Spider-Man 2 PC Port Plagued by Crashes, But Shines When It Works

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In 2023, Insomniac Games unleashed another exhilarating superhero escapade with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. This game, a sequel to the highly acclaimed 2018 title, took the action and excitement to new heights while remaining faithful to its predecessor. Players found themselves donning the Spidey suit, assuming the roles of both Peter Parker and Miles Morales, as they faced off against legendary adversaries such as Kraven the Hunter, Venom, and numerous other foes drawn from the rich Spider-Man villain roster. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 continues to stand out among superhero games, but for the best experience, opt for the PS5 version over the PC port at this time.

The ports of Sony’s PlayStation games to PC have generally been well-executed, with exceptions. For instance, God of War Ragnarok and Ghost of Tsushima seamlessly transitioned to the PC platform. Regrettably, some titles such as The Last of Us Part 1 encountered technical issues upon their initial release on PC. Now, it appears that Spider-Man 2 may have similar issues.

Despite being fairly light on system specifications, it appears that the Spider-Man 2 game has a hard time performing well on PC. I’ve encountered several instances of the game crashing during play, with one happening immediately following the opening cutscenes and before any actual gameplay. Subsequent crashes predominantly occurred during battles. In an incredibly annoying situation, the game crashed, but even after closing it out entirely, the audio continued to blast from my computer speakers until I had to fully reset my PC. The positive aspect is that Spider-Man 2 saves automatically quite frequently, so while the crashes can be frustrating, players are usually able to resume their progress without much hassle upon reopening the game.

Spider-Man 2 is a Blast When It Works

Despite recent updates aimed at resolving major technical issues in the PC version of “Spider-Man 2”, I’m still encountering crashes, and it seems I’m not alone. Various PC gamers with diverse hardware setups have reported similar crashing problems with “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2”. This suggests that further improvements are necessary to ensure the game runs more smoothly. Once these updates are rolled out, “Spider-Man 2” is expected to be a fantastic new title in Sony’s collection of PC games, as the fundamental gaming experience remains enjoyable when it functions correctly.

As a diehard fan, I can tell you that Spider-Man 2 delivers an enthralling superhero tale filled with unexpected twists and turns. This time around, I get to grapple with fresh symbiote abilities as Peter Parker, and let me tell you, the action doesn’t disappoint! From the heart of Manhattan to the bustling streets of New York City, the game’s open world is a visual masterpiece that rivals or even surpasses its PS5 counterpart on PC.

The animation is fluid, the combat is exhilarating and fast-paced, and the web-slinging exploration is second to none. Spider-Man 2 is an exceptional game that’s hard to fault, which makes it a pity that the PC version has some significant issues at launch.

I played Spider-Man 2 on a computer equipped with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU, an AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12-core processor clocked at 3.70 GHz, and 32 GB of RAM for the gaming session.

In contrast to its initial challenges upon release, the PC version of ‘Spider-Man 2’ offers a significant advantage for PC gamers: Sony has eliminated the contentious PSN account requirement from certain games on PC starting with this title. While signing in to a PSN account remains beneficial for unlocking trophies and enjoying other PlayStation perks, it is no longer mandatory. To entice PC gamers to sign up, Sony is offering bonus rewards in its PC ports, such as early access to the Spider-Man 2099 Black Suit and Miles Morales 2099 Suit in ‘Spider-Man 2’.

Frequently, PlayStation PC ports offer an advantage by including the main game along with downloadable content (DLC) in a single package. For instance, Spider-Man 2 didn’t feature any story DLC, but Insomniac did provide additional suits to the game through free updates post-launch. As anticipated, PC gamers can access these post-release suits in their version of the game, implying they have a more comprehensive version of Spider-Man 2 at launch than PS5 players did initially. Currently, there are no plans for Spider-Man 2 to receive significant DLC, so the PC version can be seen as the complete experience.

Spider-Man 2 is Best Played With a Controller

Although it might be wise for PC gamers to hold off on purchasing Spider-Man 2 due to its current technical glitches, they should eventually give it a try, especially when equipped with a controller. Interestingly, while the game can be fully played using a mouse and keyboard, certain actions may seem awkward with the default settings. A controller, however, offers a more streamlined experience.

Moreover, Spider-Man 2 takes full advantage of the DualSense’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers on the PS5, providing an enhanced gaming experience that PC gamers would miss out on if they stick to mouse and keyboard controls. In essence, while playable with a keyboard and mouse, using a PS5 DualSense controller significantly improves the gameplay.

The principal tale of Spider-Man 2 can typically be finished in about 12 to 15 hours, though achieving 100% completion may take between 25 and 30 hours for many gamers. While some side content might not measure up, there’s plenty of engaging content worth exploring too.

It’s expected that the PC version of Spider-Man 2, initially underperforming compared to its PS5 counterpart, will eventually be optimized to a level where it could even surpass it, especially for gamers with high-end systems. However, at launch, the PC version fell short of expectations due to frequent crashes that are hard to overlook. Despite these issues, the core gameplay remains enjoyable and the game continues to offer one of the best superhero gaming experiences, making it worth the wait for future improvements.

The highly anticipated “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2” can now be played on both PC and PS5 platforms. For the purpose of this review, we were given a Steam access code by Game Rant.

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2025-02-04 05:14