How to get Crime Tokens and resolve crimes in Spider-Man
All you need to know about Crime Tokens - and some tips for resolving crimes quickly.
Crime Tokens, earned from resolving Crimes, are one of several key resources in Spider-Man.
They're also the first thing you unlock on the map, and bring into play Spider-Man's classic utilitarian dilemma of who to help and when.
Here on this page we've put together a quick explainer on Crime Tokens and how to earn them, plus any other tips you should bear in mind for resolving crime around town.
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Crime Tokens explained - what are Crime Tokens in Spider-Man and what are they used for?
Crime Tokens are one of several Resources you can earn from busywork around the map in Spider-Man.
They're the first to become available - in fact as soon as you fix the first Surveillance Tower for Yuri you'll be tasked with stopping a nearby street crime.
The main thing that makes them stand out is, unlike other Resources, they don't have a permanent marker or location on the map itself. Instead, crimes will occur at random as you travel around town - when one does, a red exclamation mark in a triangle will appear on your HUD nearby, with some chatter coming in from Police radios.
You can then choose whether or not to engage with the crime or just carry on passing by, and you can leave them at any point by just swinging away if you change your mind. Completing these crimes, of course, gives you Crime Tokens. Note that there are several different types of Crime that occur, too - they're listed when you hover over a district on the map - but all of them stay active after the story's done, so you won't miss anything.
What are Crime Tokens used for?
Crime Tokens, like Spider-Man's other Resources, are used for buying things like Suits, Suit Mods, and Gadgets and Gadget Upgrades.
Those are all unlocked in different ways - mostly by levelling up, but some through other means - which we explain in our dedicated guide to Spider-Man Suits and how to unlock them, if you're after more detail.
Looking for more help? Our main Spider-Man walkthrough and guide is where you'll find a hub of all our pages, or you can go straight to our guides to Resources, like Backpack Tokens, Base Tokens, Challenge Tokens, Crime Tokens, Research Tokens and Landmark Tokens, our big list of all Spider-Man suits, all Black Cat Stakeout locations, all Secret Photo Ops locations or, finally, our list of Spider-Man Circuit Puzzle and Pattern Puzzle solutions.
How to earn Crime Tokens fast
Depending on how you look at it, Crime Tokens are either really awkward or really easy to collect.
We picked up a huge number over the course of our playthrough, just by resolving any Crimes that came up in passing - we never sought them out, but then doing so might be a little like watching a pot and waiting for it to boil; it'll feel like it takes forever.
Our advice then is to simply tackle each and every crime that appears on your radar as you make your way through the game, or at least most of them, because then when it comes to spending those Crime Tokens or mopping up the last of the map you'll have already made a very hefty dent in the work.
There's one other thing to consider, too: like Base Tokens, Crime Tokens can be earned faster by completing the Bonus Objectives of a crime. As soon as you approach a Crime in progress, press R3 to bring up the Bonus Objectives on the left of your HUD. Again like Base Tokens these will be related to things like Stealth Takedowns or webbing enemies to walls, so it's good to bear them in mind as early as possible.
Resolve Crimes as they come, and try to earn one or two of the Bonus Objectives as you do so, and you'll have a whopping number of Crime Tokens in no time.