Spider-Man On PC Is A Strong Port, But You’re Still Going To Need A Controller

Spider-Man On PC Is A Strong Port, But You’re Still Going To Need A Controller

Spider-Man Remastered on PC will be, I think, the fourth time I’ve had to evaluate Insomniac’s Spider-Man in one form or another. First, the original launch, then Miles Morales, and then the remaster of the original that launched alongside it. This PC port is that remastered version, complete with younger, redesigned Peter Parker. Nothing I can talk about in relation to the story or its gameplay hasn’t been covered in thousands of other reviews, including my own, since 2018. If you’ve never played Spider-Man before, because you didn’t have access to a PlayStation console, I hope you enjoy it. It really is one of the better narrative rollercoasters in the PlayStation stable.

So what is there to talk about in the PC version of the game?

Well, there are some graphical updates. Shadows and reflections look amazing on the PC, especially with a card capable of ray-tracing. Spider-Man also supports Nvidia’s DLSS and DLAA performance and image quality enhancements, should your card be capable of such. In addition, the game supports ultrawide monitors right out of the box, which is spectacular in motion. Finally, the framerate has also been unlocked for those that must run every game at a rock solid 240 frames, or they’ll die.

But most interesting of all (to me, at least) is that Spider-Man is the first game in Sony’s PC library to offer full DualSense controller support. The haptic rumble, the adaptive triggers, the touchpad, the built-in speaker, all of it. You can use many of these features with other titles on Steam, but this is the first time Sony has activated it on one of its own games. There is, however, one trade-off to getting all of this functionality: the DualSense must be connected to your PC via a USB-C cable. Of course, you can still use it wirelessly on the PC, as you’ve always been able to, but doing so will turn off all the bells and whistles.

This is a surprising development, one that could point to a softening of Sony’s heart over the years (or perhaps the inevitable crumbling of its walled garden). Sony is willingly unlocking something that, until now, has been the sole domain of its PlayStation 5 console, in its lifetime.

The DualSense remains the best way to play and experience Spider-Man. I’m actively begging you not to use the keyboard and mouse controls. Spider-Man was designed as a PS4 exclusive, meaning it wasn’t designed with anything but DualShock controls in mind. As a result, the keyboard and mouse controls feel grafted onto the thing, ungainly and scattered across too many buttons. In a game that’s as fast and fluid as this, that presents a huge and fiddly drawback.

If you are planning to play Spider-Man on PC and you have a DualSense controller at your disposal, I’m insisting that you use it. I would even go so far as to say: if you plan to play this and other PlayStation Studios games as they arrive on PC in the future, go and get yourself a DualSense. It will make your life that much easier in the long run.


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