‘Dispatch’ Game: Your Choices Shape the Superhero Journey
Telltale Games was a studio that often delivered games considered by many to be Game of the Year contenders. After the company’s disappearance, and a long wait for more games after their unexpected return, there was a void in games that are like a TV show in which you decide what to do. Thankfully, AdHoc Studio has made a superhero game that matches the level of quality, storytelling, gameplay, and decision-making known from Telltale’s projects. There’s a particular kind of comfort in showing up to a familiar format that’s been forgotten for so long. And Dispatch is that sort of game.
You play as Robert Robertson III (Aaron Paul), once a costumed hero without powers known as Mecha Man. Now, after not being a hero for some time, he helps others as a dispatcher at Superhero Dispatch Network.
At its core, Dispatch feels and looks like a premium animated series mixed with an old-school narrative. But when you actually sit down to play it, you’ll quickly find out that there’s more going on than picking what the characters will say or do.
[Note: While I am reviewing this game independently and honestly, it should be noted that it has been provided to me by AdHoc Studios for the purpose of this review. Warning: Spoilers from Dispatch are below!]
The game story in Dispatch
Dispatch’s story is easy to follow and not complicated at all. From the first episode, we learn that Robert’s suit is blown up, he’s offered a job at the Superhero Dispatch Network to get the funds required to fix it. Then the players learn that the job we’re doing is to match each hero with the emergency that needs to be resolved. The workplace is set in a sort of comedy tone with elements of exploring personal problems, your place in the world, and more.
It is a superhero industry that, by itself, lets players do interesting things. Instead of focusing on fight choreography or making players face the universe being destroyed, it does something so simple but so brilliant at the same time. It humanizes the everyday heroism by showing how hard the staff works, presenting the rough scheduling, showing that people have problems with ego management, and showing the awkwardness when you have to talk to your co-workers who used to be your enemies.
The episodic format makes it perfect to play through each story at your own tempo. At any given moment, you can pause the game, return to it, have a small reminder of what happened while you were away from the game.
The story doesn’t pretend that every single decision will reshape the entire story plot. Of course, some moments will affect the story in a smaller or bigger way, but for most of the time, you can’t tell which is which. Instead, Dispatch carefully tries to connect with you and your personality to make you feel the consequence of your actions so that the choices change, also your own relationship with certain characters.
Also, the presence of high-profile voice actors, great animations, and character-focused scripts makes it just as enjoyable as any other superhero or sitcom project. Moments in the office are genuinely funny, but they occasionally bring the wretched moments that turn into sad scenes that stay with you long after the episode has ended.
More amazing gameplay
Gameplay in Dispatch is a hybrid. It very often uses the dialogue choices and quick-time events known from Telltale games, and it requires the player to be constantly focused. When it comes to being a dispatcher, that’s when strategic puzzling starts. You read the situations and have to assume what your colleagues want from you.
You watch mood meters and cooldowns and assign heroes to calls on a city map in much the way a manager would schedule a crew. But you have to carefully choose which hero goes where, because based on your decisions, the outcome of the mission may change from success to failure.
Each hero that you dispatch has their own strengths, weaknesses, and interpersonal baggage. Matching the right heroes to the right job is important for successful outcomes and for how those characters feel toward you afterward. It’s a clever way of turning what could have been a simple cosmetic choice into a mechanic that makes you feel like you are controlling the story.
While choosing the muscular corporate type for a delicate hostage situation will probably lead to an outcome that will be finished by using strength but will damage the trust of the people, the pairing of two incompatible heroes might produce an even worse outcome. The crisis that will be born from that will force you to pick between keeping the company’s reputation and preserving your friendship. In the end, it’s worth it to think and make a decision that will serve everyone.
That said, Dispatch is a game that executes everything very well, down to the most minute detail. The balance in narrative and gameplay favors players by giving rewardable story arcs, character relationships, and endings to chapters/stories that you feel you’ve earned. For players who have missed the feeling of games from Telltale, or those who want to start their journey with this genre of games, Dispatch is a treat.
Final thoughts on Dispatch
Dispatch isn’t trying to be the biggest superhero genre game on the market. It doesn’t promise open-world, gigantic scale, or highly developed combat and skill trees. Instead, it offers a story that is focused on the experiment, which proves what will happen when you are creating your own narrative. The decisions you make, whether to punch a villain or not, and deciding who may live and who may die, are the reasons why Dispatch is such an extraordinary game.
That decision to make a comeback to the old days when Telltale dominated in storytelling brings back good memories and serves as a breath of fresh air for the gaming genre.
The episodic structure works in its favor. Because of your own choices and ability to play the game like it’s a TV series, you can, by yourself, slowly build tension, create anticipation for some events, and even let a background character become important.
Adding to that, the voice cast and animations of the characters and the whole world give us a game that will make every gamer addicted to it.
My rating for this game: 5/5
If you are a fan and you loved the emotional performance, drama, and everything iconic for a good episodic TV adventure in the form of Telltale-like games, then Dispatch is your go-to game. It pays respect and homage to Telltale Games and gives us another great story that we can create and have influence over.
For players who want a narrative that rewards repeating the playthrough and experimenting with choices, different outcomes, and the ability to discover hidden details, you won’t be disappointed. AdHoc’s Dispatch is a delightful game.
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