Dispatch is a superhero workplace comedy where choices matter. Manage a dysfunctional team of misfit heroes and strategize who to send to emergencies around the city, all while balancing office politics, personal relationships, and your own quest to become a hero.
Developed by: AdHoc Studio
Played on: Steam
Length: 10 hours (19 hours for completionists)
At this point, Dispatch is a game that needs no introduction. Developed by the same people behind beloved choice-based games like Tales from the Borderlands and The Wolf Among Us, and financially backed by the powerhouse multimedia production company Critical Role, with several of their cast members voicing characters in the game, it is almost needless to say that Dispatch sticks its superhero landing. But let’s dive a little deeper into why.
Dispatch follows the story of Robert Robertson III, a superhero forced into early retirement after a mission gone wrong. He ends up working at the Superhero Dispatch Network, where he gets assigned to manage the Phoenix Program, a rehabilitation program for ex-supervillains. After all, who better to guide a ragtag team of walking HR violations than a former hero with nothing to lose?
Not unlike the way The Wolf Among Us modernised classic fairy tales, Dispatch takes the worn-out boots of the superhero genre and injects a modern workplace comedy that immediately endears itself to you. It’s hard not to fall in love with the well-meaning but troubled Robert, played by the charismatic Aaron Paul, or instantly want to befriend everyone in its ragtag ensemble cast, featuring voice actors ranging from Laura Bailey and Jeffrey Wright, to MoistCr1TiKaL and Jacksepticeye.
But what really sells the concept is the quality of its animation. AdHoc Studio takes a big swing with fully animated and seamless cutscenes — leagues above what we’ve come to expect from their predecessors — that make you feel like you’re playing out a movie. Many times I found myself so immersed in the animation that I forgot there was even a game to be played, and the game even offers you the option to forgo quick time events entirely for a more cinematic experience.
But once you pry yourself away from the razzle dazzle, the game mainly plays out like a standard choice-based adventure with some mild management gameplay that is a surprising amount of fun. The mechanics are simple: dispatch the right hero to the right job based on a skill matrix. The better match they are to the required skills, the higher the rate of success. The more you send a hero out for missions, the more EXP they gain which allows them to unlock more skills down the line.
On top of that, there’s a hacking minigame that is simple but engaging enough; offering a break from the dispatching gameplay but nothing worth writing home about. The game also offers accessibility options that unlock unlimited tries on the hacking minigame specifically. Between the hacking and dispatching, you have to manage your heroes cooldowns and respond to as many incoming distress calls as possible. Not too hard, right?
While you spend most of your playtime in front of a screen, the game does remind you that it is a superhero story at heart. Dispatch reaps the benefits of its longer runtime with a well-paced story that manages to dive into some real dilemmas about heroism and friendship. Even if the writing borders on stereotypical at times, and the Adult Swim branded humour grows a little tired in later chapters, it is hard not to enjoy what the game does well. Dispatch manages to hit all the right emotional beats, and it hits even harder if you leave time for the story to simmer between chapters.
One full playthrough of Dispatch takes approximately ten hours to complete, and most players have gone in for a second run. Mainly because the game is pretty evenly divided into two romance routes: Blonde Blazer and Invisigal. But if you’re not a fan of the romance, you might find Dispatch a little limiting in terms of branching narratives. I found my illusion of choice shattered pretty quickly once I realised the game doesn’t acknowledge “no choice” as a choice, instead opting to select a random dialogue option and move on with the story.
I’ve come to expect a certain amount of railroading in choice-based games, but Dispatch doesn’t take advantage of its medium as much as I would like. I would have loved to see my choices have more impact on the dispatching gameplay, or have earlier choices be referenced in later chapters, but this isn’t quite explored to its fullest potential. Even failing the quick time events during combat doesn’t impact the outcome of the fight, which makes the inevitable victory feel less earned.
Even so, Dispatch has something special here. Although I would describe it as more of an interactive animated series than a proper choice-based game, I won’t deny that it has managed to breathe fresh life into a fatigued genre. Few superhero stories in recent years have made me want to jump out of my seat in joy, or left me misty eyed as the credits rolled. Yet I find myself wanting to spend as much time immersed in the world of Dispatch as possible. At least, until AdHoc releases their next title.
Verdict: 8/10
AdHoc Studio’s debut title takes the worn-out boots of the superhero genre and injects a modern workplace comedy that immediately endears itself to you. From its stellar animation quality to its ragtag ensemble cast, Dispatch proves that there’s still demand for more superhero stories; even if its gameplay elements play second fiddle to its narrative.
