In May, AdHoc Studio released a demo for Dispatch, an upcoming story-driven game from the writers and directors of Tales from the Borderlands and The Wolf Among Us. The game is a superhero workplace comedy where choices matter, and players have to manage a dysfunctional team of misfit heroes, strategizing whom to send to emergencies around the city. Of course, given that this game has a bit of a pedigree from classic Telltale games, players will have to balance their personal stories as well, with Dispatch focusing on office politics, relationships, and the main character’s quest to become a hero.
The team is also bringing back episodic releases, the signature release format for classic Telltale Games. The wait won’t be long, though, as Dispatch will drop two episodes per week for four weeks, starting on October 22 and ending on November 12. AdHoc Studio says they’ve always loved the promise of the episodic model for games, pointing to the conversation and speculation it generates. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but at least now those players will only have to wait four weeks if they want to binge it.
In Dispatch, players take on the role of Robert Robertson, also known as Mecha Man. After his mech suit gets destroyed in a battle against his nemesis, Robertson is stuck as a dispatcher at a superhero dispatch center. The game’s demo received a lot of praise, especially since it features a star-studded voice cast including Aaron Paul, Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham, Matthew Mercer, Jeffrey Wright, and more. I’m really looking forward to Dispatch, given that the second coming of Telltale Games has been relatively quiet following the release of The Expanse: A Telltale Series, which I found to be a pretty average game that didn’t live up to the Telltale name.
