Here’s The Best Graphics Mode For Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is almost here – less than 24 hours to go until its October 20 launch exclusively on PlayStation 5. We loved the game – you can read Game Informer Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 review here – and we’re excited to hear what our audience thinks of it. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has plenty of tips and tricks that you can read without spoilers before starting your next adventure. But I’m going to talk about what I consider the best graphic mode. 

Now, before diving deep into the minutia of the technology behind developer Insomniac Games’ various visual settings for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, I want to preface this by saying the best graphics mode requires a TV or monitor with a 120 HZ refresh rate. Many monitors do this, but since the PlayStation 5 launch in 2020 there have been more TVs that can achieve this rate. 

If you don’t have a 120 HZ refresh rate TV or monitor, don’t sweat – both the standard Fidelity (4K resolution at 30 FPS) and Performance (Dynamic 4K resolution with 60 FPS target) look and feel great so you can’t go wrong. 

Marvel’s Spider-Man: The best graphics mode

You can skip the explanations if you’re not interested. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s best graphics setting is Fidelity. It has VRR (Smoothed), the 120 HZ option set to Automatic, and the mode of Auto.. You can see that to activate all of the above, a monitor or TV with 120 HZ and Variable refresh rate is required. 

Why? 

Many players know about 30 FPS games and 60 FPS games. This generation console players have two main choices: 30 FPS aims for a better resolution with a 60 FPS sacrificing some visual clarity to achieve optimum frame rates. Insomniac Games and other developers are leveraging the technology of 120 HZ to offer 40 FPS at 4K. And, despite what math might suggest, it’s not surprising that 40 FPS represents the midpoint between 60 FPS and 30 FPS. 

There are approximately 16.67 milliseconds in between frames at 60 FPS, or 60 HZ. There are approximately 33.3 microseconds in between frames at 30 FPS. In 40 FPS (or at a refresh rate of 40 HZ), there is a distance between frames that’s approximately 25 milliseconds. This means the half-way point between 16,67 milliseconds (33.3 milliseconds) and 25 milliseconds exactly. It is because of this that 40 FPS or 40 HZ is halfway between gaming at 30 FPS to 60 FPS. This means that 40 FPS will actually feel closer to gaming at 60 FPS even though it is only 10 frames (or HZ) higher than 30. 

In order to get beyond 30 FPS, one must usually sacrifice some visual quality. Insomniac Games, however, uses 120 HZ monitors and TVs in order to achieve 40 FPS gaming. This allows players to maintain the visual and aesthetic features of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Fidelity Mode while still playing at a faster frame rate. Insomniac Games takes it a step farther for those who have TVs and monitors with VRR.

With VRR on, you can then select either Smoothed, which will maintain resolution and target a steady framerate, or Uncapped, which will allow lower resolution to target higher, more variable frame rates. Smoothed allows you to retain the 4K quality of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 while maintaining the smooth visuals. However, both are equally good. 

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s graphics settings by Insomniac are shown below:  

• FidelityAll ray-tracing features are on, including ray-traced reflections, ray-tracing of water and a simulated window interior. This mode activates all raytracing functions, such as reflections on the water surface, window interiors with raytraced windows, etc. Graphics systems such as pedestrian density and traffic density are all at their maximum. 
• Useful InformationIt targets 60 frames per seconds. This mode includes simplified ray-tracing for certain use cases. In some places, pedestrian and traffic density can be reduced. Fine hair detail may also be simplified. 
• VRRWhen the settings are set correctly, you can use the variable refresh rates of compatible displays to enhance the resolution and frame rate based on the gameplay. 
  • SmoothedThe resolution will be maintained and the framerate is to remain constant. UncappedThis will enable a lower resolution to be targeted at higher frame rates. 
  • The corresponding setting is found in the PS5 at Settings -> Screen and Video -> Video Output -> VRR. 
• Display mode 120 HZ: When set appropriately in the console settings, utilize the 120 HZ refresh rate of a compatible display to reduce input latency and enable higher frame rates. Frame rate is set to 40 frames/second in the “Fidelity Graphic Mode”. When VRR and frame rate are both enabled, the frame rate will increase further. It will vary according to gameplay. 
  • The corresponding system setting is found in the PS5 at Settings -> Screen and Video -> Video Output -> Enable 120 HZ output.
  • This setting is applied to all slots. 

I do want to note that at the end of the day, you should just use the visual settings and graphics modes you prefer – there is not right or wrong answer, but I spend too much time tinkering with these types of settings and technologies and wanted to hopefully give you an easy-to-understand guide that explains what I believe to be the best graphics mode in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. You can ask any question in the comments section!

Read on in the interim Game Informer Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Review and Read Game Informer Before starting Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, here are some tips that will not spoil the game. Then, you can read the Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Day 1 Patch and check this article about Insomniac saying that a Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 new game plus mode will be released by the end this year.