The Real Fantasy of Dispatch is Manageable Workplace Romance
NOTE: This essay contains spoilers about Dispatch and should be avoided until the game with its branches and twists is exhausted to the satisfaction of the reader.
At face value, AdHoc Studio’s Dispatch is a superhero redemption story about picking yourself up when you’re beaten down, and finding not only yourself but also a family along the way. The player is hoodwinked though, right along with the protagonist Robert Robertson III, where the fantasy of being a burnt-out comic book hero is second place to workplace romance. The duplicity of Dispatch is baked into the game’s opening moments through twists and turns of the plot and revelations about characters. While it is remarkable that Dispatch’s rampant dishonesty avoids getting stale by the finale, the greatest accomplishment is the false presentation of a paragon and renegade romance interest to choose from. These on-the-clock romances proposed by Dispatch are its most unbelievable ingredients.
Blonde Blazer, the first potential paramour of Dispatch, is introduced saving a wounded Robert after he’s gotten in over his head with some run of the mill thieves armed with crowbars and boots. She can fly, shoot energy beams, has a cape, it’s all very iconic. Blazer takes the rescued Robert out for drinks while sending really mixed signals, and Dispatch encourages the player to go in for a kiss. Robert quickly discovers though that Blazer knows who Robert is and is trying to recruit him to a desk job leading a bunch of washed up villains trying to turn a new leaf. Blazer is by this point, may be read most charitably as aloof instead of malicious.
Robert goes in for the new job the next day, and Blazer conveniently needs him to change into a company issue but nondescript button up shirt and slacks. Robert learns he is required to hide his hero identity, Mecha Man, from the team he will be leading in exchange for getting a new suit of power armor. This is standard operating procedure for corporate hero-for-hire business Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN), of which Blazer is like a district manager for the worst performing branch. The situation of new hire Robert getting undressed in front of his new boss can be blatantly called out by Robert in-game as the “fastest HR violation in history.” While Blazer is pretending to avert her gaze from a shirtless Robert, we are introduced to the second potential lover Invisigal, rebranded from Invisibitch, who has been in the room living up to her name and watching this whole ordeal unfold.
Where Blazer looks at home in a silver age Marvel or DC lineup, Invisigal is brunette and of dark complexion, nose pierced, and a brooding edgy attitude from the pages of a 90s run from Image Comics. Invisigal will be on Robert’s team of former villains, reporting to him. Robert is not only in the middle of a management nightmare between his supervisor and subordinate on his first day, but he’s also being set up to pick between the woman he could take home to his family or the one he can’t. While Invisigal operating similar to a Peeping Tom in this scenario is a terrible violation, the player would be remiss to overlook a pattern of incompetence by Blazer at best, if not outright manipulation of Robert on her part.
The messy workplace relationship between Robert and Invisigal is almost forgivable by the late game revelation that Invisigal has been a double-agent working for the main antagonist, Shroud, the whole time. Invisigal giving Robert elevator eyes as he’s leaning on a table, matching any kind of donut Robert expresses a liking of to sexual innuendo, and asking him if he masturbates in his robot become much less concerning with the knowledge that she’s working at SDN under false pretenses. Robert can attempt to inspire Invisigal, and even try to act as a mentor, to little avail. Invisigal doesn’t ever adapt to professional corporate culture, as her mission isn't ever about building a career.
While Invisigal has many good reasons for failing to fit in at work, Blonde Blazer doesn’t have such conveniences. Blazer runs the whole division, and despite that, has another employee she’s fraternizing with unbeknownst to Robert. After Robert learns of this fact, he is then tasked by Blazer, his boss, to deal with the fallout of her ending that relationship, in her stead. Getting the distressed crazy-ex Superman analog out of the parking lot and having them stop sending melon bouquets is just another day at SDN for Robert. Immediately on the rebound, Blazer later invites Robert into her office to compliment her on her appearance in a dress that’s revealing a bit too much before having the player choose if Robert goes to the movies with Invisigal or a late night dinner with Blazer. Would that Robert could just stay in for the night with his dog, the adorable Beef.
Like an arch-nemesis who just won’t let the hero have a moment of peace, Dispatch continually throws the romance subplot at the player. While unavoidable the player can thankfully almost always diffuse or deflect the advances.Invisigal will still give Robert shit, while Blazer will usually acknowledge and knock the unprofessional behavior off until the next scene. Blazer her muttering “what the fuck” in genuine disbelief after Robert expresses he’s not interested in a relationship with her is surprising though, even in spite of everything else that’s occurred to that point. Being free of repercussions for saying “no” to unwanted sexual advances at work is a luxury most victims don’t get to experience, but Robert is afforded that here.
Both romance options for Robert, a normal guy who is favored against Superman, are not what they first appear. Deceptive, roundabout Invisigal is well-deserving of her acknowledged self-loathing as she's actively betraying Robert and her teammates. Bold, brawler Blonde Blazer can't reconcile her normal, brown-haired self against her super-powered radiantly blonde alter-ego and is seeking external validation while avoiding that one conflict at any cost. Robert proves he can take physical and emotional beatings, but managing these personalities in the office seems excessive, even for all the leadership development books he reads.
For a game about superheroes, the idea of successfully navigating an amorous workplace entanglement is the biggest fantasy Dispatch offers the player. Even a manager just being friends with their subordinates feels less believable than giant robots and green guys flying around with their dongs out. The damaged, deeply flawed characters of Robert, Blonde Blazer, and Invisigal give the on-the-job romance angle slightly less of an ick factor than if they were more adjusted and if their genders were swapped. The setup here also offers AdHoc ample opportunity for further examination of identity, self-confidence, and one's expectations for themselves in sequels. It would be a welcome break to see SDN Corporate get HR involved instead of just being referenced.