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0 Dispatch is an Action, Adventure Indie game produced and developed by AdHoc Studio. After reading Paul’s preview article of the game, I was first drawn to Dispatch because of the art style and dialog. It gave me that old school nostalgia I feel for TellTale Games, especially when it game to the game’s humour and dialog choices. Imagine my surprise when I did research on the team that I find out they were ex Telltale employees. It must have been the best of the best because holy mother of ducks was my experience with Dispatch amazing.
So, who do you believe is the best choice to go after? Invisagal or Blonde Blazer?
As someone who loves and replays the classic Telltale games like Sam n’ Max, The Wolf Among Us, and others. Dispatch did scratch my Telltale games itch that finally got scratched. The game is available on Steam for £25 and spoilers for this review, yes, it is worth it. Let’s get into what makes this game so good.
Gameplay
Dispatch gameplay is a huge mix of QTEs, Dialog choices, Strategy and Puzzles elements that got me playing thrice. Having to think on my feet on who to send to what situation is honestly the best stimulus I had in a long time. You are Robert Robertson the Third, a 3rd generation pilot and user of Mecha Man. To not spoil anything, you’re in a world that people are born with power and will either be a hero or a villain. But, when it comes to Robert he, like his father and grandfather before him, doesn’t have any powers.
The game starts with Robert talking to someone about his father and this is where the first choice of many starts. We later find out that Robert was talking to a guy that was tied to a chair and wearing a blindfold. What seems like a nice conversation later turns out to be an interrogation on locating someone. A man name Shroud is Robert’s target, whom we find out is actually the man that killed his father. After we get what were looking for, we start the QTE section of the game and experience an amazing cutscene.
Mechanics
That’s enough on the story, now with the mechanics. My time with the gameplay has been a coin toss since there are time where using a controller and other time keyboard and mouse. Whilst playing through the hacking portion, I leant more towards controller to make it not only easier, but faster. In contrast whilst playing through the dispatching portion, I preferred using my mouse because of a small issue I encountered. The issue being that whenever I was trying to choose a mission with my controller I either can’t find my marker or it wouldn’t go where I needed it to.
There’s also another element to the Dispatch mechanics, the heroes themselves. Each one has a unique ability that only works under certain conditions. Like for example, Malevola can heal teammates when they are already hurt. Unlocking each characters abilities takes a bit of trail and error, but it’s worth it in the end. Lastly, I’m going to cover the RNG factor that the game that will make you pull your hair. You’ll need to really read the description of each mission before sending someone out. The game of context clues is your only thing that will help you understand what stats are needed. So, good luck and think before you ship those in the Phoenix Project out to the public!
Graphics and Audio
The art style is a beautiful cell shading on top of 3-d models and my gods is it stunning. I love the illusion of thinking something is two when staying still for too long and then 3d during action scenes. Another thing that is well done by AdHoc Studio is the creative hero and villain designs. We got bats that “hulk out” into a bigger bat as if it’s man bat from the Batman series. A devil woman that is from Australia that gives me modern day Karlach with portal magic. And a pop star villain turned hero who is always ready for a fight.
I won’t lie, this game has a stack of celebrities voicing character from TV, movies and even those famous on Youtube like Charles, Jack and Alana. There’s even some of the songs that were from the songstress Thot Squad (actual moniker look it up.) I will say I have added her music to my Spotify. Also, to the person who choose Laura Bailey as Invisagal and had that scene in episode 3 approved, I just want to have a chat with you. Besides that amazing soundtrack from the voice actress of Prism. It is honestly something I’m happy to go through several playthrough to enjoy again and again.
Longevity
During my first playthrough, I started timing the length of each episode and it is about an hour each. However, this review has been written before the release of the last two episodes, so keep in mind I’m in the dark on some things. At this time, I have two playthroughs with different choices which has me logging in about 12 hours so far. This will no doubt be far more when the last two episodes come out and as I try to get every achievement!
Final Thoughts
Dispatch is honestly an amazing piece of storytelling. Probably the best we’ve had about superheroes in a long time. The game honestly had me gripped. I have been fully invested in the story and characters since first playing episode 1. For some that statement might mean nothing, but to those who played episode 6 it hits hard. I can’t wait to see where this will end and hope we might get a sequel. All I have to say to all our readers is, Keep Up.
Here’s to more amazing storytelling games from AdHoc Studio in the future. In the meantime, I give Dispatch the Thumb Culture Platinum Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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