Dispatch Review in Progress - Episodes 1 & 2
Dispatch, the much-anticipated first title from developers AdHoc Studio in conjunction with Critical Role, is finally here. As the game is episodic, with the intention being that it is consumed more like a TV show than a traditional game, this will be a review in progress – I’ll be playing the game on a similar cadence to the episodes’ release, and updating this article along the way.
Like many others, I was on board with the premise of Dispatch from the get-go. In this choice-based narrative, you take on the role of Robert Robertson – a superhero stripped of his “power” when his Iron Man-style mech suit takes a beating, forcing him out of commission. Robert, voiced by Aaron Paul, comes from a long line of superheroes, so being sidelined as hero alter-ego “Mecha Man” leaves him feeling more than a little lost and downhearted. Enter Blonde Blazer (Erin Yvette), who comes to him with a proposition – in exchange for the costly repair of his suit, he must agree to work as a dispatcher for the Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN), an organisation that essentially sees superheroes taking on roles traditionally performed by firefighters, police, or emergency service workers.
To complicate matters further, Robert soon learns that the team he’s in charge of may require a little more wrangling than most. The churn rate for Robert’s job is high, mostly because the superheroes he’s leading were not always heroes – they’re a band of has-been villains, many of whom still have problems with authority despite attempts at rehabilitation. So they’re a little… wayward. Half of Dispatch’s gameplay is about making dialogue choices to influence the game’s narrative in a way extremely reminiscent of Telltale games like The Walking Dead or The Wolf Among Us – which makes sense, given AdHoc Studio is a team made up of a significant number of ex-Telltale developers. But the other half is about performing the role of superhero dispatcher to the best of your ability, even if this ragtag team of superpowered individuals initially seem determined to make that as hard for Robert as possible.
In pre-release media events for the game, the development team said they wanted the game to be experienced in a similar way to a TV show, and it does feel in many ways like an animated comedy. The pacing, the animation, the characters – it all feels a little like a gritty adult cartoon, one tonally similar to something like HBO’s Harley Quinn or Invincible. It’s edgy and crass without leaning on cheap offensive jokes, and from the beginning it seems pretty clear that the characters have a lot of depth. They’re brash and slightly grating now, but in three episodes time they’re all going to have me weeping all over my keyboard. Invisigal (voiced by Laura Bailey) – whose powers are exactly what you’d imagine – is an early standout, and I’m already deeply in love with Blonde Blazer, but I’m interested to see the others come into their own.
Early impressions are that this game is the closest anything has come to true Telltale form in a long time. The choices feel impactful, and it’s nice to see that good old ‘[Character Name] will remember this’ pop up in that top corner, and to see the end-of-episode choice breakdowns show up in the credits. The dispatching gameplay – the game’s real innovation – plays like a management sim that forces you to pay attention to your team’s strengths and weaknesses, and be ready to react on the fly. It’s complex enough to feel like it’s adding something meaningful to the formula, but not so overwhelming that it takes over the narrative – at least not in these early stages. I’m interested to see how and if that balance continues going forward.
Mostly, as I would be in a TV show, I’m excited to see how the characters and their relationships grow and evolve. For better or worse I feel like this game is going to make me feel a lot of things, and it’s invigorating to feel like this game is here to fill the big Telltale-shaped hole that’s been lingering for years. Bring on the rest of it – I can’t wait to discuss this game over the figurative water-cooler in the weeks to come.
Player 2 is reviewing Dispatch on PC using a code kindly provided by the publisher.
