Preview: Dispatch’s Superpower Is Its One-Two Punch of Management and Narrative Choice

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AdHoc Studio, formed by former developers from Telltale Games, has released its first game, Dispatch, and the influence of their previous work is clear.

This comedy, set in a workplace with superheroes, feels similar to games like Tales from the Borderlands in how the story unfolds.

Dispatch is a story-driven adventure game played in episodes. Your choices in conversations matter, influencing how characters interact and how the story unfolds.

Robert Robertson was once the celebrated superhero Mecha Man, known for battling crime in a large, powerful suit of armour. Unfortunately, after the suit was damaged beyond repair, he couldn’t afford to fix it and had to give up being a hero.

I was so excited to learn he finally landed a job at the Superhero Dispatch Network! It’s a really unique position – he’s basically in charge of a team of former villains. The best part? If he proves he can handle them well, the company has promised to help him get the funding and resources he needs to rebuild his suit. It’s a huge opportunity for him to get back on his feet and become a hero again!

The demo showed promising writing and suggested players will have significant control over the story through their conversation options.

The game feels incredibly high-quality. The developers are striving for the look and feel of a top-tier animated TV show, and they’ve achieved it with beautiful art, smooth animation, and fantastic voice acting that really brings the characters to life.

What sets Dispatch apart is the addition of management-focused tasks alongside its core gameplay.

You’ll be taking on Robert’s role: finding problems around the city and sending the most appropriate hero to solve them.

Every member of your team, known as the Z Team, has different strengths, skills, and characteristics that you’ll need to consider when making decisions.

In our example, someone calls needing a balloon taken down from a tree. The best hero for this job would be quick and good with people – able to reach the balloon easily and comfort the child who’s upset. The game compares your hero’s skills to what’s needed for the rescue, and the bigger the difference, the more likely you are to succeed or fail.

If you don’t respond to emergencies quickly enough, you’ll fail them, and your heroes can get hurt or taken out of action. Missions also take time, so you won’t always have a full team available, forcing you to sometimes send out heroes who aren’t the best fit.

Things move quickly, and you won’t have time to do everything, so focus on what’s most important during these moments.

You’ll not only send out your heroes, but also need to make choices based on what’s happening in the city.

Throughout the adventure, your heroes constantly talk and joke with each other and with Robert, creating a lot of lively conversation.

We’re introduced to him on his first day, and his new team instantly makes fun of his name, predicting he won’t last long. This scene works really well thanks to clever writing and strong voice acting.

Managing your heroes doesn’t stop after recruiting them. They’ll also earn skill points to improve their abilities, making them stronger for future missions. The whole system is well-designed and feels right at home in the game’s world.

The game also appears to have pre-planned, story-driven scenes. The demonstration shows Invisigal, voiced by Laura Bailey, exploring a donut shop and discovering the owner has been knocked out.

Robert assists by watching security camera feeds. When he needs to access a new camera, he completes a mini-game that requires navigating a network, connecting pathways between points, and locating access codes. The process is generally simple, but occasionally includes time limits or other challenges to make it more difficult.

Dispatch really shines because its story and gameplay flow together seamlessly. It definitely feels like a Telltale game, but with more interactive parts, a fresh and engaging story, and top-notch visuals, it’s a step above the rest.

Even though we’ve only seen a little bit so far, if the show develops strong relationships between characters and tells a compelling story, it has the potential to be really great.

The game has been officially confirmed for PlayStation 5 and will be released in episodes, beginning in just a few weeks. You can find more details here:

Are you looking forward to Dispatch? Suit up in the comments section below.

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2025-09-17 18:09