When a game puts choices front and center, you can bet your ass I’ll be there day one. So when I first saw footage of Dispatch, a choice-driven game where you manage a team of ex-supervillains from your office, the countdown for me had already begun.
As an extra bonus, developer AdHoc Studio brought in a stellar cast. Aaron Paul immediately stood out to me, since I’ve been a fan ever since his Jesse Pinkman days in Breaking Bad. Alongside his role as protagonist Robert Robertson (a name the game thankfully pokes fun at), we also get the always excellent Laura Bailey, the amazing Jeffrey Wright, and more.
On paper, Dispatch had everything I love. After playing through the first two episodes, with six more to go, here are my first impressions after roughly two hours of play. A full review, where I will dive deeper into everything, will follow once all eight episodes are released.
The Animations Are Fantastic
Early in the first episode you find yourself in the middle of a spectacular fight. Your character is the superhero Mecha Man, and in your enormous mech suit you take on one of your enemies. The action is stylish, fast, and a thrill to watch.
Aside from Dragon Ball, I’ve never really been an anime fan, and I usually prefer more realistic visuals. The style in Dispatch really surprised me though. The dramatic battles, slick animation, and expressive characters capture the same kind of high-energy vibe you’d expect from anime without turning the game into a straight anime clone. Both the intense battles and the lighter office moments are brought to life beautifully and convincingly.
Dispatch Takes You Seriously…
I sometimes feel that as a gamer I am not always treated as the adult I actually am. My teenage years are long behind me and believe me, I can take whatever you’ll throw at me.
To be clear, I don’t need sex scenes in every game like in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. But I also do not want to feel like I am being treated as if I were ten years old. A bit of swearing is fine, and some nudity is fine too when there is a good reason for it.
And really, is there a better reason than a supervillain whose whole look includes the outline of his privates, only for Robert to cut in with: ‘Cool dick?’ I do not think so.
From the first two episodes, Dispatch does not seem afraid of anything. Whether it is bare buttocks, a string of curse words, or simply a more mature kind of humor, the game does not pretend to be cleaner than it is, and I appreciate that.
…Itself? Not So Much
And that humor works really well. Well, humor is always relative. Let me put it this way: the humor in Dispatch is exactly the humor I like. Sharp-edged remarks, sometimes a bit vulgar (nothing wrong with that), and often poking fun at things that are surprisingly relatable.
At one point you can choose one of three ways for Robert to insult another superhero. One of the options is to call out the fact that he is wearing sunglasses indoors and at night. Which is, of course, extremely cringe. I laughed when Robert roasted him for it, finishing with something like “if you wear sunglasses at night, at least everyone immediately knows you are a douchebag.” And that is just so true.
There is also a bathroom scene where Robert points out a colleague who does not wash his hands after using the toilet. Sadly, that is all too familiar, and that is why the humor lands so well.
The Characters and Voice Acting Are All Excellent
I already mentioned the cast earlier. Expectations for the voice acting were sky-high and could therefore almost only disappointment. Fortunately, that is not the case. Every actor involved delivers their role perfectly. Even though they are all superheroes (or villains), the characters come across as believable and interesting.
Some naturally receive more attention in the first two episodes than others. Invisigal, for example, is one of the teammates you spend more time with. This already creates an intriguing dynamic, and I am curious to see where it will lead. My guess is that these flawed characters will eventually grow into a close-knit team, and that they will, little by little, be won over by Robert. Or maybe not, which will hopefully depend on the choices we make.
Choices Have Not Really Made Me Think Yet
Speaking of choices, the first two episodes have not caused me any headaches. Apart from a few decisions near the end, I have not seen anything that looks like it will have real consequences. That is fine for this stage of the game, but hopefully next week, when we reach the halfway point, that will change.
The choices that did make me stop and think surprisingly did not happen in dialogue screens but in the dispatching itself. And that was a pleasant surprise.
Games that are driven by player choices usually do not have very exciting gameplay. They often rely on a few quick time events here and there. But it looks like the actual gameplay in Dispatch will be a lot more interesting.
Dispatching Is Surprisingly Fun to Do, and It Has All the Potential to Only Get Better
Picking the right antihero for the right job is what it comes down to. Your teammates each have their own strengths and weaknesses. The key stats are combat, vigor, mobility, charm and intellect. So if you need someone to cut a ribbon and represent the team in a professional way, a mix of charm and intelligence is the right call.
If you need to take out a group of enemies, combat and vigor are what you want. On top of that, every antihero has a more detailed profile. Invisigal, for example, can turn invisible for a few seconds, making her ideal for stealth missions, while Flambae is heat-resistant, which comes in handy for fire-related assignments.
When you send someone out on a mission, you naturally cannot use them for a while. Calls keep coming in (I would make a terrible Dispatcher, since I even managed to miss one completely), and if you are not careful with your team, you might suddenly find yourself short of the right option.
Sometimes you can send multiple teammates to increase your chance of success. But that also comes with a cost: you are temporarily down two options. And sometimes a task can be solved with just one of the two, leaving you with more flexibility for the next call.
Characters can level up and unlock useful bonuses, something we will no doubt need to pay extra attention to during the coming episodes.
Is It Wednesday Yet?
I blinked twice and the first two episodes were already over. The game held my attention from start to finish, and I cannot wait to see where it all goes. For the next three weeks Wednesday will feel like an even sweeter halfway mark.
