From the moment that you land on Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ start screen, the game immediately sets itself apart from Insomniac’s previous Spider-Man game, not just by putting Miles front and centre, but by cluing you into the kind of music that the young hero’s got blasting in his headphones. You’d be forgiven for sitting on the start screen just for the music alone, but thankfully, you no longer have to.
Ahead of Miles Morales’ release this week, Sony’s released composer John Paesano’s full soundtrack, which also includes two new songs from Lecrae and one new track from Jaden Smith that were all recorded for the game. As tends to be the case with track lists, there’s only so much to be gleaned about the game’s plot from each song’s name — but they do gesture toward the general shape of Miles Morales’ story and the sort of energy that defines Miles’ path to becoming his own Spider-Man.
Much as Miles Morales’ soundtrack evokes a distinctly Spider-Man sort of vibe, it also pointedly incorporates elements of hip-hop production meant, one imagines, to reflect Miles’ own personal taste in music and his fondness for 808s. Hard as many of the tracks go, there are just as many that make for the perfect sort of chilled-out ambience you’ll want when kicking back to guide Miles along as he fights to save and protect Harlem.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales drops on November 12.