*Note: Includes spoilers for the game
Superhero games are easy to find. Finding good ones, though, is not so easy. “Dispatch” is one of the good ones. Coming out Oct. 22, 2025 on the PS5 and Steam, it was a huge hit within the gaming community. Despite being out for only three months, it was nominated into The Game Awards, an annual event to honorgaming. It was a runner up in categories such as Best Debut Indie Game and Player’s Voice. However, in the Steam awards, it won Outstanding Story-Rich Game, with Steam having a monopoly on PC gaming. All of this is for good reason, as it is able to tell a story about second chances.
Within the game, players play as an ex-hero named Robert who is a dispatcher for a team of ex-villains turned heroes. While doing so, Robert has the goal of finding the villain that killed his dad. On paper it sounds generic: a classic story of a superhero trying to avenge their dad while dealing with a group of wannabe heroes.
The gameplay consists of multiple story choice cutscenes where the player can choose what happens. The main space is a screen where the player will get calls and assign the heroes to each mission. Each mission will require heroes that match the
attributes given. The hero will level up after each successful mission while also growing bonds with one another. However, the story is the thing that caught my attention.
While we do see lots of moments in superhero films and games such as the Superman movies and Spiderman games where the hero fails, in “Dispatch” we can see how failing heavily impacts Robert.
As early as in the first episode we watch as Robert fails to find the villain, has the robotic suit he pilots blown up, is put into a coma, and admits in a press conference that he is stepping back from superhero work. We watch Robert be punched and kicked when trying to stop a robbery outside of his suit before getting help from another character. And when talking to that character, we watch as he admits the issue he is dealing with, his grievances with his family legacy. We watch him in Episode 8 admit defeat to a side villain and let a character he grew to know take over, as they were better suited to the situation.
Speaking of the characters Robert meets, we also get to see the team of ex-villains he works with, the Z-Team, grow and change with him. And it feels rewarding and personal to see them grow closer to Robert. The Z-Team’s growth is what “The Suicide Squad” movie wanted to be. Both teams are filled with villains who are trying to get out of jail or better themselves. And they both have someone that is leading and watching over them. Yet, where “The Squad” fails is allowing the charac- ters to fully grow and change, while also connecting with their leader.
In the beginning, the Z-Team was hesitant of Robert, placing bets on when he would quit. Robert still stayed working as a dispatcher to get his mech suit fixed, but he started to care for his team, wanting to see them improve and
change. In episode 3 where the Z-Team is told someone is being cut, they start to sabotage each other. Robert holds a meeting with the team to tell them to cut the act and that he wants them to actually show growth and improvement.
He willingly goes out to a bar to drink with them and gets them drinks because he wanted to. And if you choose the option to tell the team that he is Mecha Man, they accept him. Although in the case of Flambae who attacks Robert at first, he later comes around to accept him because he trusts him.
In the current time and era where people do not trust each other and see the worst in people, “Dispatch” is a breath of fresh air.
However, there is one thing that people often talk about when they criticize the game: the character of Invisigal. She is an important secondary character, being the one that destroyed Robert’s mech suit and actively working for both the hero and villains’ side.
I personally do not like her because she throws pity parties for herself and how she believes she is made for her villainly because of her invisibility powers, even though there are other characters with arguably more villainous powers. For example, with the character Malevola is a half-demon and Sonar is a human with a bat head. But there are things that people get wrong about her. I have seen people online who got the ending where she goes back to being a villian say, “I did not fail as a mentor. It’s not my job to take care of her.” The entire point of being a dispatcher to these ex-villains is to be a mentor and take care of them and to help them improve and become better.Quite literally, Robert’s job in the game is to take care of her because she is part of his team. Even if the player did not care for her, Robert did.
There are some things I wish could have been changed or added. One such thing is having another romance option with Flambae, who in the story has a dynamic relationship and great chemistry with Robert. I also wish “Dispatch” had explored the characters’ backstories and relation- ships with one another more, instead of having it locked behind a Downloabdable Content where you only get a comic about them.
In the end, when you play the game you learn to have empathy for these ex villains. You learn that they are just as human as me and you. You should give “Dispatch” a try not for the gameplay itself, but for the story that it is able to tell.
