I mentioned previously that I was a little skeptical when I first saw Dispatch, not because of any indicators about its quality—or lack thereof, for that matter—but because I honestly felt the industry as a whole was so burnt out on these kinds of episodic that they quietly died alongside Telltale Games. I guess I didn’t realize how much I would miss something until it was gone, because seeing a new one in 2025 felt genuinely refreshing.
When I sat down with AdHoc Studio a few months ago, both the passion for what they were making and the brief bit of gameplay I got to see sold me on the concept, but sitting down and playing Dispatch sold me on the game. Not only is it a compelling, funny and well-written narrative experience, its core gameplay is so well executed that it could genuinely work as its own standalone game.
As I mentioned a bit in my preview, Dispatch puts players in the relatively normal shoes of Robert Robertson (AKA Mechaman), who, in a confrontation with a longstanding nemesis, loses the robotic suit that affords him his superhero identity. A few months later, he is approached by the Superhero Dispatch Network and offered a job managing the company’s worst roster of villains turned heroes—the “Z Team.”
“Aaron Paul delivers a performance that ranges from dry snark to an exhausted, put-upon everyman who is doing his best to coach a team of former villains into being the best versions of themselves.”
If Robert can bring the team up to respectable standards, SDN promised to provide him with the resources he needs to repair the Mechaman suit and give him a chance to be a true hero once again. Obviously, I don’t want to say too much more, for risk of spoilers, but it’s a genuinely engaging story that combines comic book action with heartfelt character drama and a nice injection of workplace comedy—while working in some really surprising twists.
As an interactive narrative game, everyone’s playthrough is going to be a little different, but it’s both the writing and delivery that make Dispatch so unique from any game I’ve played before. For starters, usually with these kinds of games, while players are inhabiting a character, they’re usually given a fairly rigid set of binary choices that tend to align with who they are as people—your good, bad or neutral responses, maybe a “sarcastic” option if the game is feeling spicy. But here, players are Robert, and as such, dialogue choices tend to range in different flavours of what he would say.
More than a few times, I noticed situations where the dialogue choices were three different versions of the same thing, with the “slider” ranging between being kind and being a prick. Things that aren’t really on the spectrum of morality, but rather how elegantly you can approach or diffuse a situation. Because of this, even though I was making decisions, it still felt like I was watching a TV show or participating in a narrative.
This was all backed by some impeccable writing that felt a lot to me, like if Invincible was written for adults. Furthermore, I think, for the first time in my experience as a critic, a game actually found a way to make character dialogue feel naturalistic. During dispatch gameplay, characters banter with each other, joke around or just talk in a way that feels believable and is genuinely charming. The more scripted moments are brought to life even more by some superb voice acting, primarily from Aaron Paul, who voices Robert.
He delivers a performance that ranges from dry snark to an exhausted, put-upon everyman who is doing his best to coach a team of former villains into being the best versions of themselves. And the rest of the cast is clearly having fun voicing a cast of likeable jerks. Seán McLoughlin (AKA Jacksepticeye) is a riot as the short-statured, foul-mouthed Punch Up, whereas Laura Bailey brings a playful earnestness to the immature, better-than-she-believes Invisigal.
But what really sets Dispatch apart is its gameplay. While most interactive narrative games have traditionally adopted a point-and-click structure—which is fitting in its own right—Dispatch keeps things quick and punchy, saving the bulk of its narrative elements for the start and end of each episode, before and after Robert starts his shift, although they sometimes throw little curveballs at the player in between.
During a dispatch shift, players are given a map of Los Angeles’ Southland, and as crimes begin to pop up, players will need to decide which of their heroes best suits the situation based on their individual stats. Then, depending on how well the hero fits the situation, they’re given a percentile chance of success, and with every success, they’ll gain EXP and get a chance to expand a skill.
It gets a little more interesting when certain requests require two or more heroes, which drastically improve chances of success, but will make things more complicated as more crimes pop up, as heroes need to rest for a moment after completing a request. Certain heroes can also synergize with others based on how often they’re paired or certain narrative elements, and even unlock new abilities as they grow.
And the gameplay gets incredibly interesting when it’s paired with the narrative. One great example is in the second episode, the Z-Team is informed that the lowest performing hero will be cut from the roster at the end of the day. When the first shift started, almost every request hero was automatically assigning themselves and then sabotaging each other, making success almost impossible.
“Dispatch finds an incredible way to weave its narrative into its gameplay in a way that really feels like it makes a difference.”
It made things incredibly tense, frustrating and unbelievably funny, but got even more impactful after Robert delivered a powerful and uplifting speech, and the Z-Team began working together, and practically every request was a success. Dispatch finds an incredible way to weave its narrative into its gameplay in a way that really feels like it makes a difference.
However, if I have one complaint with Dispatch, it’s a complaint I have with the entire genre. These kinds of games really need to stop “remembering that.” The game’s narrative is so solid and well-delivered that it really doesn’t need to keep reminding players that characters will remember key decisions and instead allow them to be surprised when they do.
But Dispatch’s gameplay is so rock solid that I honestly wish it could be its own thing. Imagine a game built solely around sending heroes to solve problems, where how they work together or work against each other depends on their relationships. Where players could build their own teams, and even have some of the bureaucracy in place to add to the sim elements—things like needing to manage the press or promote or fire heroes. That’s a game I want to play.
Visually, Dispatch looks incredible. Because so much of the game is hands-off, the in-game graphics tend to stick to a more 2D aesthetic, giving the game the feeling that you’re watching an animated TV show. When it does switch over to 3D models, the change is so seamless and natural that you’ll barely notice, while still allowing for cutscenes and detailing that has more depth and spatiality.
Audio is equally terrific. I’ve already mentioned how good the voice acting is, but the in-game soundtrack does a lot to add to the atmosphere of the game. During dispatch gameplay, players are treated to a delightful ’80s training video theme that reminds me of Hypnospace Outlaw for some reason. A lot of the more cinematic moments are punctuated with real-life songs that not only really suit the mood but also add a layer of believability to the world.
One of the things I found myself realizing with Dispatch was how, at the end of every episode, I was left with an overwhelming feeling of happiness. It was a weird turn from remembering the days of Telltale’s The Walking Dead, where it was usually the polar opposite, but it stuck with me that a game could be as engaging, while also being funny, exciting, charming and genuinely nice a lot of the time.
There’s definitely a lot of drama and a lot of ways for things to go wrong, but at the end of the day, Dispatch is worth playing for just how earnestly it’s trying to be about flawed people trying to be better.
