Dispatch

I've always appreciated superhero stories. The MCU golden era is what got me invested, and I remain a loyal fan. I've followed the genre through plenty of others too, Invincible and the DCEU among them.

What pulled me in was the first Dispatch trailer. There's a clean energy to it that kinda reminded me of Invincible, and the premise was interesting enough to stand out. So naturally I gave it a shot.

I'm glad I did.

Dispatch is an episodic narrative adventure with a light management layer. You play Robert Robertson III, the third-generation Mecha Man, who loses his signature suit in the opening fight. Out of options, he takes a desk job at the Superhero Dispatch Network as a way to get his life back on track, and ends up assigned to the Z-Team: a group of ex-supervillains enrolled in a rehabilitation program.

The main draw is the story, and it works because the writing is genuinely excellent. Dispatch could have leaned into the easy comparisons (Suicide Squad, etc.), but it isn't trying to be that. It plays out more like a workplace dramedy about people stuck in jobs that don't suit them, trying to figure out whether they can become something else. The dialogue is funny when it needs to be and quietly affecting when it doesn't. Every character earns their place in the room.

The cast does a lot of work too. Aaron Paul plays Robert with the right mix of weary charm and self-doubt, and the full ensemble around him is stacked. By the end of the run, everyone in it had grown on me in ways I didn't see coming.

On the narrative choices, it's worth tempering some expectations. The marketing seemed to frame them more strongly than the game actually delivers. The broad shape of the story stays roughly the same regardless of how you play. What actually shifts based on your choices is who Robert becomes, the relationships he builds, and how certain character arcs land. The most meaningful branching runs through how Robert mentors his team, and that gives each playthrough real emotional weight.

Dispatch is the debut from AdHoc Studio, and the team is largely made up of former Telltale staff. From what I've picked up, some of them had been working on Wolf Among Us 2 before pulling out of the project. I don't have the full picture of what happened, but the Telltale energy in Dispatch isn't a coincidence. It's the people who made those games, finally shipping something on their own terms.

The dispatching sequences, which make up a core part of the gameplay, are genuinely fun, especially early on. You're working a board, assigning Z-Team members to incidents based on their powers and traits, balancing risks and cooldowns. It's a solid loop and it gives the format more weight than a pure visual novel.

That said, by the later episodes the loop had started to wear thin and I found myself wanting to skip past the dispatching to get back to the story. That's just me though, and your mileage may vary. Funny irony for a game called Dispatch. If you click with light management gameplay, this probably won't be an issue for you.

A couple of other honest caveats. The dialogue choices flow in real time, with no pause-and-pick rhythm. That works well if you like cinematic momentum, but if you prefer a beat to actually read each option before deciding, the lack of a toggle for that is something you'll notice. I'm in that second camp, personally.

The other is story pacing. The writing is the game's strongest pillar, but it isn't flawless. It opens strong and builds to a solid finish, but the middle episodes lose a bit of momentum along the way. Several reviewers flagged the same thing, so it's not just my own read on it

Dispatch isn't trying to be everything. It's a story-first game with a light management layer, so if you come to games looking for deep, engaging gameplay first and foremost, this probably isn't the one for you. But if you enjoy a really good story and you're open to that being the main draw, Dispatch delivers. Even if you've felt the superhero genre running thin lately, it's worth giving this one a shot. It takes its premise and its characters seriously, and that goes a long way.

One last thought. Dispatch left me thinking that more superhero properties, MCU included, could benefit from this kind of interactive storytelling, if they could make it accessible enough for a wider audience. Especially given how stale the genre has felt lately. Easier said than done, but the game makes a strong case that the format has more to give than it's currently getting.

‍

Settings Worth Tweaking

For anyone who'd rather sit back and let the story play out without the gameplay getting in the way, Dispatch has options for that built in. The settings menu lets you toggle on Cinematic Quick-Time Events and Unlimited Hacking Attemps. Useful if you're picking this up purely for the story. No judgement either way.

‍

Best Version to Play

Dispatch launched on PlayStation 5 and Windows in late 2025. Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 versions followed in January 2026, with an XBOX Series X/S port scheduled for later in 2026.

One thing worth flagging: the Switch versions are reported to have some content censorship compared to the PS5 and PC releases. If that matters to you, PS5 or PC is the better pick.

‍

Cast Worth Knowing About

Dispatch has one of the more distinctive voice casts in recent memory. Aaron Paul leads as Robert Robertson, with Jeffrey Wright as Chase, Laura Bailey as Invisigal, and Erin Yvette as Blonde Blazer rounding out the core cast.

The Z-Team and the wider ensemble fill out with Matthew Mercer as Shroud, Travis Willingham as Phenomaman, Joel Haver as Waterboy, Alanah Pearce as Malevola, and Lance Cantstopolis as Flambae. Sean McLoughlin (Jacksepticeye) voices Punch Up, and Charles White (MoistCr1TiKaL) voices Sonar. Worth noting if any of those names are a draw for you.