Finally, I get to talk about Dispatch! With this being an episodic release, I wanted to wait until I had played the entire game to write my review, but ever since playing the first two episodes, I have been wanting to scream about how great this game is. Here’s a spoiler though: I couldn’t wait to play those final two instalments; my excitement was similar to the grand finale of a big TV show, back when they weren’t instantly bingeable.
The similarities don’t stop there though. Dispatch is the brainchild of AdHoc Studio, a team which is made up of writers and directors who worked on Tales from the Borderlands and The Wolf Among Us, and it shows. It’s a superhero workplace comedy that plays out like an interactive episode of film or TV, in the vein of the early Telltale games: most of the action plays out like a cut scene, with interactions often limited to quicktime events, although in the case of Dispatch, there are some far more hefty interactivity moments available, but more on that later.
You are Robert Robertson, a man with no powers in a Los Angeles that seems infested with superpowered people. Robert used to be a hero too, though: as Mecha Man, he continued the tradition of his father, battling evil in a giant mech suit. That is, until it exploded on a mission gone wrong. The astral pulse, which powered the suit, has gone missing, and without a way to replicate that power source, there is no Mecha Man.
Luckily, you are recruited by Blonde Blazer, who promises to help you rebuild the suit and the astral pulse, and in return, you become a dispatcher for the Z-team of superheroes at SDN. This team consists of former villains who have been convinced – sort of – to use their powers for good. They are also… a mess. It’s up to you to make the team come good, while the evil Red Ring starts to infiltrate the city.
The actual dispatching is where you’ll find the bulk of the gameplay. Dispatch is like a strategy game in that way: assign the correct ‘heroes’ to the suitable missions, and get the best results you can. Watch as synergies start to unfold between some of your team, and be prepared to improvise when the situations change rapidly. If necessary, you can help the team out by hacking devices to achieve your goals. This hacking minigame felt unnecessary at first for me, but by the end of the game I totally understood why it was added in. It really makes you feel like you’re not above your team but a part of it.
Now, while the dispatching is a lot of fun (although I never really got the hang of it), the game’s ultimate power is its stories and characters. There is a lot going on in Dispatch as you try to find your way around your new situation. Robert is dealing with the fallout of losing to his arch nemesis, Shroud; most of your heroes are very new to the whole ‘being good’ thing and do stray into old habits at times, and Robert needs to find a way to make the team not only believe in him but also in themselves.
Then there’s the co-worker who is someone Robert loved dearly but had lost touch with, romantic tensions rising on the workfloor, and the struggles to bring back Mecha Man as recreating its power source proves harder than thought at first. That’s about all I can spoil here, as I need you to play this game going in as blind as possible. It’s that good.
Dispatch reminds me in a way of what James Gunn managed to do with the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. The loveable losers who were supposed to be bad but might have a good heart after all, the focus on the human relations above all of the superhero posing and battling, the witty banter… it’s all here, and then some. Whether you’re rooting for Invisigal to realise her potential to be good or are more into the intrigue of what the evil Shroud is planning in the shadows, this is just an incredible adventure to experience.
With the game’s episodes all about an hour long, there’s a lot of replayability here as well. And I do intend to replay this game a couple of times, just to see how my decisions and choices have influenced the story, as it seems like there are some very interesting differences that can be achieved. But even if you only plan to play it once, your choices feel incredibly impactful, in that ‘everyone will remember that’ kind of way.
Of course, the writing could have not been enough to make this a great game, but luckily, while it’s the star of the show, it’s not the only one. Because the visuals are also spectacular. This is some high-quality animation, with fantastic direction as well, especially during the fight scenes. The set pieces look like they come straight from the best kind of action movies.
And of course, it does help that Dispatch has one of the best voice casts I’ve seen in a game of this size. The collaboration with Critical Role means that there are some standout performances from the likes of Laura Bailey and Matthew Mercer, and MoistCr1TiKaL and Jacksepticeye prove that they’re not there just to make up the numbers. Then there’s Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul and Casino Royale’s Jeffrey Wright headlining the game as Robert and his best friend. Just an all-round stellar cast, and they all deliver.
So when every single part of your game is set to the highest standards, it’s no surprise that Dispatch is a stellar game. Whether you like superhero media or not, there’s something to be found here for everyone. It brings a new look to superhero culture, taking it into the modern age in a very exciting, if bureaucratic, way, and it had me hooked for its entire run. I am desperate for a season 2.
