HERO WORSHIP

AdHoc Studio's first game DISPATCH is my new favourite superhero show

- Fraser Brown

As someone who still carries a torch for Telltale narrative adventures, I really wanted AdHoc Studio's Dispatch - a superhero workplace comedy full of HR violations - to be great, even as I had my doubts about the return of the episodic release model and the prevalence of celebrity streamers in the cast.

Those doubts were a distant memory by the end of the second episode, thankfully, and the rest of the eight-episode run only served to cement this as a brilliant piece of interactive TV. I am genuinely sad that it's over and desperately hoping for a second season.

With such a large cast, many of whom have more experience streaming than voice acting, like Jacksepticeye and MoistCrlTiKaL, I expected there to be at least a couple of duds, but nope! Everyone kills it. Even the villain-turned-hero that's been designed for us to hate - Flambae, a short-tempered asshole firestarter - gets multiple moments to shine.

When he got up on stage during a karaoke night to give us a rendition of Bitch, with the lyrics changed to call into question the size of protagonist Robert Robertson's penis, I just couldn't hate him.

Dispatch is a million miles away from the quippy, family-friendly MCU. We've got heroes talking about their sex dreams, colleagues beating each other up, a barrage of insults, booze-based bribery and in-office romances that would make HR professionals squirm.

But it's also full of heart. Dispatch is a story about second chances - a hero trying to find his place in the world after his mech suit is blown up; villains trying to walk a new path, protecting a city that expects them to fail; people who have spent their lives closed off, opening up to their found family.