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

Spider-Man 2's PC port, initially touted for its impressive performance based on its system requirements, has received a mixed reception on Steam. A significant number of players are reporting various technical difficulties, resulting in a "mixed" user review rating.

Currently, only 55% of Steam reviews are positive. Many users, even those with high-end GPUs like the RTX 4090 and the latest drivers, report frequent crashes. One user stated, "Despite having a high-end GPU and running the latest Nvidia drivers (5.66.36), the game frequently crashes." Another user's experience was even more severe: "The game is completely unplayable on PC. The game crashes to desktop every five minutes. I have already requested a refund."

Numerous reviewers advise waiting for stability patches before purchasing. One comment summarizes the widespread issues: "To say this is 'rough' is an understatement. Lighting doesn't load in some cutscenes, those same scenes run at seconds-per-frame, audio desync issues, freezing, stuttering, and just about every other performance issue I can think of."

A common problem seems to be the game's graphics driver frequently crashing, even on high-spec PCs. A typical error 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 This can be caused by out of date drivers, using game settings higher than your GPU can handle, an overheating GPU, or an error with the game.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, extended loading times, missing textures, and audio problems. Some players report performance stutters escalating to crashes after prolonged gameplay, suggesting a potential memory leak.

Nixxes, the developer responsible for the port, acknowledged the issues on the Steam forums, directing users to their support website for troubleshooting guides and requesting logs and crash dumps for faster resolution. They also addressed a bug affecting photo-op missions, advising users to reduce graphics settings or resolution as a temporary fix if experiencing low frame rates (below 20 FPS) during these sequences.