The remainder of this year is stacked; Ghost of Yōtei, Silent Hill f, Battlefield 6, Little Nightmares III, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and The Outer Worlds 2 are amongst the titles still on the way. And yet, Dispatch has just usurped many of them as one of my most highly anticipated games.
Developed by AdHoc Studio, a new team comprising notably of former Telltale Games developers, Dispatch is an upcoming “superhero workplace comedy” game that’s set to land on PC and PlayStation 5 on 22 October, or at least its first two episodes are. Dispatch is making use of the episodic formula, with two more episodes dropping one week later on 29 October. This pattern continues with the final two batches of two episodes landing on 5 and 12 November.
Dispatch is, as I said, a superhero comedy but it’s also very choice-based with plenty of management sim elements at play too. It’s perhaps best described as The Boys meets Life is Strange which is an unlikely combination, and yet it’s one that works so utterly brilliant in Dispatch. Players will assume the role of Robert Robertson, otherwise known as Mecha Man. But when Mecha Man’s suit is destroyed in battle against his nemesis, he’s forced to take on a low level job at a superhero dispatch centre. Tasked with looking after a team of former villains, it’s up to Robert to dispatch the right hero to the right crime.
I recently had the opportunity to attend a virtual preview of the title. One developer very quickly described lead Robert as “our world’s Tony Stark except he’s not smart and he’s not rich” somewhat setting the tone for the flavour of humour that you can expect in Dispatch. Based on what I’ve seen, its humour strikes the right balance. It isn’t all out farce, but it isn’t a game that takes itself too seriously. Dispatch definitely shares a kinship with The Boys with regards to its ridiculing of the superhero world, but I feel there’s a very tender story hidden in here too as Robert attempts to rebuild his career, forging new friendships and relationships in the process.
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This is all brought to life by arguably one of wildest gaming casts you’ll see this year. Aaron Paul takes the lead, bringing Robert Robertson to life, with Jeffrey Wright on board as what appeared to be his manager, Chase. Laura Bailey, Matthew Mercer, and Travis Willingham are amongst some of the other names appearing. A top tier cast doesn’t automatically ensure a game’s success but already in the short segment I witnessed, you could feel Dispatch's star quality oozing through the screen.
The animation hugely contributes to that feeling too. The reason that developers are opting for an episodic rollout is that they wanted to generate discussion between story chapters, having Dispatch function like a playable animated series which is exactly what it is really. The animation is as good as it gets, and in the segment of gameplay I watched, blended effortlessly into gameplay and out again. There were no lengthy loading screens that broke immersion, making for an experience that’s quite unlike anything else I’ve played.
There are various differing strands to the gameplay. On the surface, Dispatch is a narrative-driven adventure game which isn’t a total surprise given that these are the devs who brought us The Wolf Among Us and The Walking Dead. Player choices play a huge role in the story. For example, your choices will determine your relationship with the various members of your team - and you need them on board if you’re to succeed at work. This all works as you’d expect; multiple dialogue options will appear on the screen. I was told that at the end of each episode, you’ll be able to recap your choices and see what other players did.
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There’s then the management side of the gameplay. As I said, you’ll be responsible for managing a team, and it’s up to you to decide which hero is best suited for each job. As is the nature with responding to crimes, you’ll be dealing with a constant flurry of calls, so quick thinking is of the utmost importance. You certainly won’t be able to get away with making a random choice. If a hero is not equipped to deal with a crime, they could get injured. I was assured by devs that no hero can be permanently wiped from your roster this way, but an injury could see them take some time off, or it could damage your relationship with that person.
On occasion, you’ll also need to assist mid-crime too if a particular hero requests back-up, for example, or isn’t sure what the best course of action is to take. From what I’ve seen, the system looks fantastic. I shouldn’t be surprised; developers explained that they approached Dispatch with the idea of building a story first and then finding interesting gameplay mechanics that could help bring it to life. That’s abundantly clear as what you’ll be doing in Dispatch feels so wonderfully tailored. The pacing of what I saw played has most definitely left me feeling excited.
The final facet of the gameplay that was shown off concerns hacking which, in the segment I saw, consisted of a mini-game, of sorts, where the player navigates a small network, opening paths in order to reach the end location. Doing so could see you disarm security alarms or activate sprinklers to name a few examples. The idea is that these actions assist your hero on the field. Fail to hack successfully and you may leave them in a tricky spot. While the example shown during the preview looked relatively simple, I was told that you may eventually find yourself hunted down by anti-hacking measures which’ll make the task at hand all the more difficult.
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All in all, I really don’t have a bad word to say about Dispatch at this stage. Adhoc Studio has firmly sold me on its vision. With a stellar cast, wonderful animation, and a compelling story, all supported by a complex gameplay system that incorporates narrative, puzzle, and management elements, Dispatch is more than a recipe for success. It has the potential to be something very special indeed and I’m so desperately hoping it sticks to landing come 22 October.
Dispatch launches on 22 October on PC and PlayStation 5.
Topics: PC, Steam, PlayStation, PlayStation 5, Life Is Strange, The Boys, Preview, Features