Dispatch Review: the superhero sitting at a desk
, by Enzo
What if, for once, the hardest part wasn’t saving the world… but managing the people who save it? With Dispatch, AdHoc Studio offers a refreshing take on superheroism: here, there are no spectacular fights or cities to raze with cosmic powers. We’re behind a desk, headphones on, doing our best to send the right team to the right place at the right time. Put that way, it sounds like a mundane administrative job… but in practice, it’s much more engaging than you’d expect.
A concept that changes cape
Dispatch is based on a simple yet clever idea: you play as the manager of a superhero center. Here, you don’t play as a superhero—you manage them, through both multiple-choice storytelling and real-time strategy. The game takes the opposite approach to the genre’s usual tropes, and this shift in perspective is enough to give the title a unique identity.
Crises strike in real time, emergencies pile up, and it’s up to you to decide. In the cutscenes, your choices will have consequences that may be permanent. In the management portion of the game, you must figure out who to send, how to send them, and what impact that will have on alerts. Each hero has their strengths, weaknesses, ego, and sometimes… personal issues.
At the helm of the dispatch center
In terms of gameplay, Dispatch blends management, storytelling, and decision-making. Missions come in the form of calls, messages, or alerts, and you must assemble a team suited to the situation. Sending the most powerful hero isn’t always the best idea: fatigue, stress, character compatibility… everything comes into play, and you’ll often pay the price.
Decisions often have to be made quickly, sometimes under pressure, and are rarely trivial. A bad decision can lead to injuries, internal tensions, or broader narrative consequences. The game successfully establishes a tense pace without ever devolving into unnecessary chaos.
The gameplay is generally accessible, even if some mechanics take a little time to get used to. You’ll quickly grasp the basics, but mastering the whole system requires attention and a certain knack for diplomacy. The team management phases could have played a more significant role in the game, and they could have benefited from greater depth in management and tracking across episodes.
Presentation and atmosphere
Visually, Dispatch takes a minimalist approach. The interface is clear, easy to read, and designed to support the gameplay. The art direction doesn’t try to dazzle, but it fulfills its role perfectly: you always understand what’s happening, and the immersion works. Technically, there’s nothing to complain about.
As for the atmosphere, the soundtrack complements the action without ever taking center stage; it supports both the calmer moments when the player can catch their breath and the more intense sequences. The voice acting is also convincing and helps lend credibility to the characters.
Superheroes, but above all, superhumans
Where Dispatch really stands out is in its writing. The superheroes aren’t just pawns with neatly organized stats: they’re characters with strong personalities, complex emotions, and sometimes complicated relationships.
The dialogue is well-written, often laced with humor or a welcome dose of vulgarity, and skillfully avoids the trap of forced irony. You quickly grow attached to the team, and certain decisions take on an unexpected emotional weight. The game is as much about responsibility, pressure, and teamwork as it is about saving civilians in distress. All of this is sprinkled with a few unexpected romances, complete with unexpected twists.
Tested on PC. See our rating policy here.
7/10
Dispatch is a pleasant surprise. The writing remains by far one of the game’s strongest aspects, as does its replay value. Overall, the game breathes new life into narrative-driven titles—which can sometimes leave players feeling too passive—while adding a strategic dimension through the dispatch-style gameplay phases. We would have liked these phases to play a bigger role in the game and feature more in-depth mechanics so they wouldn’t feel like mere “side mini-games.” An adventure well worth checking out!
- + Solid, funny, and human writing
- + A breath of fresh air for its genre
- + Choices that really make a difference
- + Well-paced storytelling
- - Action is fairly indirect
- - Strategy and management mechanics lack depth
- - The dispatch component is minimal compared to the rest