Dispatch is like a comic book game from the future

I spent most of the Dispatch trailer trying to figure out what it was. Despite early clues, such as dialogue options and title cards that revealed it was from the same creators behind The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, and Tales from the Borderlands, it was hard for me to accept that this TGA highlight is a real game, not a polished animated film.

AdHoc Studios, which includes the veterans of Telltale Games and Oxenfree dev Night School, seems to have done something that really fulfills what Telltale Games always wanted: it looks like an interactive movie. Or rather, an interactive and original version of a superhero show like Invincible, as Dispatch follows a former superhero who has been reduced to working in an office job where he lives. deliverythe heroes are better able to answer the crime.

Dispatch is powered by Telltale Fantasy Games

This was always the experience I was looking for with Telltale, but technical limitations often got in the way. When The Wolf Among Us premiered in 2017, it was a great way to wind down a long day of reporting work. When I got home at the end of my 45-minute commute after covering a sporting event or going to a local event to interview a stranger, I wanted something less than what they asked of me. I am too much. The Wolf Among Us was mechanically simple, and let me hear the tone of the emotional but sometimes decisive neo-noir world.

The vibes are so good that I'm willing to overlook its flaws, most of which are found throughout every game Telltale has made. The behavior of the character is janky. Their features are limited. And you often know when you've moved from one timeline to another because the game stutters as it completes the next part of the scene. These are not game-breaking issues, but were added so that the game would occasionally break spells otherwise.

I can't judge what Dispatch will look like in the final release, and I won't until I get my hands on it next year. But the animations in the trailer look great, and seem to transition from the time you're playing to the time you're just watching. It is very similar to Hi-Fi Rush, which has removed the same balancing act.

Contributions of the common variety

The detail in some of the shots is also quite impressive. There are great effects of fire, fog, portals, believable light and darkness — including the shadows cast by Venetian blinds on the paneled office walls — and cool reflections in windows. . The facial expressions have come a long way since Telltale's patented move-up-wide-eyes-mouth-open-all-the-unexpected gesture. Movement is clean, and it's no longer like 3D models colliding with other 3D models. Whether it's bright fluorescents, deep shadows, or dim rooms, game lighting looks good.

All of this comes together to add up to the best game I've seen in this particular niche. I thought this year's Life Is Strange: Double Exposure was excellent — the best the series has looked — but Dispatch works on another level. At least, it seems in this trailer. We'll have to wait until next year to see if it actually pulls off this amazing feat.

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