Overall Impression
Dispatch is a story driven, choice based game that embodies and mixes the quirkiness of a show like The Office with a rag tag squad of everyday superheroes, each with their own set of flaws, who respond to calls for help. The overall experience is well polished and it feels more like an interactive animated show than a game. The characters are full of personality and the voice acting, pacing and storytelling is well executed. The gameplay is exactly what it sounds like – dispatch. You as the main protagonist respond to calls for help and select the most appropriate member of your team to answer it. However, the dispatch gameplay is a supplement to the main feature, which is the story and dialogue choices you make that in turn can influence the outcome of the narrative.
Target Audience
Gamers who love story driven and choice based titles will feel at home here. Fans of any of the Telltale series of games, such as The Walking Dead or The Wolf Among Us will likely enjoy this experience as some of the team members that were responsible for that work are part of this development team.
Narrative & Voice Acting
The initial story pulls you into the world and gets straight into the action. One of the often forgotten aspects in a story focused experience is the overall pacing. This is something that, at least in the initial stages, Dispatch does really well. It introduces you to the protagonist and certain cast members without dragging things out or overstaying its welcome. Pacing is paramount to a story. So many narratives fail to actually ‘edit’ their scenes and assume that everything is important or interesting for the audience. But when pacing is done well it becomes a seamless experience allowing the audience to be immersed in the world. Dispatch handles the overall narrative quite well in the opening act. Drawing the viewer in and allowing them to experience it without too much setup. Furthermore, this is an all star cast full of many voice acting veterans as well as streamers. The voice acting brings to life this eclectic cast of heroes each with their own quirks and adds to the overall high quality feel of the game.
Gameplay
Most of the experience is watching cutscenes and making dialogue choices. This is pretty standard in the genre and it’s well executed here. The animation, voice acting, writing and pacing are all spot on. It genuinely feels like watching an episode of a TV show. Similar to other games in this genre, the choices you make will have consequences for how it plays out in the narrative.
The other main component of the experience is via a dispatch gameplay loop. Here you’ll play as a dispatcher for a super hero network. You’ll receive calls for help and then need to respond by sending the appropriate hero. It starts off simple but gets more interesting when you have a string of calls and you need to be very selective with who you dispatch as your entire team won’t always be available. There are also ways to level up your team and increase their stats. It’s a simple gameplay experience that fits well with story.
Art & Design
The art design is a modern aesthetic. Overall it looks and feels like an animated TV show. Characters are quirky yet have a familiar appeal like you’ve seen or known them from somewhere else. Its stylized in a way that has a lasting appeal and displays a high level of execution. Overall it’s a step up from many popular predecessors in the genre.
Challenges
Being able to fully enjoy these types of experiences comes down to understanding your own preferences as a gamer. Those who don’t connect with the characters or story are likely not the target audience as much of the game is story focused. In addition, the gameplay elements may not appeal to everyone. Although it fits the narrative, those wishing for more actual gameplay or deeper mechanics may find the dispatch loop lacking. None of these traits are necessarily a fault of the game itself but more understanding the genre and what type of experience you enjoy the most.
Closing Thoughts
Dispatch is a well execute narrative and choice driven game with exceptional animation, voice acting and story telling. It’s the perfect title for those who enjoy similar games from a developer like Telltale. If you’re looking for a fun and entertaining story set in a superhero world, Dispatch should be on your list to check out.
Thanks
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GAME DETAILS
PLATFORMS: PS5, Windows
RELEASE: October 2025
DEVELOPER/PUBLISHER: AdHoc Studio
GENRE/TAGS: Narrative focused, choice based, episodic, superhero, comedy
TARGET AUDIENCE: Those that enjoy narrative focused and choice based games
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