Superhero media hasn’t enjoyed the roaring success among mainstream audiences since the early 2010s, with burnout and fatigue thanks to a certain comic cinematic universe pulling it down. Dispatch and its shining roster of heroes might be the sort of second wind the genre needs. Boasting a star-studded cast and choice-oriented gameplay to make an adventure your own, it’s a heartfelt story about heroism, redemption, and dicks.
In Dispatch, we play as Robert Robertson III. He was the third Mecha Man until a fight against Shroud, his arch-nemesis who murdered his father/the second Mecha Man, went south. The Mecha Man suit was destroyed, effectively forcing him to retire. However, fellow superhero Blonde Blazer approached him with an exciting opportunity. The Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN) can help him repair the suit if he’s willing to work as a dispatcher for the company.
As a dispatcher, Robert’s job consists of taking calls from SDN subscribers, listening to their problems, and sending the right hero to save the day. Unfortunately, he’s in charge of the Z-Team, which is made up of reformed villains at the bottom of the SDN scoreboard. As if the Mecha Man thing wasn’t bad enough already, he also has to deal with workplace drama.
Dispatch’s gameplay is similar to other adventure games that allow player choices to dictate the story’s direction. Some major choices, like who you hire or fire, result in different scenes and gameplay. Given how short each episode is, as well as the inclusion of save slots and scene selection, it’s worth seeing the future you didn’t pick, especially if you’re a fan of the characters or world. The plot will still play out the same, though. So if you’re expecting a game where you can fully mold this interactive superhero movie, that’s not this.
The cast delivered a stellar performance in this. Laura Bailey and Matt Mercer never miss and, while Robert’s register can become too gravelly and monotone, I feel like that’s more a voice direction issue than one with Aaron Paul. I also didn’t know that Jacksepticye and MoistCr1TiKaL had previous voice acting experience until I looked it up, but it explains a lot. They sounded so comfortable in their roles that it took me a few chapters to realize they were in this.
Playing this game on its original weekly schedule felt like a different experience than playing it all at once. Each chapter feels quite short at only about an hour. When I was still waiting for updates, I had little patience for the love triangle subplot between Robert, Blonde Blazer, and Invisigal. They both came on so strong, and Robert can take his relationships with them to the next level way too quickly. The game commits so little development to the relationship or chemistry that I found it incredibly difficult to care.
That kind of sucked for me, since the romance bogarts the first half of the story. I’d rather the time be used to get to know the rest of Z-Team. The pacing also felt off. By the time Shroud finally reappears, it’s almost at the end. My immediate reaction was disbelief, because I became fully convinced that Shroud was a sequel hook and wouldn’t show up again in the first season. However, the pacing issue includes the wait between chapters. When marathoning the game, the romance doesn’t feel as jarring. I still enjoyed this episodic release, since it reminded me of waiting for new superhero comics. So I hope if Dispatch continues, the writing is tighter or more balanced in each episode.
Dispatch is a fun and exciting adventure set in a world full of characters and factions I’d love to see more of. It’s hard not to get attached to this ragtag team of misfits and their exhausted work dad. I didn’t even realize how much I’d grown to like them until the more hard-hitting scenes. Here’s hoping that we’ll get a second season and that Phenomaman and Royd—the best boys, second only to Beef the fat dog—get more screentime then.
Dispatch is available on the PS5 and Windows PC.
Dispatch
Dispatch is an episodic and interactive superhero adventure game about building up a ragtag team of reformed villains. Windows PC version reviewed. A copy of the game was provided by the publisher.
Pros
- The sheer amount of dick jokes, sexual innuendos, and expletives was a bit too much for me. It edged into the tryhard kind of “not funny.”
- Okay, I have to admit, if Malevola was a romantic option, I wouldn’t have complained.
- With the right build and powers, Golem can be a lifesaver, especially in the more hectic stages late in the game.
A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for review. Reviewed on PC.