Dispatch Review – Fantastic Superhero TV

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Dispatch evokes the feel of early 2010s entertainment – think Telltale Games’ story-driven adventures, superhero stories with a lighter touch, and the popularity of workplace comedies. Without the gameplay elements, it would easily fit as a compelling weekly TV show. While it occasionally leans too heavily into its TV influences, the excellent writing and voice acting keep you invested in the characters and make it a story you’ll want to experience again.

So, I’m playing this game called Dispatch, and I’m Robert Robertson III – everyone used to call me Mecha Man. I was a big hero, but I didn’t have any powers of my own, so I fought bad guys in a giant mechsuit. But the suit’s wrecked now, and I’m kinda lost. This hero-for-hire, Blonde Blazer, offers me a job as a dispatcher – basically, I manage a team of heroes. Here’s the problem: my team is made up entirely of former supervillains. They’re a total mess – constantly arguing, always causing trouble, and definitely don’t work well together. It’s going to be a challenge getting them to actually be heroes!

The show boasts a fantastic foundation, and the diverse cast of characters truly shines. While early previews suggested Robert would be a typical, cynical ex-hero, he’s surprisingly unique. He’s definitely dealing with sadness and often uses humor as a defense, but at his core, he genuinely wants to help others and make a difference. Instead of seeing the supervillains he’s working with as a problem, he views it as an opportunity – he’s determined to guide them into becoming even better heroes than he was, for the good of the city and their own futures.

People in the game often comment on Robert’s excellent public speaking skills, and I’d have to agree. His inspiring words really make you want to approach every task with dedication, which adds depth to the narrative and your decisions. In Dispatch, you primarily see Robert working at a computer, receiving alerts about crimes and emergencies happening around the city. Your job is to carefully analyze each request – they’re designed to clearly indicate what the caller needs – and respond appropriately. For instance, someone might ask for help with a fight but specifically request a non-violent solution, or a citizen might report a bomb that’s about to explode, requiring a quick response.

Robert has a team of potential heroes, each rated in five key areas: fighting ability, stamina, speed, charm, and intelligence. When a crime occurs, you need to choose the best hero to handle it based on the details of the case. Some heroes are well-rounded, like Malevola, who is skilled with a sword and can create portals. Others, like the flying assassin Coupé, excel in certain areas – fighting, speed, and intelligence – but are weaker in others. It’s rare to find a hero who’s perfect for every mission, and there’s always a chance of failure. However, you can improve your odds by sending multiple heroes. For example, if a mission requires a fast chase and defending against attacks, I might send both Invisigal, who is quick and stealthy, and Golem, who can take a lot of damage.

Spending too much time preparing for missions costs valuable time and resources. Each hero you send away is temporarily unavailable – they need to travel to the mission, complete it, return to base, and then rest. With around a dozen missions appearing per shift – usually two to four at once – and each disappearing quickly, you need to make fast, smart decisions. Sending too many heroes on early missions to guarantee success can leave you with no one available when the next set of missions arrive, leading to failures. However, sending too few heroes initially can also result in failure, so finding the right balance is key.

Sometimes, a hero will ask Robert to step in and directly help with a challenge. Usually, this means Robert needs to decide the best course of action when something goes wrong—he’s typically given three or four choices, each subtly suggesting which skill is needed to succeed. But Robert can also use his background as a tech hero to hack his way around the problem and find a solution.

As a fan, I found the hacking sections of the game really engaging! They’re like little puzzle minigames where you control this cool geometric shape through a network of nodes. Sometimes you just need to reach the exit, but other times you’ve got to solve a puzzle – like entering a code, redirecting power, or even dodging a chasing antivirus that looks like a glowing red eye! The puzzles get harder as you go, and the pressure really ramps up with tighter time limits and fewer tries. By the end, they’re legitimately tense, which I loved, though thankfully the developers included an option to give Robert unlimited time and attempts if you get too stressed out – a nice quality-of-life feature!

Managing your team of heroes is a fun, but increasingly difficult, task. You’ll probably make some mistakes at first while you learn how everything works and figure out which ex-villains are best for each job. But as your team completes missions, they’ll gain experience and improve their skills – you can then boost any of their five key abilities.

As you play, you’ll figure out which keywords indicate the best team member for each situation. You can train each hero to improve their call-handling skills and discover which heroes work best together, boosting their chances of success when paired up. Each crew member also has a hidden, unique ability that you’ll uncover as they gain experience. You can temporarily take heroes out of action to train with Blonde Blazer, who helps them develop even more of these special abilities. Plus, as you successfully complete calls, Robert will level up and unlock helpful perks, like strong coffee that instantly refreshes a hero or medical training to heal injuries and restore their full success rate.

Dispatch is cleverly designed so that as you learn to play, your connection with the team grows alongside the story. At least, that’s how it felt to me – others might experience it differently. This design makes the game more immersive and personal, creating the feeling that your efforts to build relationships with the team directly influence how well they bond with Robert.

Much of the game Dispatch creates a convincing, yet ultimately misleading, sense of control over the narrative. While not on a shift, you help Robert navigate this new chapter of his life, getting to know his colleagues, exploring romantic possibilities, and searching for a way to become Mecha Man once more. Conversations offer two or three choices each, and a timer pushes you to respond quickly, forcing you to weigh the nuances of each option under pressure. Thankfully, you can pause at any choice to take your time, which is helpful for slower readers like me who need more than a few seconds to decide. However, it’s clear the game is meant to be played impulsively, encouraging you to trust your instincts and accept the consequences.

If you’ve played story-driven adventure games like those from Telltale, you’ll recognize the setup in Dispatch. However, Dispatch changes one key element, and it unfortunately makes the game less engaging. Unlike similar games where choosing silence was a meaningful option – a powerful way to influence the story, as seen in games like The Walking Dead and Firewatch – Dispatch doesn’t allow you to remain silent. If you don’t pick a dialogue choice, the game automatically selects one for you, essentially pushing the story forward regardless of your input. This means you can complete your shifts without actively making decisions, as the story will progress on its own.

This makes the gameplay in Dispatch feel less engaging and more like watching a TV show than playing a rich, cinematic game. The story reinforces this feeling. While you can make choices that affect which characters stay or go, these choices don’t really change much. A prime example happens early on: Robert is asked to remove the least effective team member. However, no matter what you do – whether you try to improve the performance of potential candidates, object to cutting anyone, or even intentionally make other characters perform worse – you’re always forced to choose between the same two options. Your efforts to influence the outcome simply don’t matter.

Replaying the game reveals how limited the story options in Dispatch actually are. Even during your first time playing, you start to realize your choices don’t really matter. The two candidates you consider letting go don’t significantly change the story or have meaningful interactions with Robert that would shape your leadership. While they have different powers which affect their stats and abilities during missions, you can easily build up other team members to cover for whoever you cut. It might take a shift or two to train a replacement, but it’s not difficult. So, while the decision isn’t completely meaningless, it feels that way.

The game also makes you feel powerless by automatically making a decision if you simply don’t choose one, letting the timer run out. While this doesn’t completely break Dispatch – the writing is still excellent and the story would work well as a TV show – it does lessen the impact of each decision. Surprisingly, you can finish this choice-based game without actually making many choices and still get a good outcome.

It’s particularly frustrating that the game doesn’t fully react to player choices, especially considering how well-written the story is. The character Invisigal perfectly illustrates this – her struggles with being a hero, and her fear that her powers will lead her down a villainous path, could have had more significant consequences based on how you play. Early in the game, Robert tries to convince Invisigal that she isn’t destined to be a villain, and that our choices, not fate, determine who we become. The game forces this conversation, making it clear that player agency could have had a larger impact.

Despite the amusing contrast between what the speech is about and how the game plays, the idea of fate is central to the connection between Robert and Invisigal. Robert essentially becomes Invisigal’s guide, and your decisions regarding her do affect how the story ends. While this impact isn’t huge because the game concludes soon after, it’s a neat detail that could be important if the developers, AdHoc, ever create a follow-up.

Robert and Invisigal have a charming and lively relationship, wonderfully brought to life through great voice acting by Aaron Paul (known from Breaking Bad) and Laura Bailey (Critical Role), along with expressive animations. The most engaging scenes between them are found in their romantic storyline, so you’ll miss out on important character development if you choose a different romance option or play without pursuing a relationship at all. Even if you’re not interested in a romance, getting to know Invisigal is rewarding, and gives you a strong motivation to make choices throughout the game – especially if you want to help her break free from a potentially villainous path and become a hero.

Even though the other characters aren’t as deeply developed as Invisigal, they’re still fun to engage with, no matter how you play the game. While the story doesn’t change much based on your choices, Invisigal’s compelling story of potential redemption, combined with excellent writing and voice acting, makes this one of the best superhero dramas I’ve seen. I also enjoyed the gameplay moments where you defeat heroes and develop as a leader, especially seeing how it impacts the character Robert. Despite some minor issues, this show deserves another season. The quality of the writing and world-building is too high to end after just one season.

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2025-11-15 01:11