his mother. The end effect is a story that feels engaging from the outset, and is delivered with exceptional presentation values from the very first moments through to the last.

Miles is entrusted with protecting a snow-enrobed New York after Peter heads on a well-deserved vacation, and the events that take place while Pete'southward away ultimately help shape Miles into the hero the city needs. However, Miles will too uncover some secrets close to home that will force him to brand some hard, life-changing decisions.

The game begins in dramatic style as y'all squad up with Peter to halt a rampaging Rhino, who'south careering through everything that's inside his path. It's the perfect introduction to Curiosity's Spider-Man: Miles Morales and an impressive teaser of what awaits during the game's captivating story.

Steering Rhino through a packed mall while saturday atop his giant shoulders is an arresting moment, and the seamless switch between gameplay, quick-time-events and cinematics is achieved with aplomb. It's easy to forget how close video games are to mimicking the best Hollywood has to offer, and Curiosity'due south Spider-Man: Miles Morales only helps drive home that the gap continues to diminish.

Come out swinging

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales PS5 — (Prototype credit: Sony)

Textures have never looked so real
The SSD is a game changer
Ray tracing implementation is impressive

"Booting Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales takes mere seconds thank you to the PS5'due south super-fast SSD, allowing you lot to jump into the game at breakneck speed."

But similar in Marvel's Spider-Man, the moment you take control of Miles Morales every bit he takes his first swing through the bustling city is a spectacular thrill. The difference the PS5 makes is immediately apparent, too, with impressive draw distances, far more than densely populated streets and ray-traced reflections all catching the eye.

In fact, y'all experience the benefit of Sony's new hardware every bit before long as you commencement the game. Booting Marvel's Spider-Human being: Miles Morales takes mere seconds thanks to the PS5's super-fast SSD, allowing yous to jump into the game at breakneck speed. You lot can also bypass the main menu entirely and jump into specific challenges from the PS5'due south home screen, which are displayed equally Activity cards.

While information technology would exist a stretch to say that Marvel'due south Spider-Homo: Miles Morales is something that merely the power of the PlayStation 5 could provide (remember, a version of the game is headed to PS4, too), this a gorgeous-looking title regardless of the extra graphical flourishes. The biggest do good that the PS5 version brings is the aforementioned ray tracing, which brings realistic lighting and reflections to the game, instead of the usual smoke and mirrors that we've been used to. You'll get to see Miles' reflection in an office block every bit you swing by, for example, and while that might audio similar a small-scale add-on, its impact is quite impressive.

Textures and textile work are also worthy of praise. Everything from the glistening sheen of Miles's Spider suit to the bobbly bits of wool visible on worn jumpers await extremely convincing, and it actually adds an extra level of fidelity. Character models are a bit hit and miss, though, and a clear reminder that Spider-Man Miles Morales is substantially a super-charged PS4 game.

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Venom attacks — (Image credit: Sony)

Loads of Spidey suits to unlock
New gadgets and abilities keep things fresh
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man app is a prissy impact

"Diving off the edge of a vertigo-inducing building simply to burn down out a spider web just before yous scrape beyond the asphalt is simply exhilarating."

Marvel'due south Spider-Man: Miles Morales puts y'all in the figure-hugging suit of the younger web-slinging hero who, naturally, brings his ain unique abilities to the table. His Venom moves are the obvious highlight, surging a yellow electrical current through certain attacks, but Miles also feels more nimble than his mentor Peter Parker.

Not only are Venom moves spectacular to await at on a HDR display, they're too extremely enjoyable to pull off. Y'all tin nail through stubborn enemies and perform some shockingly constructive crowd control techniques using Miles's new plant powers. Oh, and yous can also turn invisible for a curt catamenia of fourth dimension, making stealth sections far more than forgiving. Information technology'due south enough to make the original Spider-Homo's abilities seem pretty generic by comparison.

While Miles is still learning what information technology takes to be Spider-Man, and the responsibleness that entails, you're non necessarily hampered by his rookie hero status. Your skills can be upgraded and improved over time of form, much like Miles'south array of Spidey gadgets, but the game re-treads many gameplay mechanics from 2018'due south smash hit.

The gratis-flowing, combo-chasing combat system that was successfully pioneered by Batman: Arkham Asylum remains intact, complete with more calculated sections that run across you option off enemies one by ane using various traps, distractions and, of class, mucilaginous spider webs. While nosotros still think Arkham Aviary and subsequent Batman games do a improve job in representing how enemies react to their colleagues beingness neutralized one by 1, it's all the same incredibly satisfying when you bundle up a bad guy in a webbed cocoon or knock out a hapless foe with a well timed trap.

Y'all'll need to employ all of Miles'south move set to overcome the various types of enemies in the game, of form. Some crave that yous lay the smack down aerially, while others volition demand softening up with a few Venom attacks. Each enemy type poses a unlike challenge, and learning how to arroyo each encounter is the key to success. Combat continues to exist engaging, if a tad familiar, and can pose a stern challenge at college difficulty levels, though we did find the camera to exist problematic at times.

Traversal is arguably Spider-Man: Miles Morales virtually enjoyable gameplay mechanic, though. Diving off the edge of a vertigo-inducing building only to burn out a spider web simply before you scrape beyond the asphalt is simply exhilarating. You can shoot yourself forward at a moment's notice, perform aerial tricks as you lot freefall towards the ground and take in snowy New York in all information technology'due south glory as you lot fly through the air. Fast travel is bachelor, but swinging through the city is and so engaging and perfectly captured that it honestly never gets one-time. There's just so much joy to exist had in simply beingness Spider-Human being.

Marvellous modes

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales combat — (Paradigm credit: Sony)

Performance is stone solid throughout
Iii visual modes requite gamers' choice
Swinging through New York at 60fps is a delight

"Though the game's main story clocks in at around x to 12 hours or and so, at that place's plenty of content to bask after the credits roll."

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is hopefully the outset of many PS5 titles that requite players the option of how they want to play, and at that place are at present iii modes to choose from after the game received a new update: Fidelity, Performance and Performance RT.

Fidelity is the default setting and features graphical settings similar ray-tracing, enhanced lighting and additional furnishings. Information technology uses temporal techniques to provide the all-time image quality possible, but you're locked at 30 frames per 2d. Performance mode, meanwhile, does without these graphical enhancements and upscales to 4K from a lower base of operations resolution. Functioning RT mode keeps ray tracing and 60fps, but reduces the resolution to around 1080p, lowers the reflection quality and reduces pedestrian density.

While ray-tracing is certainly an impressive graphical upshot, offering realistic reflections and lighting that simply wouldn't have been possible on the last generation of consoles, we found ourselves gravitating towards the game's Performance or Operation RT modes thank you to its numerous benefits.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales is at its best when yous're leaping off skyscrapers and zipping over the bustling New York streets below – a higher framerate keeps the onscreen activeness looking silky-smooth and allows all the world's particular to smoothen.

Input latency is likewise reduced when opting for 60fps, making combat experience more fluid and responsive when y'all're chirapsia up bad guys. Nosotros also institute that animations appeared more life-like as a result of the college framerate mode, even without the lack of graphical flourishes found in Fidelity fashion. We didn't feel any noticeable drops or hitches, either, which has often been the case with Performance modes on the terminal-gen PS4 Pro, that weren't really worthy of the name.

Ability in your hands

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales invisible — (Image credit: Sony)

The DualSense's adaptive triggers are used rather sparingly
3D audio is subtle yet noticeable
Plenty of challenges and side quests

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1 element that did disappoint, nonetheless, is the game'due south utilise of the PS5 DualSense controller's characteristic prepare – or lack of. Swiping left on the touchpad brings up the game's app, simply the use of haptic feedback and adaptive triggers is rather uninspiring, and didn't actually please the states as much equally we initially hoped. You can feel slight tension while web-swinging in the triggers, which eventually loosens in one case your spider web snaps. It'southward novel, then, but hardly every bit impactful every bit nosotros'd hoped.

Though the game's main story clocks in at around 10 to 12 hours or so, there's enough of content to savour afterward the credits roll. From traversal, combat, and stealth challenges to accepting side quests and preventing crimes using the game's 'Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Homo App', at that place's plenty content to justify the game'due south slightly steep cost tag.

Side quests are thankfully more than merely "travel from indicate to a to bespeak b" diplomacy, and yous'll be rewarded with tokens that can exist used for upgrades upon their completion. At that place'southward enough variation to keep things interesting, as well: one mission sees you saving a store owner's cat, while another volition have you scanning an underground network of pipes to help restore a local food shelter's water supply.

Collectibles are besides scattered across the urban center and include things such as mementos from Miles's childhood and mini-challenges that assistance flesh out the games backstory and characters. Almost involve reaching a specific destination to seek them out, but again, considering traversal is so satisfying, the journeying there is part of the appeal.

Verdict

With then many superhero films being pushed back because of the pandemic, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is comfortably the best action blockbuster of this yr. While we wouldn't consider it a must-accept game to show off the ability of the PS5 – honestly, Astro's Playroom does a far greater job of showcasing the potential of Sony'due south new panel and controller – it's still another excellent PlayStation sectional that will have fans of other consoles eyeing Sony's system with green-eyed.

PS5 vs Xbox Serial X: which side by side-gen console should you buy?

Adam is TRG's Hardware Editor. A constabulary graduate with an exceptional track record in content creation and online engagement, Adam has penned scintillating copy for various engineering science sites and also established his very ain laurels-nominated video games website. He's previously worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor and once played Halo 5: Guardians for over 51 hours for charity. (He's still recovering to this 24-hour interval.)