I was skeptical of this just because I can't stand super heroes or anything to do with marvel or DC. These guys managed to take the tired overplayed concept of a superhero and turn it into something fresh, funny, and very cool. And they did it with the best looking cel shading I've ever seen.

I'll be doing another playthrough with this again sometime just to see what happens if I make the opposite choices.

It was phenomenal!

This was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. My only negative is that I'd have preferred an option to completely skip the hacking mini-game.

PSA: Please don't fist bump the person next to you while at a urinal. I can't believe that 93% of players chose that option.

Dispatch is the debut title of AdHoc Studio, a workplace consisting of mainly former Telltale Games veterans. As far as debuts go this is as good as it gets. Amazing critical reception and player love to go along with the 3+ million copies sold. While the episodic style and conversation system is something we've seen in other games, such as The Walking Dead, Wolf Among us and many, many others, Dispatch has a new and fresh trick up its sleeve. Gameplay loop revolves around dispatching (duh) superheroes to various crimes around Los Angeles while at the same time managing their cooldowns. It is a simple, elegant and tight mechanic that is super addictive and fun. So much so that I would love to see someone make a standalone game around this concept.


Dispatch is something of a workplace comedy with a dose of drama sprinkled in. Like everything else in the game, story is compact and full of sharp writing. Pacing is good and the combination between comedy and drama is well balanced. Length also feels just right to me, the story never felt like it's dragging on for too long. It grabs your attention from the start and does not let go until the credits roll. I can't really say much because of spoilers but if I have to sum it up I would call it a story about doing your best.


I am skipping the obvious elements here such as the conversation system with multiple choices and quick-time events, those are things we've seen in many other games. The real gameplay mechanic is the dispatching (:p), sending appropriate heroes to handle tasks. Each hero has a unique ability and individual strengths and weaknesses. It's YOUR job to determine, which hero will handle the call that comes in. Get it right and they will receive progress towards levelling up, allowing you to increase one of their stats. Make the wrong judgment call (or be on lady luck's really, really bad side) and your hero will get injured, limiting their abilities to handle future requests in the current shift. Your heroes also need some R&R, they are people too after all (sort of, some of them anyway). If a hero is resting or is currently returning to base, they won't be available for another call right away. Calls are time sensitive though, so quick judgment and tight management are key to a successful shift. While you can technically memorize each call in the game and send the correct hero every time, because of the distribution of skill points based on your discretion and RNG elements, you will always have some variety to your outcome. Sending your team to handle tasks is not the only thing you'll do, however, in some scenarios you'll have to get down and dirty with various security systems. That of course means HACKING... it's a minigame where you navigate a little ball along a grid and various things get in your way. The dispatching part was hands down the most fun I've had in terms of gameplay when it comes to these types of interactive story-driven games. If we compare Dispatch to Telltale's The Walking Dead for example (which is brilliant and one of the best story-driven games ever btw), in terms of replayability, Dispatch wins every time.


The cast, led by none other than Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul, does a great job at "presenting" the story of Dispatch. While writing is sharp, that's only a percentage of the story, delivering a strong performance with just your voice (as is the case in this game) takes some doing. I have to say though, everyone delivers here. The comedy, the drama, the puns and jokes, everything feels right. Aaron Paul's portrayal of Robert, a sort of whatever but at the same time passionate kind of normie/superhero person, is great and it's clear he was keen on doing this project. Jesse Pinkman was a bit of a video game dude and now Aaron is too!


Dispatch has a "western anime" type of style, which I can only describe as a combination between western cartoons and anime. I am by no means an expert on art though so there might be a proper name for this style, which I don't know. The only thing that matters is that it's good, alright? Derek Stratton, the art director, has cooked, as kids these days would say. It's a unique style and one I haven't seen used a lot in games.


If you are even remotely into these types of story games then you should definitely check Dispatch out. There is good reason why reviews have been so positive and why it's nominated for so many awards. It's my personal pick for "Oustanding story-rich game" in the Steam Awards and I don't see why it can't be Game of the Year as well. Do your best at checking this one out, it's all you can do!