Dispatch's Mecha Man makes modern superheroes seem completely out of touch

AdHoc Studio's choose-your-own adventure game Dispatch It's come at an interesting time — when the superhero genre feels like it's running on fumes. The caped, supernaturally-powered icons become louder, stronger, and more cinematic, and any attempts to humanize them are fleeting before they take to the skies again, doing something no human on Earth could do. They are entertaining to watch, but there are only so many consumers can relate to. That gap has only grown in recent years, and it sets the perfect stage for what's to come Dispatch brings to the table.

At the end of the day, modern superheroes are largely out of touch with the reality that defines normal human existence. Their biggest problems are cosmic threats, end-of-the-world supervillains, and mass anomalies, and even when they lose something or someone important to them (as they often do), their abilities and/or wealth allow them to deal with problems that the average person cannot. That makes it DispatchRobert's “Mecha Man” Robertson is a breath of fresh air in the superhero genre, as he shows what it means to be an everyday hero as opposed to the ones who can save the world in Marvel movies.

Dispatch's Mecha Man is what true heroes are made of

The importance of being average

As a mecha man, DispatchWho Robert Robertson was once like Batman or Iron Man, in that he had no inherent powers and instead “bought” his powers with the money he had. The only problem with Robert's position is by time DispatchHis story begins with him having spent most of his ancestral wealth (his father and grandfather were mechamans) trying to maintain his mechaman suit. To make matters worse, the premise of the game sees Robert's superhero suit destroyed, and with no money left to repair it, he is somewhat desperate to take a job at the Superhero Dispatch Network, where he will fill the role of dispatcher for an unruly team of supervillains.

Here, Robert engages in the daily life of an ordinary man, working 8 to 5 with no end in sight, although he hopes that his Mecha Man suit will eventually be repaired and his life as a superhero restored. During his time as a dispatcher for SDN, he makes several attempts to become a superhero without his suit, only to find himself injured and worse for wear. In other words, he struggles to adapt to his new normal, because it contradicts his desire to serve the greater good.

However, as time goes on, he leans into his role as dispatcher, and work begins to change him in ways the Mecha Man suit never could. He begins to understand the people he works with, learns how to lead without relying on his suit to do the heavy lifting, and learns that true heroism is often less celebrated and accepted in places and locations. In the process, Robert becomes increasingly out of touch with the world of modern superheroes.

Working with the Unworkable

A big part of that transformation comes from the team he's assigned to. Dispatch's Z-Team is a group of former villains looking to earn a second chance, and they're as unpredictable as you'd expect. They fight, they ignore instructions, and they make Robert's job more difficult than ever, but they make him look directly at people he'll never understand when he's wearing a suit. Working with them forces him to slow down and listen until he learns how to guide a team that doesn't always want to be guided, which modern superheroes usually rise to.

Even as a superhero workplace comedy, Dispatch is clearly challenging the tropes and archetypes that typically rely on the superhero genre. Most modern superheroes (literally) fly above reality, but Robert is forced to live in it and submit to it. He cannot escape the burdens of normal life for now, and he no longer has the luxury of solving everything with money. Instead, in Robert's story Dispatch Shows how true heroism is born through choices, efforts, and a willingness to keep going even when the going gets tough—“not all heroes wear capes,” as it were.

systems

issued

October 22, 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ / Blood, crude humor, intense violence, nudity, sexual content, strong language, use of drugs and alcohol

developer(s)

AdHoc Studio

publisher(s)

AdHoc Studio