Spider-Man 2 Swings Onto Steam With Forgiving PC Specs

Sony's Marvel's Spider-Man 2 swings onto PC today, January 30th, and the wait is finally over! While the PC port has been anticipated for some time, developer Nixxes Software has now revealed the impressive range of PC features and performance options. Developed to "finetune performance and fidelity across a broad range of hardware configurations," the PC version boasts significant upgrades.

As showcased in the new trailer (see below), Spider-Man 2 on PC eliminates the PSN requirement, a welcome change for PC players. The game also features advanced ray tracing enhancements, including DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction. Nixxes graphics programmer Menno Bil explains, “In Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on PC with ray reconstruction enabled, we see more detailed ray-traced reflections and better-defined ray-traced shadows, especially when viewing raytracing effects at steep angles. We also see improvements in the ray-traced interiors and less ghosting and noise in the ray-traced ambient occlusion.”

Further enhancing visual fidelity are DLSS 3 and FSR 3.1 upscaling and frame generation technologies, with Intel's XeSS upscaler also supported. While DLSS 4's Multi-Frame Generation isn't directly supported, users can potentially leverage the Nvidia app to utilize the newer transformer model for improved DLSS 3 Frame Generation image quality.

For those with expansive displays, ultrawide support is available up to a remarkable 48:9 aspect ratio, with all cinematics viewable up to 32:9.

The system requirements are thoughtfully categorized into ray-traced and non-ray-traced configurations. For players prioritizing accessibility over ray tracing, a modest system with an Nvidia GTX 1650, Intel Core i3 8100, and 16GB of RAM can achieve 720p at 30 FPS. High-end systems can fully utilize their power, with a 4K 60 FPS experience at "Ray Tracing Ultimate" requiring an RTX 4090, AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, and 32GB of RAM.

Regarding Steam Deck compatibility, while not officially verified, the high RAM requirements and need for a relatively modern GPU suggest it might be possible, though not guaranteed. Unlike the previous Spider-Man titles which had PS4 ports, Spider-Man 2's PS5 origins may present greater hardware demands.

The broad range of supported configurations has been widely praised online. One Reddit user commented, "This must be the best hardware requirements sheet I’ve seen so far," with another adding, "Honestly, great job. If performance lives up to this, it'll be very well received."