AdHoc release ‘dispatches’ static past of gaming through a new genre

In a vastly growing field of indie, RPG’s, MMO’s, Battle Royales, and even horror games, AdHoc Studio’s newest game Dispatch brings players into a world of split second decision making and jam-packed action, all wrapped together by a captivating story that makes players hungry for more. Dispatch pioneers a new genre of gaming, combining an action-packed and slightly comedic superhero show, with QTE’s or quick time events that allow the player to make decisions that impact relationships with the multitude of side characters and test their IQ and problem solving skills in a wide variety of minigames. Additionally AdHoc Studio’s choice of voice actors led by one of Breaking Bad’s funniest actors, Aaron Paul, truly bring out the characters’ personalities and deepens the game’s aspect of making relationships with the side characters to a whole new level. Dispatch is able to balance all the inner  workings of a game and show in one, showing that this new genre of game style, along with its well-crafted story, is the future of this industry.

photo courtesy of AdHoc Studio’s Facebook

Dispatch is broken into “Episodes” just like any other TV show someone would watch on Netflix or Hulu. As the first episode opens, the player can see two men talking–although only one is in frame, and the player can pick up just a few key details about the story right away. The man in the frame’s father was killed by a supervillain named Shroud, and he wants revenge. The camera pans to the other man who is tied to a chair and beaten up. Moments later, the first is holding the other over a balcony demanding to know where Shroud is. This is when players realize that this is still a game and you are given an option to pull the man back up, or let him fall to his death. The man who is holding the other over the balcony is revealed to be Robert Robertson III (Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad); in the next couple of scenes the player learns that Robert is the superhero Mecha Man, a hero in a massive suit of armor who fights villains around the city of Los Angeles. Mecha Man heads to the supposed location of Shroud, where he is met with a different supervillain, Toxic (Jared Goldstein, The Last Summer). Mecha Man gets overrun by a cohort of villains and goons of Shroud, and is forced to retreat.

This first episode is what catapults the player into the Dispatch universe. Dispatch,available on PC and the Playstation 5, was released in late October with its final episode coming out  later this November. The main “video game” portion of Dispatch, where Robertson gets hired at a superhero company called SDN otherwise known as the Superhero Dispatch Network, asks players to send the heroes they’ve been assigned to different places in Los Angeles for hero work. The work for the hero team you’re given might range from the stereotypical helping a grandma get her cat out of a tree, stopping mass violent riots, and putting out factory fires. The team of heroes that Robert gets assigned really isn’t what he was expecting. Robert's boss Blonde Blazer (Erin Yvette, The Walking Dead) assigns him a team of misfit ex-villains who are trying to become heroes through SDN. The misfit heroes Robert is assigned have a wide variety of powers, personality, and fashion. One of the most memorable misfits is Invisigal (Laura Bailey, The Last of Us Part:II) who can become invisible while holding her breath, and ends up being one of the romantic options for Robert later in the story. There’s also Flambae (Lance Canstopolis, The Last Resort) who in the beginning doesn’t like Robert, but throughout the episodes comes to respect him depending on how the player responds to the various choices throughout the game. Last but not least is Sonar who is voiced by streamer and Youtuber MoistCr1TiKaL. AdHoc picking MoistCr1TiKaL to voice act for Sonar was an amazing call, as Moist’s monotone, but comedic personality brought out Sonar’s personality as a character in the game, and made interacting with Sonar even more enjoyable. Although these were some of the more enjoyable characters, AdHoc did impressive work in getting quality and famous actors for this game. Actors such as Ashley Johnson, Travis Willingham, Jeffery Wright, and another Youtube creator Jacksepticeye brought their own characters to life, making Dispatch an even more awe inspiring game.

The overall difficulty of sending these heroes on missions, though chaotic, can be pretty easy. Each hero has their own set of stats, including Strength, Combat, Intellect, Mobility, and Vigor. Each mission will need heroes with the skill set that matches the mission description. On each mission there is also a certain number of heroes players can send on each mission; it might require one hero, or even four heroes depending on the intensity of the mission. Additionally, the hero has to travel to each mission and back, and after completing a mission has to rest, which makes the game unique, in a sense that the player has to choose wisely and have heroes always readily available. Woven throughout the dispatching is a mechanic that the player as Robert Robertson III has to do, which is hacking different mainframes or cameras to keep tabs on the misfit heroes and also aid them. The hacking portion is a challenging puzzle in which the player must guide a ball around a grid. The puzzles get harder as players must avoid antivirus spheres chasing the ball, remember codes, and sometimes complete timed puzzles, putting pressure on the players’ intellect and puzzle solving abilities. 

With an astonishing animation style, and fast paced quick time events, Dispatch makes players from all over enjoy the jam-packed action, and captivating story all wrapped up into one masterclass game. AdHoc Studio’s ability to blend a superhero show and fast-paced video pioneers a new style of gaming for everyone to enjoy. Dispatch’s wide variety of characters to interact with, and puzzling mini games challenge players to think in a faced-paced environment where they never know what will hit them. Along with the wonderful cast of actors and content creators, Dispatch accomplishes the novel task of blending a show with a video game to create a new genre of gaming entirely, leaving fans needing a second season.

Grade: A
Hopefully Dispatch can balance great power with great responsibility, as fans crave a season two after Dispatch’s major success throughout this fall.

by Logan Auxier

Published December 1, 2025

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