An engrossing choose-your-own-adventure comic book with a captivating cast. I’ll remember that.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/74103/dispatch-switch-review
Frequent NWR guest and contributor Syrenne McNulty was involved with development for Dispatch. The review was written and edited without any input from anyone who works with Syrenne.
Having been eager to check out Dispatch last year during its episodic launch, I ended up holding off after learning that a Switch version was imminent. I can safely say that the experience has lived up to the hype and positivity the eight-episode game generated around 2025 game of the year talks. If you enjoyed classic TellTale interactive narratives or superhero stories like Invincible, Dispatch is a call you need to answer.
The plot centers on Robert Robertson, a former superhero, who falls in battle and has to abandon his Mecha Man alter ego. Shortly after, he's propositioned by the enticing heroine Blonde Blazer to join the Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN), and the downtrodden Robert is all too eager to accept what this attractive gift horse is offering. As the name implies, SDN pairs superhero teams with a dispatcher who sends team members to individual distress calls, and this forms about 30 percent of the gameplay loop. A small portion is taken up with a fairly rudimentary hacking minigame, and the lion's share consists of cutscenes that show Robert's redemption and the relationships he cultivates (or destroys) as the newest dispatcher at SDN.
In that order, the dispatching of superheroes is a fun way to listen in on the banter and jokes of your team as you build up their experience and stats, while also honing your skills as a leader and mentor. It generally takes place a couple times per episode, offering a nice switch up after longer story beats. You have to read between the lines in order to determine the best member of your squad to send on each errand; Prism is a better talker, but she's not naturally strong (you can change that by levelling up her strength stat, of course). Flambae is a hot head, but a gifted fighter, so he's better for subduing thugs when fisticuffs are expected. Your odds of success increase when you choose the right heroes to dispatch, and you'll earn experience for every mission accomplished; the flip side is that you'll earn nothing but a stat-reducing injury if you fail. When the dispatching gameplay blends seamlessly with the exposition and cutscenes outside of it, Dispatch truly shines.
Of course, any narrative experience relies almost entirely on the quality of its script, and the writing of Dispatch is top notch. Every member of the cast has their own unique personality, and the voice work of Aaron Paul as Robert, Jeffrey Wright as Chase, and Laura Bailey as Invisigal, among other standouts, adds an impeccable flavor to the dish. I laughed out loud during multiple episodes and couldn’t take my eyes off the screen during the thrilling finale. The dialogue choices do feel meaningful, but as is the case with these interactive stories, you can’t always see all the impacts unless you go through the game multiple times. That said, the quality of Dispatch is such that I’m certainly entertaining that prospect during the next slow release period this year.
The Switch 2 version, a free upgrade for anyone who purchases Dispatch on Switch, boosts the performance from 30fps at 720p to 60fps at 1440p. I certainly wasn’t put off by playing through the game on Nintendo’s last gen device, but the upgrade is a welcome one. I’ve seen the question asked frequently on various online forums and can confirm that the Switch version of Dispatch is censored for nudity, with no option as of writing to remove the somewhat jarring black censor bar. One handy element that did have a toggle was for quick-time events, which I turned off so that I could focus on the story.
Dispatch is an unmissable interactive narrative for those who miss the glory days of TellTale’s Walking Dead series or enjoy the mature comic book worlds of Invincible or The Boys. I had no trouble ripping through the eight episodes and eagerly await the potential announcement of a second season. I found myself genuinely buying into the redemption arcs of your motley crew of villains-turned-heroes; it’s rare for a story to hit with basically every character, but Dispatch doesn’t miss in this regard. Even if it doesn’t go for an immediate follow-up, AdHoc Studio is now firmly on my radar for a genre I had fallen out of love with years ago.
Topic: Dispatch (Switch) Review (Read 14 times)
