Find some way to play it
Spider-Man PC is bringing the modern Insomniac classic to a wider market, just like God of War and several others did before it. The spice must flow, and so must ports.
What can be said about Spider-Man that hasn’t already been said? Well, not much! But this port is new.
Despite the déjà vu, I found myself getting lost in playing Spider-Man all over again — even though the purpose of this exercise was to mainly test performance. The intro says everything it needs to say about Peter Parker, then he quickly becomes Spider-Man, and we’re on our way with some organic tutorials on how to web-sling and get around. Even slipping into the Arkham Asylum/Assassin’s Creed 2 combat was like riding a bike: it felt like second nature to web up a goon near a wall so that you could incapacitate them instantly. I quickly recalled the energetic animations for when Spider-Man dodges between someone’s legs.
A lot of us have been recommending this game for almost four years now (we’re close to the day), and with the slick visual upgrade, it’s even easier to vouch for (and it pairs well with The Spectacular Spider-Man, which just hit Netflix).
As far as the port side of the equation goes, here are the bigger features of Spider-Man PC:
- A new graphical suite with the option for an unlocked framerate
- Ray-tracing and shadow support
- Ultra-wide monitor support
- Haptic feedback for DualSense users and full mouse and keyboard support
The existing prior-console-update options (like accessibility) made it into the PC version, as did several PC-only toggles, which take the “performance” mode slider in a decidedly more nuanced direction. Ultra-wide monitor support is a quick toggle, amid vsync, framerate, HDR, and DLSS/DLAA settings (much like God of War). There are toggles for shadow quality, level of detail (as well as hair quality), depth of field, field of view, motion blur strength, and more. You can view all of those intricacies in the gallery above.
Sony says these extra features will also be available at launch:
- Reflections (On / Off)
- Ray-traced reflections (High / Very High)
- Object Range (Slider)
- Geometry Detail (High / Very High)
Mods of course will be a consideration (as is the game’s Steam Deck verification), and hopefully that scene will blow up to the point where we’ll be writing about it next week. One meta sorta-negative is that you’re spending $60 on just Spider-Man Remastered (the first game) without Miles’ story. A Sony listing confirmed a “fall 2022” PC date for him, but for now, it’s just the first game — four whole years removed from the original release date on consoles. For those of you who already enjoyed it, you may not need to double dip. If you’re looking at picking it up and own a PS4 or PS5, it would be frugal to just get the combined pack online.
Either way, the choice is yours. As long as everyone gets the chance to experience this series, it’s a win.
