Spider-Man 2 Debuts to 'Mixed' Steam Reviews Amid Serious PC Performance Problems

Spider-Man 2's PC port, initially touted for its surprisingly good performance based on its system requirements, has received a mixed reception on Steam. Many players report significant technical issues, resulting in a current 55% positive user review rating.

Reports detail frequent crashes, even on high-end systems like those with RTX 4090 GPUs, despite using the latest drivers. One user stated, “Despite having a high-end GPU and running the latest Nvidia drivers (5.66.36), the game frequently crashes.” Another added, "The game is completely unplayable on PC. The game crashes to desktop every five minutes. I have already requested a refund.” Reviewers describe the situation as “rough,” citing problems including slowdowns in cutscenes, audio desynchronization, freezing, stuttering, and missing lighting effects. One user even commented, "Hold off on buying until they get a couple of stabilization patches out because holy hell."

A common error message points to display driver problems, suggesting outdated drivers, overly demanding in-game settings, GPU overheating, or a game error. The message reads: “A problem has occurred with your display driver. This can be caused by out of date drivers, using game settings higher than your GPU can handle, an overheating GPU, or an error with the game. Please try updating your graphics drivers, or lowering your in-game settings.”

Further complaints include malfunctioning DLSS and ray tracing features, lengthy loading times, missing textures, and persistent audio problems. Some players report performance stutters escalating to crashes after extended play sessions, potentially indicating a memory leak.

Nixxes, the developer responsible for the port, acknowledges the issues on the Steam forums, directing users to their support website for troubleshooting guides and urging users to submit logs and crash dumps for faster resolution. They also addressed a specific bug affecting photo-op missions, suggesting lowering graphics settings or resolution as a workaround for low framerates (below 20 FPS) during these sequences.