After the PS4 version launched in 2018, followed by the PS5 remaster in 2020, Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered is finally coming to PC. Developed by Insomniac Games and Nixxes Software, it’s out on August 12th for Steam and the Epic Games Store. What can first-time players look forward to? What new features does the PC version offer? Let’s take a look at 15 things you should know before buying.
Story
Marvel’s Spider-Man isn’t an origin story. Instead, Peter Parker has already been Spider-Man for eight years but still struggles to balance his personal, professional and crime-fighting lives. When a new threat in Mister Negative emerges, Parker will need to make some tough choices to protect the city and the ones he loves. Also, since this is the Remastered version, Ben Jordan’s likeness has been used for Peter Parker instead of John Bubniak.
Setting
Set in a fictionalized version of Manhattan, there’s plenty to see from Central Park to the Empire State Building. Of course, Marvel fans will spot plenty of references to the universe like Stark Tower, Hell’s Kitchen, the Wakandan Embassy and Dr Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum. Another nice touch is Spidey utilizing the New York City Subway system for fast travel, leading to some admittedly humorous scenes.
Movement and Traversal
You’ve probably heard for years now about how Marvel’s Spider-Man makes you feel like the friendly neighbourhood web-slinger. But once you start web-swinging, wall-running, diving and barreling through the air, it all makes sense. It’s not just building momentum and swinging either as you can perform tricks, Point Launch for an instant boost, and much more. There’s a definite rhythm to it all which is very fun to master and put to the test (especially when faced with side challenges for the same).
Combat and Gadgets
If you’ve ever played the Batman Arkham series, then combat is somewhat familiar here. Along with executing attacks and building up combos, Spider-Man can also dodge attacks, counter at the right moment thanks to his Spidey Sense and perform Finishers. Of course, there are air combos, Suit Powers, environmental attacks (like dropping objects on foes), and webbing enemies to add a bit more spice to the action. New abilities are unlocked via the Skill Tree and you can also unlock and upgrade different gadgets. For instance, the Web Shooter – which is available at the start – can be upgraded to refill faster, have increased capacity and more.
Side Activities
In addition to story and side missions, players have a wide array of open-world activities to discover in Manhattan. There are Research Stations, which offer challenges that put your traversal skills to the test; Crimes, which range from armed robberies to retaking stolen vehicles from the bad guys; Black Cat Stakeouts where you need to locate special Black Cat dolls; Hideouts which need to be cleared of Kingpin’s cronies; and much more. Completing these activities awards different kinds of Tokens for crafting suits and upgrades. Speaking of which…
Spider-Suits
It wouldn’t be a Spider-Man game without a variety of suits available. There are dozens available with some having their own associated powers (though you can also craft and equip different Suit Mods). Several suits have also been added for free through post-launch updates. Whether you’re a fan of the comic books or films, there are guaranteed to be a few favorites.
The City That Never Sleeps DLC
In addition to an extensive base game – which can take 17 to 35 hours, depending on whether you collect everything – the Remastered version also includes The City That Never Sleeps DLC. This is an additional three-part DLC set after the main story and can take about 5.5 to 12 hours to complete. Overall, you’re looking at a good 45 to 50 hours for all of the content.
4K and 60 FPS
Of course, with the PC version, players can benefit from full native 4K resolution gameplay at 60 frames per second (with an unlocked frame rate also available). This will depend on your system settings – more on that in a bit – but even if you’re aiming for 1080p/60 FPS at Medium settings, the overall requirements should be manageable.
Ultrawide Support
If 4K support isn’t enough, Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered also supports Ultrawide monitors. This includes 16:9, 16:10, 21:9, 32:9 and 48:9 resolutions. But that’s not all – even multi-monitor setups with Nvidia Surround are supported, allowing one to enjoy the action across three different monitors.
Quality Levels and Settings
Along with choosing between different graphical presets like Very Low, Medium, High, and Very High, PC players can also adjust individual options. These include the LoD quality, shadow quality, SSAO, texture filtering and so on. In addition, you have the usual Windowed, Full Screen and Exclusive Full-Screen rendering modes.
Ray-traced Reflections
One of the biggest selling points of the remaster is its ray tracing, and it’s looking to be even better on PC. In addition to different graphics settings, the ray-traced reflections also have various quality levels. A new “higher-quality” ray-traced mode has been touted by Insomniac which will showcase “even more city detail” than before. As it stands, the remaster looks utterly stunning with ray tracing enabled on PS5 so it should be interesting to see if the PC version tops it.
DualSense and Mouse and Keyboard Support
Mouse and keyboard are supported in the PC version, which is reflected in the gameplay and UI, and players can also remap buttons via Steam Input. In addition, the DualSense controller with its adaptive triggers and haptic feedback is supported to ensure the full PS5 experience.
Nvidia DLSS and DLAA Support
In addition to Nvidia’s Deep Learning Super Sampling, which boosts frame rates on RTX GPUs without sacrificing image quality, the PC port also supports Deep Learning Anti-Aliasing or DLAA. This is an AI-based anti-aliasing mode for RTX GPUs which provide even greater image quality if your setup can handle it.
System Requirements
At long last, the moment of truth. First off, Windows 10 64-bit and 75 GB installation space are mandatory. For 720p/30 FPS at Very Low settings, the very minimum of requirements, you’ll need an Intel Core i3-4160 or equivalent AMD CPU, 8 GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 950 or equivalent AMD GPU. Those without an SSD, rejoice – a regular hard disk drive will suffice.
For 1080/60 FPS at Medium settings, a Core i5-4670 or AMD Ryzen 5 1600, a GTX 1060 6 GB or Radeon RX 580, 16 GB of RAM and an SSD are required. For 4K/60 FPS at Very High settings, a Core i5-11400 or Ryzen 5 3600, an RTX 3070 or Radeon RX 6800 XT, and 16 GB of RAM are required along with an SSD.
For 1440p/60 FPS or 4K/30 FPS at High settings with ray tracing set to “High”, you’ll need a Core i5-11600K or Ryzen 7 3700X, an RTX 3070 or Radeon RX 6900 XT and 16 GB of RAM along with an SSD. Finally, for 4K/60 FPS at High settings with ray tracing set to “Very High,” a Core i7-12700K or Ryzen 9 5900X with 32 GB of RAM, an RTX 3080 or Radeon RTX 6950 XT, and an SSD are needed.
Pre-Order Bonuses
Those who pre-purchase Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered can net some pretty cool bonuses early on in the game. Along with immediate access to three suits, you also get the Spider-Drone Gadget, which is great for stunning foes, and five Skill Points for an early start on unlocking abilities. All of this content is accessible by simply playing the game, so don’t worry if you can’t pre-order.
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