Dispatch

All in all, Dispatch is a game with a lot of potential. If we see this level of quality throughout the next six episodes, I have no doubt that we'll be looking at the biggest narrative experience of the year. Adhoc Studios has done well to harness the magic that made Telltale Games so great while also putting their own flair into it.

Dispatch shows a lot of promise, but it remains to be seen whether it can hold attention through the busy games season while drip-feeding the episodes. I hope it can because if the first couple of episodes are any indication, Dispatch could be something special. I found myself laughing out loud more than once, which isn’t easy to do to someone who’s hunched over like a goblin watching something alone. The writing is sharp, the acting is excellent, the animations wouldn’t feel out of place in a premium TV show, and the interactive sequences tease some amount of depth. I just think it’d be better off binged because of how little you actually play during an individual episode. [Review in Progress]

As of this review, Dispatch presents the dilemma all episodic games pose: We’re all too eager to play more, but have to patiently wait for the other episodes to release. While we thoroughly enjoy Dispatch’s gameplay and story, its cliffhangers will have you desperately begging for the rest of its content. [Review in Progress]

AdHoc's writers are well aware of these shortcomings, though that doesn't make them any less jarring to encounter. Other important choices, including how you handle the villain at the end, have weaker influence (often none at all) over how the story plays out. It's hard to get further away from what makes the Telltale games that inspired Dispatch work than that. Important choices are the main draw there. But overall, it works for Dispatch's unique hybrid of video game and cinema. If I'm watching The Lord of the Rings again, I'm doing it to appreciate the storytelling, the acting, the set design and quality of direction, the little details I never noticed before — not with the expectation that the story might change. And if I'm replaying Dispatch, which I will, I'm doing that for the same reasons.

Disappointing ending aside, Dispatch really is a gem of a game, and the fact that it came out of nowhere and grabbed the attention of fans the way it did is even more impressive. Few games manage to merge gameplay and story as well as this, and even if Dispatch Season 2 is a long way off, there’s still a ton of potential for this setting in the meantime.

The game’s strength lies in its writing and characters. Without the restrictions of working with licensed characters, the developers are wonderfully creative with their heroes. I thoroughly enjoyed the brief interactions between and with the weirdos in spandex you are given. As a non-powered hero, Robert navigates them with both tension and annoyance but not fear. I am looking forward to seeing how relationships develop and with whom Robert bonds.

We’re only two episodes in on the eight-episode arc, but Dispatch is already making a bid for one of my favourite games of the year. If you’re into Invincible or a fan of Telltale’s best works – that’s The Wolf Among Us, just so we’re clear – then you owe it to yourself to get onboard with Dispatch. You’ll still be in time for the water-cooler chat. [Episodes 1-2 review]