Best Surprise is about broken expectations, and Dispatch blindsided us in the best way. What looked like a familiar TellTale-style narrative quickly turned into something sharper, funnier, and more confident than expected. Strong writing, a genuinely likable cast, and surprisingly engaging dispatch gameplay give the game real momentum. Even staff members burned out on the format came away impressed. Dispatch rewrote their expectations, earning our Best Surprise award for 2025.
Best Surprise – Dispatch
Spencer: Admittedly, I’m a bit less hard on TellTale games than most people, as I had a great time with a good chunk of their games. Still, Dispatch didn’t really nab my attention when it was first announced, but I’m glad I ended up reviewing it. The characters and story ended up being quite endearing, while the emergency dispatch gameplay segments were more engaging than I had expected. Even if you fell off of TellTale’s output towards the end, I recommend giving Dispatch a go. (Spencer)
Diego: I’ve been pretty burnt out on the TellTale format for a while now, and even more so on gritty/edgy superhero settings, so I was pretty shocked when I immediately fell in love with Dispatch after playing it. The cast (with the most inspired casting I’ve seen in a game in a minute) quickly wins you over with their dysfunctional family relationship, and the further you get, the more you want to see them morph into the heroes you know they can be, just like Robert does. Not many games succeed at being genuinely endearing, but Dispatch does it while also being one of the funniest games you’ll ever play. (Diego)
Joe: Making a lived-in superhero world is hard. There aren’t a lot of fresh things to say, you run the risk of sounding derivative. There are only so many knock-off Spider-Mans and Supermans we can take. A knock-off Iron Man, though… Dispatch runs a fine line between endearing and annoying, being a weird mix of Invincible and The Office. Thankfully, it succeeds at everything it sets out to accomplish by being one of the funniest and most heartfelt games of the year. It even drops dong!
Nick: I’d been aware of Dispatch, but I hate capeshit so I just ignored it. After playing through it with a couple of friends, I’m really impressed. The animation style is incredible, the game just looks great! But the VA choices were inspired, and the plot moves in a pretty interesting direction. Dispatch surprised me, I really loved it. I didn’t vote for it here, but I loved it. Looking forward to more from AdHoc.
