From the lead writers and directors who brought us Tales from the Borderlands and The Wolf Among Us comes Dispatch, a new episodic adventure that doesn’t just stick the landing—it obliterates the landing pad. This is the new gold standard for interactive storytelling. Developer AdHoc Studio has delivered a superhero workplace comedy that masterfully blends the high-stakes, “butterfly effect” choices of a Telltale game with the character-driven humor of The Boys and The Office.
What starts as a story about a grounded hero, Robert Robertson (AKA Mecha Man), forced to work as a call center dispatcher for a team of ex-supervillains, quickly evolves into one of the most heartfelt, hilarious, and genuinely stressful narrative games we’ve ever played. With all episodes now available, this is, without a doubt, a “Game of the Year” contender.
“A hilarious, heartfelt, and high-stakes Telltale-style adventure. Dispatch masterfully blends superhero action with office comedy, driven by a stellar cast and choices that actually matter.”
This isn’t just a game where your choices get you a different line of dialogue; they get your friends killed, start office romances, and decide the fate of an entire city.
🦸 A Hero Behind the Headset
The setup is perfect. You are Mecha Man, voiced to perfection by Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad), who, after a catastrophic battle with your nemesis Shroud, loses your suit and your mojo. You’re put in a coma and wake up to find your legacy in shambles. Your only way back? A desk job at the Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN).
Your job is to manage the “Phoenix Program,” a dysfunctional team of “Z-Team” ex-villains. This is where the game’s stellar, all-star cast shines. You’re not just managing stats; you’re managing personalities. The roster includes the hilariously aggressive Flambé, the lovable oaf Golem, the bro-fisting mechanic Roid, and the emotionally complex, invisible thief Courtney, AKA Invisigal (voiced by Erin Yvette). The banter is top-notch, with a supporting cast featuring Jeffrey Wright, Laura Bailey, Matthew Mercer, and even Jacksepticeye, which makes the world feel incredibly alive.
🗺️ The Strategy of Saving the Day
This isn’t just a visual novel. The core gameplay loop involves managing a “strategy map” of Los Angeles. Calls for help come in, and you have to decide who to send. Do you send the brutish Punchup to handle a delicate hostage situation, or the charismatic (but weak) Prism?
Every choice has consequences. Sending heroes with good synergy (like we found with Water Boy and Malevola) can lead to a “Perfect” outcome and bonus XP. Sending heroes who hate each other (like, well, almost everyone at the start) can lead to sabotage, failure, and even injury. This system makes you feel like a true leader, and your success rate (ours was in the 100th percentile, by the way) is a direct reflection of how well you learn to manage your “weird, [expletive]-up family.”
❤️ Dispatch Is What Telltale Games Were Made For
The true genius of Dispatch is its story. This game makes you feel. It presents you with impossible choices and makes you live with them. The plot threads are woven so tightly, from the office politics (like cutting Sonar from the team) to the city-ending finale.
The emotional core is your relationship with your team. We went all-in on trusting them, revealing our identity as Mecha Man in a high-stakes bar fight, and the payoff was immense. The relationships feel earned, especially the budding romance with the “freaky, gaslighter, [expletive]-talker” Invisigal. Choosing to trust her, even after theories emerged that she was a traitor, led to one of the most rewarding character arcs in gaming. She’s a beautifully written character, and yes, we “fell for her.”
Then, the game rips your heart out. The death of your mentor, Chase (Trackstar), is a devastating, perfectly executed gut-punch that re-contextualizes the entire story. His sacrifice to save Invisigal from Shroud, after we chose to wait and make a plan, was a moment of true heroism.
This all culminates in a finale that is pure cinema. The entire Z-Team (including a pardoned Sonar) bands together. You get your new suit. You confront Shroud. We chose to spare him, staying true to the hero Chase believed us to be. We got the girl. We saved the city. It’s an ending that feels earned, because every single choice, every relationship built, and every loss suffered led directly to that moment.
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
| ✅ Game of the Year Caliber Writing: A perfect blend of laugh-out-loud comedy and gut-wrenching drama. | ❌ High Emotional Stress: This game will hurt you. The choices are agonizing (in a good way). |
| ✅ Stellar, All-Star Voice Cast: Aaron Paul, Jeffrey Wright, and the entire cast are flawless. | ❌ Occasional “Telltale Jank”: Some minor visual bugs (yes, we saw the green penis) or stiff animations. |
| ✅ Genuinely Impactful Choices: The “butterfly effect” is real and shapes the entire 8-episode arc. | ❌ Episodic Wait (Now Over): The week-to-week wait was torture. Thankfully, it’s now complete. |
| ✅ Unforgettable Characters: Invisigal, Chase, Roid, and the Z-Team are all-timers. | |
| ✅ Incredible Finale: A final two-episode stretch that is non-stop, high-stakes perfection. |
Dispatch: This is it. This is the "W ass game" we've been waiting for. It's a true 10/10 masterpiece that revives the episodic, choice-driven genre and elevates it to an art form. The writing is sharp, the characters are unforgettable, and the emotional payoff is immense. AdHoc Studio has created something truly special. This isn't just a game; it's cinema. It's the new standard. What a journey. – Obsidian