Spider-Man 2 Best Difficulty Settings [All Compared]

Tailor your Marvel's Spider-Man 2 experience with the best difficulty settings guide, striking the right balance between challenge & story.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 features stealth, intense combat, and tons of abilities for Miles Morales and Peter Parker. All of these are impacted by selecting the difficulty settings and changing the way you experience the game. While the veterans from the first two games would want to beat the game at the most challenging mode possible, learning about the best difficulty settings in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will benefit everyone.

Ultimate difficulty game setting in Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Ultimate difficulty game setting in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Key Takeaways
  • Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 features five difficulty options. The fifth difficulty option unlocks after you complete the game at least once.

Here’s a small breakdown of all the settings you can expect to see in Spider-Man 2:

  • Friendly Neighborhood: Very Easy Mode to breeze through the story campaign
  • Friendly: Easy Mode with minor Challenge
  • Amazing: Medium difficulty mode with a good balance between challenge and ease of combat.
  • Spectacular: Hard mode that’ll give you a tough time.
  • Ultimate: A Very Hard Mode that unlocks after beating the story once which will set your spidey-sense aflame.

The Difficulty Settings in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 directly impact how much damage your heroes take, the time to beat foes, and the overall stealth detection.

That is why it is imperative to switch to a difficulty setting in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 that suits a particular playstyle or time you have at hand.

1. Friendly Neighbourhood

Friendly Neighbourhood is equivalent to Very East difficulty mode in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

By far, this is the most comfortable setting to play the game, especially the story missions. If you do not have enough time daily, and you still want to beat Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 in a week, this could be your ticket. 

Or if you have a child who doesn’t understand much of the game’s nuances and mechanics, handing them over to the controller at the Friendly Neighbourhood difficulty setting will be helpful. This is what I actually did with my son. 

2. Friendly

The Friendly difficulty setting is basically an Easy Mode option you find in most narrative-focused video games.

The Friendly difficulty settings behave more or less on the same level as the Friendly Neighbourhood, but the stakes are raised a little, and combat is taken up a notch. This difficulty setting is best in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 for players who want to enjoy the story and experience a mediocre combat challenge but not get too much beat by it. 

3. Amazing

The Amazing difficulty setting is by far the best choice to go with as it provides a relatively tougher gameplay experience with some challenges.

The Amazing is the default setting Insomniac Games have implied for players to experience Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 in New Game mode. Enemies take time to beat when you compare this mode against the first two ones I mentioned. 

Similarly, you will need to rely heavily on your heroes’ best gadgets, best skills, best suit techs, and upgrades to survive the combat, as many encounters will be unforgiving. The combat at the Amazing difficulty is not over the top, but it requires a great understanding of the game’s combat mechanics and utilizing those in the field. 

4. Spectacular

The Spectacular difficulty option is basically equivalent to the Hard mode in most games.

If you love the punishment of games like Lords of the Fallen, Elden Ring, and generally the Soulsborne formula, you may find the Amazing difficulty too easy. This is where the Spectacular difficulty options in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 could turn out to be the best for you.  

The striking change in this game mode is that enemies hit like a tank and quickly take most of your health. On the contrary, they also soak a lot of damage, taking so much time to kill them. 

The hits in boss fights also are buffed, and taking multiple hits will result in a quick death.  

5. Ultimate

The Ultimate Difficulty is basically a VERY HARD or NIGHTMARE game setting in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

It is the ultimate test of your control over Miles Morales and Peter Parker’s abilities, with or without the symbiote suit. Enemies are relentless and hit very hard, potentially killing you quicker than when you play it on Spectacular difficulty. Stealth awareness of enemies is also increased, and they detect you quickly. 

Important: The Ultimate Difficulty Setting in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 only unlocks once you have beaten the game on New Game mode.

My Take On Difficulty Settings In Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Having played a couple of hours of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on all four difficulty levels, I believe the Amazing preset is the best option for most players. Also, there are no difficulty-related trophies, so all the more reasons to enjoy Spider-Man 2.

Still, if you are not in a rush and want to take things slow, explore the story mode, play side missions, and generally have a sense of slow progression, I recommend playing on Spectacular difficulty.

On the other hand, I’d suggest switching to the first two difficulty options if you do not get enough time in the day for gaming in general if you want to complete Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 as soon as possible and avoid spoilers. 

That is everything I had to discuss about Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 best difficulty settings. While you’re here, I suggest you read Spider-Man 2: Advanced Suit, How To Change Suits, Best Ways To Get Rare Tech Parts, and All Digital Deluxe Edition Suits guides. 

Did you find this helpful? Leave feedback below.

Thanks! Do share your feedback with us. ⚡

How can we make this post better? Your help would be appreciated. ✍

Subscribe to our newsletter and get up-to-speed gaming updates delivered to your inbox.

We don’t spam! Read more in our privacy policy.


Irfan Ansari is a Senior Editor and Guides Writer on eXputer. He has seven years of Video Game Journalism experience and has been gaming for more than 22 years. Over his editorial career, he has gained experience at multiple sites, including TheGamer and VeryAli Gaming. Irfan has also earned a degree in Writing and Editing from the University of Michigan. Learn some more about Irfan's gaming journey on his Steam, PSN, and Xbox profiles.

Experience: 7+ Years || Worked for TheGamer and VeryAli Gaming

Related Articles

Join Our Community

Enjoyed this article? Discuss the latest gaming news, get expert help with guides and errors, and chat about all things gaming on eXputer Forums and Discord Server. Connect with fellow gamers who share your passion by becoming a part of eXputer's community.