Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Review Summary

Excellent graphics and performance, engaging combat, and great web swinging are let down by a short main story, frequent crashes, and a high price.

Excellent graphics and performance: Players consistently praise the game's high-quality graphics and smooth performance. The detailed visuals and stable frame rates contribute to a visually impressive experience across various hardware.

Engaging gameplay and combat: The gameplay is widely described as fun, engaging, and fast-flowing, with combat feeling on par with the first game. New abilities like venom powers and electricity attacks make combat more entertaining.

Great web swinging traversal: Web swinging is repeatedly highlighted as a key highlight, with players finding it less boring than typical traversal and feeling excellent. Faster and more pleasant city movement adds to the enjoyment.

Lovely winter New York setting: The snowy, winter-themed New York City is a pleasant change of scenery, praised for its beautiful and atmospheric depiction during the American New Year. The winter atmosphere enhances the visual experience.

Good audio and atmosphere: The soundtrack is awesome and the music is decent, contributing to an atmospheric open world. Epic scenes are sufficient to keep players engaged.

Not worth full price: The high price tag of $50 is seen as excessive for the amount and quality of content, with many suggesting it is only worth buying at a deep discount.

Short main story: The primary campaign is very brief, often completed in 5-8 hours, leaving players feeling the game lacks substance.

Feels like overpriced DLC: Many players believe the game resembles a DLC expansion sold as a full-priced standalone product, lacking enough original content to justify its price.

Weak and predictable story: The narrative is described as shallow, uninspired, and generic, failing to engage players with its predictable plot.

Should have been DLC only: Multiple reviews argue the game lacks the content and scope of a full title and would have been better released as cheaper downloadable content.

New electric and invisibility abilities: Miles Morales introduces electric bio-energy powers and an invisibility mechanic, which add new stealth and combat options not present in the first game.

Snowy New York setting: The game is set in a winter-themed New York City with snow-covered environments, providing a distinct visual change from the original.

Open world traversal: The game features an open world map of Manhattan with web-swinging traversal mechanics, similar to the first game.

Stealth mechanics: Stealth gameplay is present, made easier by the new invisibility ability.

Venom attack and reduced moves: New Venom-based attacks are added, but some basic moves and web types from the first game have been reduced or removed.

Frequent crashes and instability: Multiple users report that the game crashes repeatedly, including crashes at startup, during gameplay, and after enabling ray tracing. Some users experienced multiple crashes within a short playtime, while others reported the game shutting down their entire PC.

Optimization is inconsistent: While some users report decent optimization and good performance on certain hardware, others describe the game as poorly optimized, especially compared to its predecessor. Performance varies widely across different systems.

Game fails to launch: Some users cannot start the game at all, encountering errors on startup despite meeting specifications. This occurs even after lowering settings or having sufficient storage space.

Performance issues on low-end hardware: Players with lower-end GPUs like the RTX 3050 report that the game runs acceptably, but there are still reports of bugs, lag, and freezing for several seconds during gameplay.

Steam Deck performance varied: One user stated the game runs well on the Steam Deck, while another reported crashes linked to ray tracing. Performance on this device is not universally positive.

Overpriced for content offered: Many players feel the game is not worth its full price due to short playtime and perception that it should be a DLC or expansion, not a standalone title. The price point of $50 is frequently cited as too high.

General do not recommend: A large number of reviews simply advise to skip or not buy the game without providing specific reasons, indicating strong overall dissatisfaction.

Wait for sale only: A recurring recommendation is to only purchase the game when it is on a significant discount, such as 75% off or at a low price like $10. Many reviewers regret paying full price or anything near it.

Short playtime not worth: The short length of the game is a major point of criticism, with players feeling the price is not justified for the amount of content. Some recommend only playing if gifted or if you prefer shorter experiences.

Only for hardcore fans: The game is considered worthwhile only for dedicated Marvel or Spider-Man fans who enjoy the character and the style of gameplay. Others are advised to avoid it.

Community fair range: $15.00 - $30.00.

Game completion: 22.0h.

Story completion: 11.0h.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales offers immediate fun through web-swinging and combat, but repetitive side content and lack of gameplay evolution cause the experience to drop off for many players after a few hours.

Friction: Repetitive side missions and open-world activities; Boring or generic story; Lack of meaningful gameplay innovation from first game; Too short main story feels like a DLC; Unskippable cutscenes frustrating on replays; Grindy suit and gadget upgrades.

Unlock drivers: Unlocking Miles' venom abilities and invisibility; Streamlined side missions compared to first game; Optional stealth system; Better pacing and less filler in main campaign.

Value-Conscious Veterans: Budget-conscious, only plays on deep sales, critically compares content length and price, often waits for discounts before purchasing. Motivation: Getting adequate value for money. Stance: deep sale.

Emotional Story Followers: Narrative-driven, takes time to absorb dialogue and cutscenes, enjoys side activities for world-building, values atmosphere and music. Motivation: Connecting with Miles's coming-of-age story and emotional beats. Stance: sale.

Completionist Web-Heads: Methodical, aims for 100% completion, replays for New Game+ and achievements, enjoys combat variety and exploration. Motivation: Mastering all content and collecting every item. Stance: sale.

Players report generally positive performance across all hardware tiers, with common issues being occasional crashes and stuttering on lower-end systems.

Windows <8GB VRAM / <16GB RAM: positive. Game runs playably on lower-end hardware, though some users experience stuttering and crashes.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM: positive. Strong performance with high frame rates on mid-to-high VRAM, but occasional crashes occur.

Windows <8GB VRAM / 16-31GB RAM: positive. Most users report smooth performance, but a notable number face crashes.

Steam Deck: Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales runs well on Steam Deck for many users after adjusting settings and using the correct Proton version, but suffers from occasional crashes, rendering glitches (especially with ray tracing), and minor controller mapping confusion. The game is playable with tinkering.

Linux and Proton: Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales on Linux Proton shows mixed results. Some users experience crashes, fullscreen problems, and rendering glitches like black shimmering spots, while others report it runs great on Steam Deck and Bazzite after switching to a specific Proton version. The game requires tinkering to achieve stability.

Monetization: The user reviews predominantly criticize Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales for being a short, standalone expansion sold at a full-game price, with many stating it should have been DLC. However, there is zero evidence of microtransactions, pay-to-win mechanics, or any real-money in-game purchases. All complaints are base-price related, which per the scoring criteria cannot push the score above 20. The game appears to be a traditional one-time purchase with no predatory monetization.