OK so I reviewed Spider-Man: Miles Morales in the original Spidey thread as it was essentially an expansion. This one is rocking it so far, and I'm only just up to the reveal of a character getting superpowers. The game is really highlighting the wholesome dynamics between Peter and Miles, whilst giving both major plotlines to focus on. The change in game dynamics means right now Miles feels WAY more powerful than Peter due to his Venom strikes (this was balanced in his previous game by making him hit less hard than Peter and finding it harder to build finisher chains). BUT I know there's a storyline-relevant boost to Peter's abilities coming. And some of Miles' powers are also plot-enhanced due to his personal issues. So all feels natural. As does the relationship with Harry Osborn, back from his trip to Europe incubation with a gooey alien symbiote. Oh yeah. That. See above. I know where it's going. And Kraven's here! Explicitly superhuman it seems, or merely researching an antitoxin for Scorpion's sting wouldn't really help against a guy who is supposed to be stronger and tougher than Spidey (just so fucking dumb he can't capitalise on it). Yuri's back too, fully the Wraith this time, but good to get the (married) VOs interacting again when she deals with Pete. She's chasing down a certain red-haired psycho and his cult. That'll end well. Flashbacks are fun! Creeping around school with Harry or riding to Pete's first meeting with JJJ to sell his photos of Spidey? Yay!!
Hit the point where Peter gets the black suit, though right now the symbiote isn't at the forefront. It's a brutal take on things: More wholesome: helping as Miles to recover stolen items from a Harlem music history exhibit (we get to meet the cat known as Spider-Man again, with his cute little mask). Also a mission as Miles' love interest Hailey (the deaf street artist he met in his own game and now his classmate) where she helps cover up gang tags with street murals and eventually forms a collab with another aspiring artist. This mission has minimal sound and Hailey understands the speech of others (as well as representing her own thoughts) as emojis. Not sure how actual deaf folk might view that, but I thought it was cute and effective.
Got the symbiote off, but that's the point where shit gets worse. However, even with all that turmoil the game made me tear up not about friends turning enemies, or the incredible Spider-brother relationship between Pete and Miles, or even the forced heart-to-heart between Peter and MJ. No, it's the pigeon bit. If you played the first game, you know there was a side mission that involved catching homing pigeons for a homeless guy (Howard) after he was kicked out of his digs. It transpired these were actually his dead wife's birds, but he's found purpose in caring for them. Here he calls Spidey (thanks to Miles' pal Ganke, the Spideys have an app folk can put in requests/alerts on) and invites him to the waterfront. After a wholesome chat about his past looking out over a beautiful waterfront scene, he tells Pete he's finally going on an adventure he promised his wife he'd take. And wants Spidey to lead his bird flock to a new home. This leads to a very uplifting sequence where Spidey swings and glides (web wings are back and actually work!) with the flock to various locations, finally settling on a park near Aunt May's old house where he and Harry used to hang out. The music used here is terrific - Google tells me it's "Seabird" by The Alessi Brothers. Where it gets tearjerky is when Spidey returns to Howard and finds he's died - passed peacefully of natural causes according to the ambulance crew. Finally on that adventure... It's a fantastic interlude to the darkness of the story at that point, and a reminder of just how much Spidey means to the NY community - not just because he smacks villains in the face, but because he'll take time to herd pigeons or rescue cats. And fulfil a dying old man's wish.
