About
Ultimate Spider-Man is a 2005 open-world action-adventure game based on Marvel's Ultimate comics line, with story and art by series creators Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley. It renders Manhattan in a striking cel-shaded "Comic Inking" style and lets players swing through the city as both Spider-Man and Venom across alternating story missions. Praised for its web-swinging, presentation and comic-book feel, it remains a fan favorite of the era. The PC version was a Beenox port that was never sold digitally and is no longer in print.
Identity
Launch
- Binary
- USM.exe
- Needs files
- none beyond the binary
Proton
- Version
- GE-Proton
- Winetricks
- —
- ProtonDB
- ProtonDB Pending not enough reports yet
⚙ Setup notes
Overview: 2005 open-world action game (Treyarch; Beenox PC port), retail-only and delisted (never on Steam). Cel-shaded Spider-Man / Venom adventure across Manhattan.
DRM: Runs under Proton, but the original retail SafeDisc DRM does NOT work on modern systems or under Proton (kernel disc check) — you must run a DRM-free / no-DVD USM.exe in the game folder (the real game executable is USM.exe, ~1.5 MB, installed to Activision/Ultimate Spider-Man/).
Proton: GE-Proton recommended for the SafeDisc-era engine.
Display: The game is low-res by default; install ThirteenAG's Ultimate Spider-Man Widescreen Fix (drops into the game folder, loads via the bundled ASI loader) — it auto-adapts to the Deck's native resolution and applies FPSLimit = 60 and a corrected FOV. It targets USM.exe regardless of the fix's UltimateSpiderMan.WidescreenFix.ini filename.
Cosmetic: FixHUD in that ini trades HUD scaling vs the minimap: FixHUD = 1 scales the HUD correctly but slightly breaks the minimap; FixHUD = 0 leaves the HUD stretched but keeps the minimap working. Pick whichever bothers you less.
Controller: In-game pad support is partial, so add a Steam Input layout (the community profiles cover the keyboard/mouse gaps); the Deck pad is recognized but does not fully map every action natively.
The one thing to know
No ProtonDB tier: The game was never on Steam, so there is no ProtonDB page or community tier for it. Run as a non-Steam shortcut under Proton; treat compatibility as untested until verified on-device.
Supply your own copy: Delisted, retail-only commercial game (never sold on Steam).
DRM: Original SafeDisc DRM is broken on modern systems and under Proton; a DRM-free / no-DVD USM.exe is required or the game will not launch.
Proton: Use GE-Proton.
Display: Strongly recommend ThirteenAG's Widescreen Fix for usable Deck resolution/FOV; it auto-detects resolution and caps at 60 FPS. FixHUD trades HUD scaling against the minimap — 1 for clean HUD, 0 for a working minimap.
Controller: In-game gamepad support is only partial; add a Steam Input layout to cover the keyboard/mouse gaps.
Links: deckport links nothing.
Community guides
Write-ups and threads from people who got this (or a similar) game running. deckport links to them — it doesn't reproduce them.
Get the artwork
deckport never hosts game images. Open this game on SteamGridDB, pick
the cover / hero / logo / icon you like, and drop them into the
game folder under .deckport-art/ before you push it to the
Deck. The importer files them under the right names automatically.
Run it on your Deck
Two files: the one-time importer (deckport.py) in your
Deck's home folder, and this game's install helper. Copy the game
into ~/Games and run the helper with Steam closed — it
writes the recipe (binary, launch options, Proton version)
and registers the shortcut with artwork.