In October, Dispatch was released for PS5 and on Steam, but it wasn’t fully available until mid-November. The adventure game received praise at launch – now the developers show just how successful they really are. Player ratings are clear.
What kind of game is it?
- You play as Robert Robertson in Dispatch, an ex-hero who now works in a sort of mediation center for superheroes. The gameplay can be roughly imagined like the famous Telltale games, Indie developer AdHoc consists of former employees.
- Primarily, you make narrative decisions in cutscenes, but you also have to manage sending the right hero to reported crimes during gameplay. Each has their strengths and weaknesses.
- Dispatch feels more like a series than a game, especially since it was released over weeks in episodes. The last episodes were released on November 12.
Dispatch is doing well: The developers shared on BlueSky that just under a month after the initial release on Steam and PS5, over 2 million players are playing Dispatch. They have nearly reached the target originally set for a 3-year period (via GameseIndustry).
On Steam alone, Dispatch started with over 65,000 players in its first week, according to SteamDB. With the release of the last episode, the numbers exploded to over 220,000. Additionally, there are players on PS5.
With 97% positive reviews, Dispatch is “overwhelmingly positive” on Steam. Thus, Dispatch is close to being one of the games that reached the “God Tier” on Steam. The success is not without reason.
Dispatch boasts a top-notch cast, but especially the story captivates
The story of the adventure thrives on the characters that bring the game to life, playing an important role especially through their interactions with the player. Many famous voices are behind the characters, such as:
- Aaron Paul (Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad) as Robert Robertson III
- Laura Bailey (Jaina Proudmoore from Warcraft) as Invisigal
- YouTuber MoistCr1TiKaL as Sonar and Jacksepticeye as Punch Up
- Travis Willingham (Knuckles from Sonic, Gazlowe from WoW) as Phenomaman
- Matthew Mercer (Cole Cassidy from Overwatch) as Shroud
Many of these names you may recognize not just from series, anime, films, and games, but also as members of the legendary role-playing group Critical Role, which just released a new series on Amazon in November with The Mighty Nein.
However, the greatest praise in the reviews goes to the story, or more accurately: the interaction with the story. Many players agree that while Dispatch feels more like a series, the conversations make you feel like you are part of it instead of just watching.
Particularly, the humor is often mentioned in reviews as well as the characters themselves, which are excellently portrayed. That exactly NPCs can make a story-driven game successful has also been recognized by other developers: A new role-playing game on Steam learns from Baldur’s Gate 3, even getting help from one of its stars, but plays in space
