Miles Morales is the Clear Winner in This Battle of Spider-Men
Before we dive into the details, I want to share my verdict upfront: Marvel‘s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is the better game overall compared to Spider-Man Remastered. While both are phenomenal showcases of our favorite webhead, Miles Morales edges out the remastered title with its emotional story, exhilarating new gameplay, and jaw-dropping next-gen tech. Keep reading to see how I arrived at this conclusion across 10 key categories.
Overview and Background
First, let‘s recap what each game is about:
Marvel‘s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Released November 2020 for PS4 and PS5
- Standalone sequel/expansion follow-up to Spider-Man (2018)
- Stars Miles Morales protecting Harlem 1 year after the original game
- More personal self-contained story taking ~10 hours
- Retails for $49.99, also available in $69.99 bundle with Remastered
| Platform | Release Date | Length | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| PS4, PS5 | Nov 12, 2020 | ~10 hours | $49.99 |
Marvel‘s Spider-Man Remastered
- Enhanced remake of Spider-Man (2018) for PS5
- Includes full original game + DLCs starring Peter Parker
- Upgraded graphics, ray-tracing, DualSense features
- Massive 35+ hour adventure
- Part of $69.99 Miles Morales Ultimate Launch Edition
| Platform | Release Date | Length | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| PS5 | Nov 12, 2020 | 35+ hours | $19.99 (upgrade) |
Now let‘s compare their strengths across 10 categories.
Story and Characters: Miles‘ Coming-of-Age Tale
Right off the bat, Miles Morales pulls ahead with its more intimate, engaging narrative. It focuses on Miles at a vulnerable point in his life as he struggles to follow in Peter Parker‘s footsteps while dealing with family issues and the pressures of teenage life in Harlem. I found Miles‘ origin story more compelling than re-treading the blockbuster beats of Peter Parker‘s saga in the remake.
According to GameSpot‘s 9/10 review, "Miles feels like the heart of the story" with his relationships with his family and friends driving the emotional core of the game. Players connect with Miles‘ struggles in a deeper way compared to Peter‘s more grandiose superhero story.
Miles also benefits from a better supporting cast, like his streetwise best friend Ganke and troubled cousin Aaron. Spider-Man Remastered has memorable characters too in Aunt May, Mary Jane, and Miles himself in a supporting role, but none with the intimacy Miles now shares with his own crew.
As a fellow Spider-fan, I vastly preferred walking a mile in Miles‘ shoes to revisiting Peter Parker‘s story which felt overly familiar at times.
Open World Setting: The Heart of Harlem
In terms of world design, Miles Morales stands out for its meticulously crafted Harlem setting brimming with style and heart. Condensing the map to focus on Miles‘ home neighborhood allowed the developers to pour immense detail into the area. Harlem feels alive – crowded with citizens, vibrant with colorful street art, and pulsating with the beat of hip hop music.
Swinging through the snowy streets adorned with holiday decorations filled me with immense joy and nostalgia. As a lifelong New Yorker, I can say first-hand Insomniac absolutely nailed the look and spirit of Harlem. It gave this Spider-Man outing a strong sense of place unlike any other.
Peter Parker‘s Manhattan remains impressive in its scope and scale with iconic landmarks faithfully recreated across dozens of distinct districts. But the world of Miles Morales immersed me in its culture and community like never before. I greatly appreciated the change of pace from the all-too-familiar concrete jungle of the original game.
Gameplay and Combat: Fresh Moves from Miles
Core gameplay mechanics remain similar across both titles with all the wall-crawling, gadget-using action you expect from Spider-Man. However, Miles Morales introduces some fun new twists.
Miles has unique bio-electric venom powers enabling special attacks and stealth options Peter Parker lacks, like temporary invisibility and deadly venom blasts. These open up creative new ways to approach combat and web-swinging.
Other fresh gameplay ideas include hoverboarding races, holographic training programs, and rhythm-based beat-em-up sequences. According to PushSquare‘s 8/10 review, "Miles Morales finds smart ways to riff on, refine, and expand the original‘s core mechanics."
Combat also feels snappier with new venom-powered finishers. Miles faces tougher enemies from the get-go, so the fights feel more challenging and kinetic. Meanwhile, Peter Parker‘s move set and enemies remain identical in Spider-Man Remastered. After already mastering these skills in the original game, I appreciated Miles‘ unique flair.
Graphics and Technology: Two Impressive Showcases
Both titles harness the PS5‘s power to deliver jaw-dropping visuals using different technical tricks.
Spider-Man Remastered stuns with its stunningly detailed 4K resolution textures and a massive Manhattan cityscape overflowing with dynamic weather, lighting and destructible objects powered by cutting-edge ray-traced reflections. It sets a new benchmark for open world graphics.
At the same time, Miles Morales dazzles with its advanced particle effects for elements like snow and bio-electricity plus gorgeous artistic touches in the stylized graffiti art and fluid animated cutscenes. While rendering at a crisp 1800p resolution, its fidelity and effects are second to none.
Real-time ray tracing certainly wows, but I was more impressed with Miles Morales‘ avant-garde aesthetic choices compared to the photorealism pursuit of the remake. However, players can‘t go wrong with either game for showcasing the PS5‘s technical capabilities.
Soundtrack and Score: Miles‘ Hip Hop Beats
Music contributes greatly to the uniqueness of each game‘s world. Spider-Man Remastered features an excellent orchestral score by veteran composer John Paesano, perfectly accentuating the high-flying superhero action. But it sticks close to traditional cinematic sounds.
Miles Morales breaks new ground for the series with an energetic hip hop soundtrack combining original songs and licensed tracks from artists like Jaden, A$AP Rocky and Post Malone. As described in Polygon‘s review, "It’s the lifeblood coursing through Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, capturing Miles’ background, community and age".
As a fan of hip hop music myself, the pulsing urban beats throughout Miles Morales made me feel like a native New Yorker and added to the game‘s contemporary style. It reflected Miles‘ cultural background perfectly.
Content and Replay Value: Tons to Do as Peter Parker
Given its scope as a full-sized sequel, Spider-Man Remastered unsurprisingly offers way more content than Miles Morales – 35+ hours for the main campaign plus 10+ more hours for DLC compared to around 10-15 hours in Miles‘ standalone adventure.
For players like myself who want to keep web-slinging long after the credits roll, the sheer amount of challenges, collectibles and side activities in the remaster make it a completionist‘s dream. Miles Morales‘ scaled-down approach means less to do overall.
However, I appreciated Miles Morales‘ brevity. Its content felt carefully curated rather than padded just for playtime. Repeating objectives never grew tedious like it occasionally does in the original‘s massive map. Overall, Remastered wins on quantity while Miles delivers better quality per activity.
DLC and Expansions: More to Come for Miles
Since releasing in late 2020, both games have continued to expand…
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Spider-Man Remastered received a new 60 FPS ray-tracing performance mode in Spring 2021. But as a remake, its content remains unchanged beyond technical upgrades.
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Miles Morales is getting more substantial DLC. A new adventure titled The City That Never Sleeps arrives in 2024, adding hours of additional story content.
Given the expanded post-launch support, Miles Morales offers more incentive for replays down the road. Between a fresh DLC saga and New Game+ mode enabling transfers of unlocked suits and abilities, it should keep players engaged well into the future. Remastered remains static beyond performance tweaks.
Accessibility Options: Miles Suits More Players
Accessibility continues improving in games, though Miles Morales has a slight edge here. Both titles offer a solid suite of options like difficulty adjustments, HUD customization and button mapping to accommodate players with disabilities.
However, Miles Morales adds handy new settings like aim assists, timing variations for quick-time events, text-to-speech narration and more. Per GameSpot, it "sets a new high mark for accessibility in games."
Options like text-to-speech support directly enabled gamers with visual impairments to enjoy Miles‘ story. While Remastered still has ample settings, Miles‘ expanded accessibility options allow more players to experience its world.
Critical Reception and Impact: Overwhelming Praise for Miles
Both titles were incredibly well-received, though Miles Morales garnered a bit more critical praise:
- Miles Morales: Avg. critics score of 85/100 on Metacritic based on 113 reviews
- Remastered: Avg. critics score of 83/100 on 59 reviews
Beyond review scores, Miles Morales also made a bigger cultural impact upon release as the first AAA PS5 game and cover title alongside the console‘s launch. It became the de facto must-have PlayStation 5 experience.
It also represented a major milestone as the first game starring a Black Spider-Man. Miles Morales cast a profound influence moving forward. 2018‘s Spider-Man laid the foundation, but Miles pushed Spidey‘s world to new heights.
Verdict: Miles Morales for the Win!
While you can‘t go wrong with either Insomniac Spider-Man game, when comparing the two experiences side-by-side, Miles Morales edges out Spider-Man Remastered as the superior title.
It has the more emotional story, memorable characters, finely-crafted world, innovative gameplay, and catchy soundtrack. Miles as a character feels more compelling to inhabit than revisiting Peter Parker‘s journey. For a focused, unforgettable Spider-adventure with next-gen flair, Miles Morales is my pick.
However, I‘d still recommend playing both games to get the complete experience. They complement each other perfectly. Miles Morales refines the original‘s formula into a tight, self-contained saga, while Spider-Man Remastered provides dozens more hours of content in an enhanced package.
Together, this dynamite Spider-duo offers endless web-slinging fun. We‘re blessed to be able to enjoy such phenomenal adventures with Peter Parker and Miles Morales helming the spotlight. Excelsior!
What do you think? Which game did you enjoy more? Let me know in the comments below!