So, what is Dispatch? (Overview)
Dispatch is an interactive point-and-click story-rich game set in a world of heroes where you step into the shoes of Robert Robertson (The Third, by the way) aka Mecha Man, a once-celebrated superhero with nothing left to lose who’s hired to become the dispatcher of a dysfunctional team of misfit heroes. Strategize on who to send on emergencies around the city and balance office politics, personal relationships, and your own quest to become a hero. It’s made by Telltale Games veterans in collaboration with Critical Role, as well as featuring a star-studded voiceover cast (with a few surprising additions), so you already know the expectations are high. But will it deliver, or will it fall flat?
At the moment it’s a bit too soon to tell since the game follows a weekly episodic release, with us currently only having access to the first two episodes. Now, before you sharpen your pitchforks: it may seem a bit of a hassle at first glance, but trust me — the wait seems to be worth it.
The Good: The Story, Gameplay, and Dialogue are Solid
What makes the story of Dispatch so great is that it takes the superhero genre, which is usually centered on people who can fly, shoot lasers from their eyes, bit by a radioactive spider, or maybe a billionaire with a few Tibetan monk techniques up his sleeve and flips it on its head. Our protagonist Robert isn’t a bona fide superhero, at least not anymore. After getting the Mecha Man suit destroyed in a failed plan to avenge his father, he’s left with nothing — no complex machines to assist him, no inheritance to spend, and most of all: no superpowers. This leads him to try becoming a hero in another way, which is by becoming a dispatcher for a team of reformed villains. The game turns a genre that otherwise always highlights larger-than-life stories into a more grounded, human narrative of an underdog just trying to rediscover their place in the world. It’s not about saving the world, it’s about doing what you can with what you have, and maybe changing the lives of a few misfits along the way. The story also has a few slice-of-life office moments which are great for getting to know the characters more, like meeting your new coworker in the bathroom, or not being able to eat your Twinkies in the break room because people keep distracting you.
Now, you might be thinking: interesting concept, but how fun can a point-and-click story game with management mechanics really be? And here’s our answer to that question: a lot. We highly recommend playing the game in interactive mode with all of the quick-time events, because surprisingly enough, these can get pretty exciting and involved. It’s not the usual “time slows down and you have 10 seconds to respond” mechanic like with other games. It’s reactive, fast, and you definitely have to stay on your toes for it. The main gameplay sections of the game, which are the dispatch sequences, might seem a bit dull at first glance, but are actually quite involved and can get really hectic. At first, you’ll just be finding yourself managing a few calls at a time, which starts off chill. But you’ll quickly find yourself having to manage multiple calls at the same time, and with your team members needing to rest in between calls which means you won’t be able to send them out until they’re ready again, things can get hectic really fast if you don’t fully know the capabilities of all your team members and who to send out to specific kinds of calls. You wouldn’t want an anthropomorphic bat rescuing a scared kid stuck on top of a tree, and you definitely shouldn’t send out a little strongman to mediate a bar fight between superheroes… There are also “hacking sequences” peppered around dispatch sections, which are kind of this game’s version of puzzles. They’re pretty straightforward and don’t necessarily need a lot of brain power, but they’re still challenging because of the timer and later down the line having to memorize passwords. The best thing about the gameplay is that it adds more to the cast’s characterization. They react to missions they’re sent on, they sometimes disobey your orders, start unexpected events that you have to handle, and a lot of banter overall.
And speaking of banter, this game’s dialogue in general has a ton of it, and it’s great. Voice acting is amazing as expected, which is something you’d want from a game focused on its story. The characters have a lot of chemistry with one another, and it feels really natural when they’re having conversations and doing a little snappy back-and-forth with each other. You don’t need a lot of exposition to know their personalities, because it perfectly shines through just from the way they talk. Despite you shaping how things go, it still feels organic. In terms of dialogue options, they’re usually pretty varied and clear on what each of them want to express. So don’t worry about having another dreadful “tell him off” moment like with a certain other point-and-click story game, because for the most part, you know exactly what you’re getting yourself into.
The Cringe: Profanity Doesn’t Make You Cooler
Our biggest gripe with the game so far is how there’s just so much profanity in it that sometimes it starts teetering on the edgy side. Some characters swearing does make sense because of their vibe, like the grumpy, old-but-not-really-old Chase and the immature and rebellious Invisigal, but with others it seems a bit too forced and cringey, which took us out of it a few times for sure.
Choosing a dialogue option randomly also isn’t a rare event that happens while playing the game, because the timer for choosing one seems to be really, really short, especially when it matters. It’d be great if the timer varied depending on what’s happening in the conversation, but right now all dialogue sections seem to suffer from a severe, and quite pressuring time crunch.
And of course, the biggest issue with the game is that with its episodic structure, we can’t really tell if the quality is going to stay consistent with every new episode until they’re all released. Sure, there’s a certain charm in waiting every week like with a normal TV show, but it also suffers from the same possibility of things going downhill at the snap of a finger.
Verdict: Play Now or Wait and Binge?
If you want something fresh, different, and fun to look forward to each week, then it’s a definite Cop.
Dispatch is part of a genre that we don’t really get to see much of anymore, and at least with the first two episodes, it’s exactly what it wants to be. Will it reinvent the genre and revive it? Will it live up to its expectations? We’ll find out once all of the episodes are released. Right now, we’re cautiously optimistic and hopeful that it’ll deliver.
So, are you ready to become a hero in more ways than one?
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