How to play Ultimate Levels in Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man 2‘s long-awaited New Game+ update delivered far more than just that. Along with the new additions, which include expanded ways to build your character and the ability to freely change the time of day comes something a bit more nebulous: Ultimate Levels.

While the Ultimate Levels were never explained in much detail before the update’s actual release, speculation ranged from the mundane to the fanciful. Given the amount of content cut from the game in development leakers have since uncovered, some were expecting Last of Us 2 Remastered-style prototype levels—but now the update is out, the mystery behind Ultimate Levels and what they’re used for has been uncovered.

What are Ultimate Levels in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2?

As it turns out, Ultimate Levels aren’t something you play, but something you earn. Once you beat the main story and begin New Game+, any levels you earn past Level 60 will instead become Ultimate Levels. This essentially allows you to keep progressing past your first run’s level cap. If you got your hands on Spider-Man 2 at launch, you are in all likelihood already at level 60 from your first playthrough, and thus will begin your New Game+ run at Ultimate Level 1 by default.

As in your initial playthrough, leveling up will marginally increase the health pool of both Spider-Men. With all the suits already unlocked by the time you hit Level 60, you could be forgiven for assuming that was all, and that Ultimate Levels just afforded you another way to watch numbers go up, but not so. Peter’s three story-related symbiote suits—the Black Suit, the Symbiote Suit, and the Anti-Venom Suit—have all received brand-new Suit Styles to match the rest of the suit roster.

Rather than unlocking these Suit Styles with resources like Tech Parts, you instead acquire them automatically as you progress through the Ultimate Levels. By Ultimate Level 9, every single one of these new styles will be unlocked, and you’ll be able to rock your alien goop however you want.

It should be noted this is far easier said than done. Every Ultimate Level requires a truly Herculean amount of XP, far more than you were asked to accrue in the base game. Simply progressing from Level 1 to Level 2 requires a whopping 41,000 XP, so you’re going to want to make sure to squeeze out every last experience point from the city, leaving no stone unturned and no activity unfinished. With time, however, all of the Symbiote Suit Styles will be yours. Don’t forget to switch up your tendril color to match your new look!