Shines when it focuses on Miles' family and the communal aspect, falters when the main plot echoes so much of the first game and when the sandbox resorts to the same old cliches. Not to mention some uncomfortable politics. Miles' father, a police officer, is valorized in every breath. His uncle, a thief, is vilified as if he's committed some deep betrayal. and it'd be one thing to not examine the police if Miles Morales stayed in its lane; I could forgive its attempts to shove them into the background as obtrusive afterthoughts irritated with Miles. But the game has a BLM mural and most disgusting of all, once again uses a private force to commit systemic abuses in New York and deliberately evokes black teens being held at gunpoint, confused and afraid, hands up, and being recorded. It wants brownie points for the bare minimum and then wants you to shut up when it goes on again about how great Miles' dad is, and it goes beyond cowardly and into sickening when instead of taking a stand and actually saying something, they capitalize on real life tragedy.

That said, the combat's as fun as ever with some new twists, and there's a glimpse of something more with how figures in the community are tied into Miles' plot, which makes it all the more frustrating when it falters. It's still a nice way to turn your brain off for a few hours, at least.