Choices-and-Consequences Management Simulator: Dispatch - Episode 2: Onboard Review

Dispatch: Episode 2 - Onboard was released with the first episode when Dispatch premiered. Whereas Pivot, the first episode, set up Robert's new position as a superhero dispatcher, Onboard is the episode where his job really starts going.

As a new dispatcher, Robert is given the Z-Team. It consists of the most volatile superpowered people, who are former criminals turned superheroes. The team consists of a literal bat man known as Sonar, a fire starter named Flambae who was one of the villains Robert took down as Mecha Man, a cynical woman with the power of invisibilty known as Invisigal, a strongman known as Punch Up, a female demon named Melevola, a monster made of clay named Golem, a woman who can control light waves named Prism, and a winged woman named Coupé.

As before, Robert sends these heroes out to stop crimes and help various people throughout the city, which advances their experience based on how well they handled the situation. The choices and consequences part of the game has to do with Robert's interactions with his team as well as the staff at the Superhero Dispatch Network.

The team members are an eclectic bunch that are voiced well by their respective voice actors. The team member that really get to shine this episode is Invisigal. Laura Bailey really nails her sardonic attitude. The returning characters also continue to be voiced excellently by their voice actors. Blonde Blazer and her boyfriend Phenomaman get their characters fleshed out more here, especially with the tension between the pair and Robert. There are two of my favorite new characters revealed in this episode. The first is Chase, a quickster prematurely aged by his powers who worked with Robert's dad and a young man applying to be a janitor named Waterboy. The former is a hilarious man whose personality is packed with snark and the latter is a nervous but eager young man who is always wet. It really brings sweating over an interview to a new level.

The other end of the aural experience is sound effects, which are once again fitting for each situation, and music. The latter continues to shine, with a soundtrack that really fits the superhero genre as well as the office comedy genre, in equal measures.

Onboard takes everything that the premiere episode did right and expands upon it. The management simulation aspect works well, but the choices and consequences part of the episode really shine. The characters have some great quirks and their voice actors all do a great job bringing out their personalities. The music also fits both the superhero and mundane parts of the episodes, but the story is where it really shines. The characters, as an eclectic batch of battle tested heroes and villains trying to reform lead to some interesting interactions. With this episode really turning up the heat, both metaphorically and literally, it will be great to see where future episodes take the game.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Choices-and-Consequences Management Simulator Review: Dispatch - Episode 1: Pivot

Dispatch, the episodic superhero adventure game by AdHoc Studio premiered with two episodes. AdHoc was founded by Telltale Games alumni, so there was a lot riding on the studio's choices-and-consequences superhero management game. The big question for fans of Telltale and fans of the aforementioned genres in general is whether the premiere episode was worth the wait.

Dispatch follows Robert Robertson, a non-powered human who inherited a fortune which he used to maintain a giant robot and fight crime as Mecha Man. After a mission doesn't go as planned, Robert becomes a middle manager as he dispatches superheroes to fight crime and do mundane tasks around the Dispatch universe's version of Los Angeles.

The wording in the previous paragraph was not a coincidence, as the dispatch system is highly reminiscent of the auto-play mode of Double Fine's Middle Manager of Justice. An event is reported and Robertson has to choose the superheroes on his team to respond. These heroes all take the form of archetypes from comic book superheroes, including super strong men and women, heroes who can control elements like fire, heroes who are super smart, and those who aren't human such as reptiles and robots. Dispatching requires some strategy as each hero has a unique level of combat, intellect, vigor, charisma, and mobility. Completing a mission successfully will raise the stat level, allowing the improvement of one trait for a hero.

As this is a choices-and-consequences game akin to the Dispatch team's past titles at Telltale, such as Tales from the Borderlands, the game consists of dialog options which will affect further dialog. They can sometimes also affect characters physically as well. As with most games of this type, there are also quick time events which affect physical motions performed by Robert. This game is a lot more flexible than some earlier titles, as the game begins with a pop-up with an option to have QTEs or to play the game cinematically without the requirement of any button inputs. When the latter is chosen, it is still obvious where the QTEs were located, as the action pauses for a moment before kicking back in. This is a development choice that is awkward at first but should stop taking the player out of the story as the story progresses.

In between the choices, quick time events, and dispatch strategies, a minigame will pop up to act as a tool to hack into various computer systems in the game. This takes place on a board that requires a bit of maneuvering to connect bridges over gaps to get the needed information from various points on the grid. Once everything is collected, the player exits the grid before time runs out and the story moves on. This computer hacking mechanism is quite like the LINC terminals that allow Robert Foster to traverse computer systems in Revolution Software's Beneath a Steel Sky. The difference here is that some points in the grid will have button prompts which need to be completed in the correct order.

The presentation is top-notch, with top-tier character modeling and animation combined with music and sound effects that sync up perfectly with the events unfolding in the story. The actors are all fantastic, with voices that fit the characters so well you end up focusing on the characters even when you recognize the voices of prolific actors such as Laura Bailey and Jeffrey Wright. It really does feel like watching an animated superhero series. One such animated series in particular immediately comes to mind, as Dispatch gives off real Invincible vibes.

To answer the question that began this review, the first episode of Dispatch really was worth the wait. It has fantastic characters performed by equally fantastic voice actors. The art and animation is truly amazing and the music just makes the art that much better. The storyline is also really intriguing. The management simulation mechanics also fits in surprising well with the choices-and-consequences gameplay and button-pressing prompts. For fans of either of these genres, or just those who enjoy animated superhero dramedies such as Invincible, this game is well worth playing.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5