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Marvel’s iconic comic book hero Spider-Man has starred in numerous video game adaptations over the years, and while some of his outings have been excellent, the results haven’t always lived up to the webslinger’s reputation. His latest title, Marvel’s Spider-Man, arrives exclusively on PlayStation 4 later this week, and judging by the game’s early reception, it’s one of his best video game adventures yet.

Developed by Insomniac Games (the studio behind Ratchet & Clank and Sunset Overdrive), Marvel’s Spider-Man is set in an original, standalone universe separate from the comic series. The game casts players in the role of an older, more experienced Peter Parker, who must use his powers to save New York from some of his most memorable villains, including Electro, Rhino, Scorpion, Vulture, and Silver Sable.

GameSpot’s Edmond Tran praised Insomniac’s take on the comic book hero for its excellent narrative and satisfying web-swinging mechanics. “Swinging around New York as Spider-Man is endlessly fulfilling. It’s a relatively straightforward system that isn’t overly demanding on inputs, but the minor adjustments and variables in terrain you need to consider while in motion (webs require tangible attach points), as well as the weighty feeling of Spidey makes the process feel satisfyingly manual–there’s just enough effort required to make you feel as if it’s all on you,” he wrote in GameSpot’s Spider-Man review.

With its release only a few days away, reviews of Marvel’s Spider-Man have begun appearing online. We’ve rounded up a sample of them below to give you a quick overview of what critics have to say about Spider-Man’s latest outing. For a broader look at Marvel’s Spider-Man’s critical reception, be sure to visit GameSpot’s sister site, Metacritic.

• Game: Marvel’s Spider-Man
• Developer: Insomniac Games
• Platform: PS4
• Release date: September 7
• Price: $60 / £45

GameSpot — 9/10

“Minor shortcomings don’t detract from Insomniac’s achievement in creating a game that feels like an authentic interpretation of a beloved creation. The feeling of embodying Spidey and using his abilities is astonishing, and the time spent on exploring its major characters help make its story feel heartfelt, despite superhero bombast. There have been open-world Spider-Man games before, but none so riveting and full of personality, none that explore and do justice to this many facets of the universe. Insomniac has created a superior Spider-Man experience that leaves a lasting impression, one that has you longing for just one more swing around New York City, even after the credits roll.” — Edmond Tran [Full review]

IGN — 8.7/10

“I wanted Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS4 to make me feel like Spider-Man: To sail between the highrises of New York City, to nimbly web up hordes of enemies, and tussle with familiar, animal-themed villains. Insomniac Games’ first foray into the world of Marvel handily delivers on all of that. But what I didn’t expect from Spider-Man was to come away feeling just as fulfilled to have inhabited the life of Peter Parker. Aside from a few odd pacing issues, which momentarily took me out of the experience of being a superhero, and a world of optional missions that don’t always quite live up to the heft of the main story, Insomniac has delivered a Spider-Man story that both surprised and delighted me, coupled with gameplay that made me feel like Spider-Man nearly every step of the way. The Wall Crawler’s open world doesn’t consistently deliver the thrilling moments of its main campaign, but the foundation laid here is undoubtedly a spectacular one.” — Jonathon Dornbush [Full review]

Eurogamer — Recommended

“What I love more than anything, is that behind the traversal and combat, Insomniac is a wonderfully controlling developer. For the entire length of the campaign they won’t hand the city over to a day/night cycle or randomise the weather because they want total command of the atmosphere for the beats big and little to play out in. Just like they want those webs to attach to buildings in a convincing manner, they don’t want to leave too many other details to be ground up in the cogs of an open-world. Somebody, in other words, is looking out for Spider-Man, a superhero whose pleasing vulnerability means that he needs looking after now and then–just as he could do with a little help getting his belongings out of the trash.” — Christian Donlan [Full review]

US Gamer — 4.5/5

“Insomniac Games takes Marvel’s most popular character for a spin and the results are fantastic. The developer establishes its own Spider-Man with a unique supporting cast and a beautiful recreation of New York to play around in. This is an absolutely beautiful game, with solid combat and a great story. Most of all, it really sells the feeling of being Spider-Man. The gaming history of Spider-Man has been uneven, but this is an amazing entry in that history. Pun intended.” — Mike Williams [Full review]

Game Informer — 9.5/10

“Like Batman: Arkham Asylum before it, Spider-Man raises the bar for one of the world’s most beloved heroes. You feel like you’re doing everything he’s capable of. Insomniac succeeds in making Peter and the supporting cast just as memorable and engaging as the wall crawler. Excitement is delivered consistently from the outside of play right up to the last story frame, which is a real shocker that contains a reveal that will make the wait for the sequel almost unbearable.” — Andrew Reiner [Full review]

GamesRadar+ — 4.5/5

“Spider-Man is still a hugely enjoyable adventure full of great characters and moments, and just about one of the best videogame realisations of superheroing to date. Insomniac are a studio with nearly 25 year’s experience of producing slick, tactile action adventures that feel great to play, and seeing that expertise turned to a licensed game has created an impressively, polished and crafted experience.” — Leon Hurley [Full review]

Mission Impossible: Fallout actor Henry Cavill will star in the upcoming adaptation of The Witcher. The actor, also known for playing Superman in DC’s movies, hinted last month that he would like to play Geralt in the Netflix show. Now the streaming giant has confirmed that he will indeed take on the role.

Cavill will play Geralt in the eight-part show, which is based on the fantasy novel series written by Andrzej Sapkowski, on which the games are also based. Sapkowski is set to work on the English language drama series as a creative consultant.

The star gave fans the first clue that he was in line for the role in August. IGN asked him about other projects he would like to be involved in, and he expressed his love of the Witcher games. “Love that game. Really good game,” he said. Cavill was then asked specifically about playing the lead character of Geralt in Netflix’s adaptation. “Absolutely,” he said. “Yeah, that would be an amazing role.” Cavill also dropped some hints when he reposted fan art imagining him in the role on Instagram.

The show is being developed by Lauren S. Hissrich, who previously worked on Daredevil, The Defenders, and the upcoming Netflix drama Umbrella Academy. The show was announced in May, but it is not expected to hit the service until 2020. “We’re moving quickly ahead with everything–like, my head is spinning around Exorcist-style, except with enthusiasm, not evil possession–but one thing is certain: quality comes before speed,” Hissrich said at the time.

A Polish TV series based on The Witcher aired in 2002, but that has been the only adaptation of the franchise for TV so far. A Witcher movie with some big-name talent behind it was was announced for 2017, but that never happened.

As for the Witcher game series, the newest instalment was 2015’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. No new projects in the series have been announced, and developer CD Projekt Red is now working on the much-anticipated Cyberpunk 2077.

Like many retailers, Best buy releases a new weekly ad every Sunday, showing off what’s on sale in the coming week. Since video games are among Best Buy’s offerings, a new set of games gets discounted as well. This week finds some good deals on individual video games (see the list below), as well as some conditional discounts for buying things like a Nintendo Switch or a game over $30. Let’s dive in.

Purchase a Nintendo Switch at Best Buy, and you’ll get $30 off Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2, or The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. That’s a great deal, considering you’ll almost certainly want at least one of those games on your new system.

The PS4 exclusive game Spider-Man is also out this week (September 7, to be exact), and Best Buy currently has pre-order stock of the limited edition Spider-Man-themed PS4 Pro. It costs $400 and comes with a red 1 TB PS4 Pro emblazoned with the Spidey symbol, a red controller, and a copy of the game.

Destiny 2 got its major year-two Forsaken update this week, and if you spend $30 on any game or Turtle Beach headset, you’ll get a copy of the base game for free. It’s worth noting that you’ll have to shell out extra money for the Forsaken content, so you might be better off just buying the $60 release Destiny 2: Forsaken Legendary Collection if you don’t already have the game and the first two expansions (which you’ll need to play Forsaken).

For the sports fans out there, you can pre-order NBA 2K19 to get one of three Funko Pop figures for free while supplies last. A number of other gaming deals area available at Best Buy this week, so take a look at the list below to see if anything catches your eye.

The release of Destiny 2‘s Forsaken DLC is just hours away–servers are down and the 2.0.0.1 update is available. And while there’s a variety of new changes to check out already, we’ve got some gameplay footage from Forsaken’s early story missions to tide you over and to give you a taste of what awaits. Spoiler warning: If you’re attempting to go into Forsaken without seeing anything about it beforehand, you’ll want to stop reading and avoid the video.

Above, you can see some of the early Forsaken missions. This actually starts prior to the Cayde-6 death sequence we’ve seen in previously released trailers, as he calls you in to help deal with a riot at the Prison of Elders. It’s here you’ll bump into the Awoken character Petra Venj (returning from Destiny 1’s House of Wolves DLC), who serves as an ally during the DLC.

The riot turns out to be an attempted prison break, as Uldren Sov–the brother of the Queen of the Reef, Mara Sov, who has been missing since The Taken King–is looking to bust the captured Barons out. As opposed to the version we saw in one of the aforementioned trailers, you actually get to experience Cayde’s Ghost destroyed from the perspective of your Guardian. Beyond all of this, you’ll also get to see some of the new enemy faction, the Scorn. These are Fallen enemies who have been corrupted, giving some Taken-style twists on existing archetypes.

Forsaken looks to be a major expansion for Destiny 2; it’s been positioned as this game’s equivalent of The Taken King, which marked a major turning point for the original Destiny. Alongside a new campaign, it includes the new PvP/PvE hybrid Gambit mode, a new Raid (unlocking on September 14), nine new subclass tiers (with accompanying Supers), and a variety of new gear, Crucible maps, and more. It releases on September 4 for PS4, Xbox One, and PC, although PS4 gets some exclusive content that won’t be on other platforms for at least a year.

The Stephen King adaptation It was released a year ago, and it went on to become one of the most successful horror movies of all time. The follow-up is due for release next year and has now wrapped production. To mark the end of shooting, director Andy Muschietti has released a new behind-the-scenes image.

Muschietti posted the picture on his Instagram page. It shows him with happy-looking star Jessica Chastain, who is somewhat blood-splattered, and is accompanied by some reworked David Bowie lyrics. Check it out below:

It: Chapter 2 hits theaters on September 6, 2019. The movie is set 30 years after the first film, and it follows the adult versions of the kids in the original. Chastain plays the older Beverly, while the rest of that cast features James McAvoy as Bill, Bill Hader as Richie, James Ransone as Eddie, Andy Bean as Stan, and Isaiah Mustafa as Mike. Bill Skarsgård returns as the evil clown Pennywise, one of the guises of the terrifying interdimensional entity of the title. In July, images of the adult cast on set were revealed.

Although the focus of the movie will be on the so-called Losers Club as they reunite as grown-ups to confront the evil once more, the young cast from the first film will also appear. In an interview last year, Muschietti explained that the cross-cutting between the two timelines that occurs in the novel is important to the story.

“In my opinion, it can’t only be about adults,” he told The Independent. “Something that I love about the book is the dialogue between the two timelines because, ultimately, it’s a story about childhood. It’s a love letter to childhood, but it’s also a story of the death of childhood. It’s symbolic, of course, because when Pennywise describes himself as the eater of worlds, he’s not talking about a monster that eats planets; he’s talking about eating the world of imagination and magic.”