We’ve seen stories built around redemption arcs many times, and to be forthright, I have a total supple spot for them. A sarcastic villain who, despite his contempt for the law, gains enough empathy to save the day – what’s not to like? After eight episodes filled with cliffhangers, surprising twists and patience-testing mysteries, Dispatch has concluded its own thoughts on the subject, allowing me to take a more busy role in determining who among the mighty cast of charming superheroes deserves a second chance. It’s fitting, then, that developer AdHoc Studio has similarly revitalized a video game style that I feared had faded into the background, confidently breathing modern and invigorating life into the interactive narrative genre.
Dispatch takes place in a captivating, bizarre Los Angeles where super-powered beings, aliens, demons and all manner of unusual humanoids coexist with ordinary people. As you can imagine, not every gifted being is benevolent, and many choose (or are forced into) a life of wickedness. To assist contain the onslaught of superheroes roaming the streets, an organization called SDC has stepped in, launching an insurance-like racket that allows citizens to pay for the privilege of a powerful guardian. One of the aforementioned good guys is our insightful hero, Robert Robertson – aka Mecha Man – whose heroic aspirations are dashed when a rogue explosive renders his suit useless, forcing him to take on the role of a call center employee at a diminutive SDC division.
That’s not all, however, because due to lack of full-time employment, Robert was entrusted with the task of managing a group of barely-born villains, affectionately called Team Z, whose malicious attitude and tendency to violence leave much to be desired. Over the course of about eight hours of Dispatch’s run, it’s fascinating to watch Robert grow after a sudden downgrade, experiencing the ups and downs of shift work. I felt engaged from start to finish thanks to Dispatch’s grounded, witty script and heartfelt performances from the immense cast.
Your time in Dispatch is divided into two distinct parts: most of the time you’ll be talking through beautifully animated cutscenes, choosing between fun dialogue options, and completing quick events like those seen in A wolf among us or Life is strange number. Certain decisions trigger a breathtaking “X Person Remembered This” notification to appear at the top of your screen, giving you a refreshing shot of 2025 nostalgia. Not every decision has as much impact as you might expect, and more often than not, my choices led to unique jokes or amusing animations rather than game-changing consequences. Most importantly, however, when the credits finally rolled – and avoiding any spoilers – the ending I received still felt true to my version of Robert. It says something I’m eager to revisit to see how other branches of the narrative play out.
You spend the rest of your time working at SDC as a dispatcher, assigning various tasks to superheroes. Using your mouse and your wits, you will monitor the city map, which periodically displays threat alerts along with a timer, keeping you informed of the various tasks that the SDC must address effectively. Each hero under your command has a stat matrix similar to the one seen in Pokémon. When a job comes up, you’ll be given a verbal description and your job is to match the best hero, or in some cases heroes, based on their stats and personality. Shortly after you pass the exam, you’ll find out whether you passed or not, and for your successes, you’ll receive experience points that lead to indefinite increases in each hero’s stats. On the other hand, failure could result in your heroes being injured or, worse yet, being sidelined for the duration of their shift. Managing their individual skill sets with multiple clocks ticking in front of you is a surprisingly stressful task that forced me to focus.
In addition to stat upgrades, Z-team can also gain special skills that impact the efficiency of your operation. Superstar-turned-superheroine Prism can utilize her duplication powers to extend the time it takes to complete tasks, devoting precious moments to finding a solution. Elsewhere, Invisigal can utilize her lone wolf status to raise her speed if sent solo. All of these moving parts come together over time and come together well, creating a satisfying feedback loop that complements the complexity of the surrounding story without being overwhelming.
Aspects like team morale and the impact you have on a moving story also impact Team Z’s effectiveness. During one shift early in the series, the heroes fight each other in hopes of avoiding being cut from the team. This argumentative tone carried over into the minigame, with each member acting on their own will rather than on my explicit orders. While I was frustrated by this at first, hoping to overcome the challenge with my wits, these moments of defiance worked the interactive segments well into the overarching story, and AdHoc effectively conveyed Robert’s exasperation, making sure you felt it for yourself. It’s one thing to write an emotional character that I can play, but it’s another thing to make me want to quit a job that I don’t really have, in exactly the same way they do it.
An additional hacking mini-game is also part of your daily routine, as Robert harnesses the only superpower he has left: his mind. Here you’ll roll a 3D object through a cyber maze over time, using directional data to plot a path to the end goal. In addition to the clock, you’ll also have to dodge corrugated virus balls and move power sources between lightweight blocks to unlock modern paths. It can be overwhelming at times as the difficulty increases over the course of Dispatch’s eight episodes, and getting through these puzzles is one of the least compelling moments in a game that’s otherwise full of them, which is a shame.
Still, despite all the obstacles I faced from Team Z, I defended them at every moment, like a parent saving her misbehaving children. The concept of ethically dim superhumans has been explored before in film and television, but Dispatch often subverts expectations with a steady mix of dim humor and heartfelt interactions that kept me on the edge of my seat.
For example, Robert and his team, celebrating their victory at one point, visit a villain’s bar, but the Thing-like Golem is forced to sit outside due to their enormous size. At that moment I felt a distaste for them and their attitude, and yet watching them huddled in the gutter with headphones in made them seem more human than stone monsters. That’s when a switch flipped in my head and it felt like I was in the hands of AdHoc.
What makes Dispatch’s redemption story so effective is the way it presents its villains as emotionally sophisticated souls who may have lost their way, rather than one-dimensional beasts. This empathetic lens makes it tempting to peel back the layers of a group, no matter how terrible they are or how touchy they seem. This doesn’t mean that every character is worth forgiving, but instead, if you’re willing to make a risky dialogue choice, you may be rewarded with valuable knowledge that could influence how you react in future situations or what ending you get.
All this drama is conveyed through incredible vocal performances that bring Dispatch’s most vital moments to life with finesse, from the main characters to the supporting characters. Laura Bailey’s Invisigal expertly dances between bratty and outspoken, often encouraging me to break the rules with her flirty, if not threatening, style. Erin Yvette, on the other hand, subtly switches between Blonde Blazers’ heroic prose and goofy banter with incredible precision. It’s worth noting that Aaron Paul’s Robert is more than just a Hollywood stunt cast – he stands out here, delivering a nuanced performance as a man trying to remain hopeful while coming to terms with who he is outside of his giant mech.
