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Spider-Man: Miles Morales: 7 tips to help you make the most of the PS5 hit
Whether you’re returning to the streets of Manhattan ready for a new adventure, or donning the Spider-Man suit for the first time, you’re going to want to be the best superhero you can be
Spider-Man: Miles Morales is Insomniac Games’ highly-anticipated follow-up to 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man, complete with a new protagonist, a new story and new powers, to boot. Though Miles has a shorter story to play through and his game features a shorter gameplay experience overall, this revisit to Spider-Man is still packed with content and challenges for wannabe superheroes to overcome.
Thanks to the game’s brevity, you can actually end up unlocking gadgets and powers quicker than you’re given the opportunity to really get to grips with them. To that end, we’ve put together a guide that should help you better understand Miles’ setup, and how to best employ his various skills to keep the streets of New York City safe.
Seek out Peter Parker’s Challenges
Fulfilling bonus objectives will earn you more rewards
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Peter Parker is more than just a mentor for the sake of the narrative: when it comes to helping you learn the gameplay ropes, the erstwhile original Spider-Man is well-equipped. He’s set up a selection of combat and traversal challenges around the city that you can complete that’ll bestow new skills on you. Considering the original Spider-Man wasn’t that into stealth, he’s certainly got an eye for setting up stealth challenges, too – completing these or the combat tests will key you essential skills you will be relying on to clear out gangs of enemies later, so prioritise completing them.
Don’t neglect Venom attacks
Venom attacks are particularly useful in tough encounters
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Though Miles may seem a little bit less powerful than his predecessor (mostly thanks to his limited gadgets and lack of super ability), there’s one key element that levels the playing field: Venom attacks. Activated by holding L1 and hitting a face button on your PS4 or PS5 pad, these abilities require a charge of your Venom energy to use… but can really make your enemies feel the heat.
Venom Smash stuns nearby enemies and dishes out loads of damage, so it’s ideal for crowd control in tight spaces. The Venom Jump ability is also ideal for making busy, overwhelming situations a little more manageable thanks to the way it launches all nearby combatants into the air.
Focus on the story
Blasting through the story is both fun and productive!
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There are only 15 story missions for you to complete in the game, and pretty much all of them will result in you being able to use a new gadget or unlock a new side activity. Your best bet is to focus on the story so you can improve your arsenal, and – more often than not – going from mission to mission will also take you past collectibles and street crimes that you can engage with. If you take an area-to-area approach in wrapping up content, the story pacing and locations of missions will play into your hands.
Scan everything, all the time
You never know where bonus collectibles may be hiding
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Miles has the ability to send out radar-like pulses that can detect collectible items and other valuable resources. To activate this, simply hit R3 on your PS4 or PS5 pad, and a short burst will emanate from Miles and ping any relevant items in your immediate area. If you think a stack of crates looks pretty suspicious, or a wall looks conveniently placed, hitting the stick in will show you anything nearby. Even if it’s not a collectible, clocking your dad’s grave, for example, shows you the details Insomniac has spent a lot of time loading into the game.
Upgrade the Gravity Well
The Gravity Well is a powerful tool in the right hands
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The Gravity Well might be the most useful, immediately-gratifying offensive tool Miles has access to. Once lobbed at enemies, this curious creation pulls all enemies within range inwards, grouping them all together in one convenient lump. Using area of effect attacks here – like the aforementioned Venom Smash – can clean up fights in seconds. Once fully upgraded, the Gravity Well will also disarm any enemies caught in its effect, trivialising even some of the game’s most brutal encounters.
Fight smart
Using stealth and webbing enemies is important to your success
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Just like in real life, bad guys come in all shapes and sizes in Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Some of the hired goons you’re going to be educating with your fists tower above you – and their stature often affords them a massive advantage in combat. You will need to rely on Venom attacks and special moves to bring these big guys down, and more often than not, you’re going to want to take care of them first. The same goes for ranged attackers: there’s nothing more irritating than getting knocked out of your flow by some sniper chancer. Focus on the enemies that’ll provide the most challenge before taking care of the little guys.
Stay in the air
Miles Morales is at his most dangerous in the air. Bear that in mind.
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Aerial Combat is your most effective and efficient means of beating down your enemies. Though Miles doesn’t quite have the juggling skills of, say, Dante from Devil May Cry, keeping foes off the floor is just as effective for him as it is for the son of Sparda. If you can keep enemies in the air, most of their allies can’t even touch you – and you’re still well-equipped enough to dodge anyone that tries to land a pot shot on you.
A combat challenge will provide you with the Air Marshall skill, so seek that out as early as possible to and increase your damage and focus generation in the air. From there, you’ll want to master Air Launch, Swing Kick, and Air Yank to allow your airbourne chains even more freedom. Midway into the game, you’ll come across goons that can pull you out of the air – it goes without saying that you’ll want to take care of those guys first.
