Shipping overview

As someone who still carries the torch of Telltale’s narrative adventures, I really wanted AdHoc Studio Dispatch – a workplace superhero comedy riddled with HR violations – to be great, even though I had my doubts about the return of the episodic release model and the dominance of celebrity streamers in the cast.

Fortunately, by the end of the second episode, these doubts were a distant memory, and the rest of the eight-episode series only reinforced the fact that this is a brilliant piece of interactive television. I’m really unhappy that it’s over and I’m desperately hoping for a second season.

I turn on the charm

Shipping takes several days. With such a huge cast, many of whom have more streaming experience than voice acting, like Jacksepticeye and MoistCr1TiKaL, I expected at least a few duds, but nope! Everyone is killing it. Even the villain-turned-hero we’re supposed to hate – Flambae, the hot-tempered asshole arsonist – has plenty of moments to shine.

When he took the stage at karaoke night to give us a version of Bitch, with altered lyrics that questioned the size of Robertson’s main character’s penis, I just couldn’t hate him.

Shipping is a million miles away from the quirky, family-friendly MCU. We have characters talking about their sexual dreams, colleagues beating each other up, a barrage of harsh insults, alcohol-fueled bribery and office romances that would make HR professionals cringe.

But it’s also full of heart. Dispatch is ultimately a story about second chances – a fallen hero trying to find his place in the world after his super-powered mech is blown to pieces; villains trying to forge a recent path while protecting a city that expects them to fail; people who spent their lives closed, opening up to their found family.

Where it indulges superhero clichés, it does so with a wink and a smile, but it’s also a celebration of classic hero stories and the surprising ability of characters rooted in comic books to reveal something about ourselves or challenge us to be better. You are more than your past, more than your failures, more than your worst moments, he says.

God, this game is turning me into a ball of cheese.

Heroes for hire

It starts with Robert Robertson’s worst moment. He’s Mecha-Man, a great hero, and he’s the one who gives him the thumbs up. After his suit is destroyed, we find him drowning his sorrows in a bar. Along with the hangover, he also gets a recent job as a dispatcher for a company that employs heroes for hire, sending them to facilitate subscribers when they have lost their cat or are in danger of a power plant explosion.

Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul lends his gravelly voice to Robert and is excellent as a tired, world-weary man who worries that he’s lost everything. But like everyone else, Robert is a brilliant joker with a brutal arsenal of fails and comebacks. The message may be pretty damn grim, but the worst moments are always undercut by a great gag. And one time there was quite a deafening fart.

Unlike Telltale’s adventures, AdHoc (founded by Telltale veterans) focused on interactive television. Each episode of Dispatch feels like a superhero cartoon – enhanced by impeccable visuals and animation that outperforms most cartoons in the genre, including the fantastic Invincible – where each scene is tightly described and leaves no room for wandering and clicking.

You’re still in charge of these scenes to some extent, and Dispatch gives you the ability to choose dialogue options or actions that move the story forward or go in one of several different directions. And these can have a significant impact. There are two different romantic entanglements; heroes can be cut from the lineup or recent ones added; and the journey that other characters embark on can be significantly changed by your interactions.

There are also some impressive QTE fighting games, some of the best I’ve ever seen. They don’t demand much from players, but each is blessed with impeccable rhythm and a level of flash and style that elevates them well beyond the standard, swampy, faintly interactive movie. I just wish there were a few more of them.

Even after I felt comfortable watching the story unfold, I felt like I wanted to get a little more involved. Sometimes it’s too uncomplicated to forget that this is technically a video game, and in every episode there are scenes where I couldn’t facilitate but think, “It would be a little better if I was actually doing something right now.” I’m not even talking about featherlight puzzles or Telltale-style exploration. Even a few QTEs would be appreciated.

There’s a housewarming party in episode six, which I really enjoyed – great visual gags, lots of camaraderie, great dancing – but I just wanted to be more involved. Or maybe an interactive dance? Drinking game? Just more than a few dialogue options.

Registration

Elsewhere, however, Dispatch tries to go the extra mile, especially when it comes to its work as a superhero dispatcher. Most episodes feature you in double shifts, where you sit at the computer and direct a team of Z-list villains-turned-heroes by sending them on phone calls.

The changes are tiny but surprisingly involved. Each hero has their own stat distribution and special abilities that can be upgraded in an RPG style. Each job requires specific skills or sometimes offers unique opportunities for specific characters. For example, Prism is best for anything that involves influencers, music, or requires a lot of rizz, because in addition to having amazing light-based powers, it also has an effect on music.

There are team bonding, handy hacking mini-games, and plot-driven wrinkles like an entire city losing power, heroes trying to sabotage each other, and one Superman-esque guy dealing with a breakup and becoming depressed when the team fails to complete a mission, which takes him off the squad for a while.

Your choices outside of these changes can impact how things turn out when you’re working at full capacity. For example, Sad Superman may not even be on your team. Other characters may react, skip shifts, or leave early, all because of the workplace drama you’re involved in.

AdHoc manages to keep this featherlight but engaging game going for most of the season, although I admit my enthusiasm started to wane towards the end as I felt like I had already seen everything it had to offer and it started to get a bit predictable. However, the latest change is a doozy.

But I was ecstatic to stay with all the mess before and after shifts, after-work drinks, parties, heart-to-hearts, jokes – good, bad, and most of all, bad – and of course Robert’s adorable, massive dog, Beef. He’s adorable and I’d give my life for him.

Superfriends

I’m just so fucking in awe of these characters. Abrasive Punch-Up and his love of punching people in the balls; the haughty Prism with her killer dance moves; the dank, pathetic Waterboy with his incredibly disgusting, wet powers; and my best friend Chase, a former speedster whose accelerated metabolism makes him look like a petite aged man (or, as another character jokes, Black Einstein).

The highlight, however, may be Laura Bailey’s “Invisigal” (also known as Invisibitch). The vulgar punk who just needs someone to believe in her may be one of the most tired stereotypes, but Bailey’s performance and her constant verbal sparring with Robert will make you forget you’ve seen this story a million times before.

She is one of Robert’s potential love interests, the other being Blonde Blazer, Supergirl’s counterpart, and Robert’s boss. So yes, it’s an HR nightmare. The romantic side of things is… well, it’s a bit problematic due to power dynamics, it’s imposed quite quickly and I’m not convinced it adds much that the platonic relationships the game does so well with don’t also offer.

The Invisigal romance feels absolutely like a canon choice, leaving Blond Blazer’s relationship a bit half-baked, but at the very least, they don’t add additional stakes or friction that wouldn’t already be present if they simply remained friends and teammates. And the choice of “bad girl” or “good girl” just seems like a tired trope, and one Dispatch doesn’t have much to do with it. You will be able to predict the entire story from the very beginning. However, all the friendships you build are much more rewarding.

When Team Z properly welcomed me into the fold – as we devoured tacos and licked our wounds from a bar fight – and we became more than just antagonistic colleagues, my heart grew 10 sizes. It’s impossible not to care about these idiots and want the best for them. Even the terrible Flambae.

My desire for a bit more interactivity aside, this is a triumphant season of interactive television and, against all odds, it even got me excited for Critical Role, which the studio is working on next. As it stands, I’m not a fan, but I think AdHoc might change me.