It’s always a good feeling when seeing the credits rolling on a game almost immediately makes me feel hungry for more.
I had a blast playing through all eight episodes of Dispatch, the debut game from developer AdHoc Studio. For the unfamiliar, Dispatch is an original story focused on the less-glamorous side of superhero work.
It’s that core theme that’s carried throughout Dispatch, and one of the many reasons I found the game so compelling.
(The following contains some light spoilers).
Like a phoenix from the ashes
Superhero media is an interesting place overall, with the swing of popular brooding, dark antiheroes facing challenge, and a more recent rise of earnest hopefulness and kindness.
I’m not going to try and break all of that down here, but as someone that has enjoyed works across the whole spectrum — The Boys and Invincible TV shows are great, and I really liked both Marvel’s Thunderbolts and the latest Superman movie earlier this year — I’m genuinely impressed with how well Dispatch threads the needle, providing something that feels genuinely “adult” without being steeped in immaturity or tastelessness.
From the start, I found all the characters fun or intriguing. Actor Aaron Paul deserves special mention for his performance as Robert, with a near-depressed, sarcastic tone that feels warmly relatable without blending into a beige everyman.
Erin Yvette and Laura Bailey give life to Blonde Blazer and Invisigal, respectively, with both characters providing fun romance options that feel natural to the story being told, albeit in vastly different ways. Both are tied into the nature of Robert’s work as a dispatcher, with Invisigal taking a more central role as the messy trainee, while Blonde Blazer is far more stable on the surface.
No matter which of the two Robert ends up (optionally) romantically entangled with, it feels authentic to his character arc, struggling to refine and reform a group of villains in the aptly-named Phoenix Program. Earning their respect, figuring out who to send where, it all can feel like a challenge (and without a fair bit of luck, there’s plenty of possible failures), yet all of that feeds into making the overall experience feel better, not worse.
That also comes into play with the writing, which treads a very fine line between leaning into the humor of a situation while also acknowledging the severity of possible actions.
When to make decisions matter
Dispatch carries forward a lot of legacy from Telltale Games, with some staff at the studio having worked on games like The Wolf Among Us and Tales from the Borderlands.
Telltale’s games are often criticized for the idea that choices don’t really matter, with someone potentially choosing which of two characters to spare in one episode, only for the other to die entirely sans-player input two episodes later.
That design is clearly present in Dispatch, but with a few subtle refinements that seem to pay off, at least for now. Asking the player to pick between recruiting two heroes and then having whoever wasn’t picked end up drafted later works perfectly fine, and doesn’t feel like it’s actively undermining the decision-making process.
It’s still a coloring-book type experience, where everyone has the same outline but chooses to fill in certain details, but not at the expense of going out of character for Robert.
So, what could be next?
Dispatch has been a rousing success so far — the game reached over two million players as of November 19 — and the developers have indicated another season could happen, though there’s technically no official confirmation just yet. There’s also the possibility that the team could have some other work to look forward to.
AdHoc Studio contributed the script for Telltale Games’ The Wolf Among Us 2 before shipping Dispatch. Still, I say “possibility” because who knows if that game will ever see the light of day, but if it does, the tight dialogue and decision-making in Dispatch make me even more excited for what could be next for Bigby Wolf and Snow White.
Going back to superheroes, in the overwhelmingly likely event that Dispatch does continue, I’ll be curious to see what the core conflict will be and just how the developers will go about carrying over player decisions. Obviously, some major things will have to come through, such as the exact nature Rof obert’s chosen relationship, if any.
Personally, I’d love to see the actual dynamic of Robert working as a Dispatcher examined even further. How does he balance that with being out in the field as Mecha Man? Is it better to be a hero or a mentor? Can he do both?
I’m looking forward to finding out the answers.
In the meantime, I’d love to see AdHoc launch an Xbox version of Dispatch in the future, which would provide me the perfect excuse for a replay.
Dispatch is currently available on Windows PC and PlayStation 5, and is slated to launch on Nintendo Switch 2 on Jan. 28, 2026.
Did you play Dispatch? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments and vote in the poll!
Follow Windows Central on Google News to keep our latest news, insights, and features at the top of your feeds!
