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. A significant number of players are reporting various technical problems, resulting in a less-than-stellar user review rating.

Currently, only 55% of Steam reviews are positive. Many users with high-end hardware, including those with RTX 4090 GPUs and the latest Nvidia drivers, are experiencing frequent crashes. One user reported the game as "completely unplayable," crashing every five minutes. Another described the game as "rough," citing issues such as loading failures in cutscenes, extremely low frame rates in certain scenes, audio desynchronization, freezing, stuttering, and other performance problems. Several players have requested refunds due to the instability.

The primary problem seems to be frequent crashes related to the game's graphics driver, even on high-end PCs. A common error message indicates potential causes such as outdated drivers, overly demanding in-game settings, GPU overheating, or a game-specific error.

Further complaints include malfunctions with features like DLSS and ray tracing, extended loading times, missing textures, and audio glitches. Some players have also noted performance stutters escalating to crashes after extended gameplay sessions, leading to speculation about potential memory leaks.

Nixxes, the developer responsible for the PC port, acknowledged the crash reports on the Steam forums, directing users to their support website for troubleshooting guides and requesting logs and crash dumps for faster diagnosis. They also addressed a bug affecting photo-op missions, suggesting that lowering graphics settings or resolution could provide a workaround for low frame rate issues (below 20 FPS) during these sequences.