Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered is the latest Sony title to make the jump from PlayStation to PC, and it just might be the most complex job yet. While God of War and Days Gone were no slouches when it came to pushing gamers’ systems, Spider-Man Remastered exists in a unique category. Thanks to the wizardry of Insomniac Games, Spider-Man runs on a PS5 with both a 60FPS frame rate and some Ray-traced details as well.
That’s all to say that the PC version of Spider-Man Remastered has a lot of headroom when it comes to ways that it can look even better. Pushing the frame rate and the visual fidelity seems to be the goal when it comes to these PlayStation PC ports, but usually, the developers have a narrow set of areas where they can improve the game. For developer Nixxes Software, the potential is a lot higher, but that seemingly came at a cost.
From a pure fidelity and performance perspective, Spider-Man Remastered is gorgeous on the PC. It runs extremely well for an open world game and users can push the details of open world New York based on the power of their rig. Using our Origin Neuron review system, we were able to get 4K60 performance with high or very high settings. There were some dips depending on the number of effects on screen, but those usually cleaned up quickly. And when dropping the resolution down to 1440p or 1080p, the game ran buttery smooth.
In terms of graphics settings, users can tweak the shadows, reflections, and character detail to give Spider-Man and his rendition of New York a ton of life. Marvel’s Spider-Man was already an exceptionally impressive game on the PS4 – that was made even better on the PS5 – so it’s no surprise that it squeezes out even more performance and visual detail on PC.
Without question, Spider-Man Remastered is one of the best open world games out there, and it is well worth playing regardless of platform. Those who choose the PC version (or who fire up a repeat playthrough on the platform) will find some added considerations as well.
Ultrawide support makes the jaw-dropping New York skyline in the game and ups the immersion. It also makes the game’s well-acted cutscenes and gives them a more cinematic feel. Ultrawide support is no easy feat when it comes to PC ports, but Nixxes did a great job supporting the more immersive resolution options.
And for those who might not have a PS5 yet but want a taste of the DualSense’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, Spider-Man Remastered offers support for the controller on PC. The only caveat is that it must be a wired connection.
There’s no question that Spider-Man Remastered can look and run well on PC, but when you remove a lot of the limiters that were keeping the game optimized on console there are bound to be some stumbles. Even at the time of writing, there are still updates being planned to better optimize Spider-Man Remastered to ensure the best possible performance without sacrificing visual quality. The assumption is that any PS4 game should be able to run at Very High settings on any PC, but that isn’t the case.
With Ray-Traced reflections turned on, Spider-Man Remastered looks incredibly life-like, but the performance will also take a dip on any system. That’s to be expected. The game does offer DLSS to help keep performance stable with a high resolution, but users are bound to make some concessions to get the frame rate/resolution/settings combo that they are happy with.
Regardless of where users’ settings might land, Spider-Man Remastered is still one of Sony’s best games, of any generation. Insomniac Games crafted an experience that is thrilling even when Spider-Man is just swinging through the city, but the combat and story add fun layers that keep it engaging throughout. Not to mention, this PC version includes the Miles Morales DLC that adds new layers to the combat and has an equally compelling narrative.
So while mileage may vary in terms of how much visual fidelity a system can offer the game, Spider-Man Remastered is still well worth playing and the PC version is the best looking version. Over time performance should get even better, but right now the game is still a must-play.
Spider-Man Remastered releases for PC on August 12, 2022.
Game ZXC reviewed God of War on the Neuron 4000D from Origin PC. Origin offers a variety of customizable PCs that can meet any gamers' needs. Read more about the Neuron here.
