Dispatch, a superhero-themed workplace comedy from last year, celebrates its one-year anniversary today. While it was released episodically, the first batch dropped on October 22. It was received well, with strong performances from a star-studded cast (including Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul) and filled a niche left vacant by Telltale Games’ absence from the gaming world in recent years. Today, developer AdHoc announced a batch of anniversary content, and some of it drops today.
First, there’s a new way to play Dispatch: storyboard mode. This option lets you play through the whole experience using the original animatics – rough placeholder sketches that the artists used to sync images up to the voice-over. It’s a fun behind-the-scenes look at the game’s development that we don’t get very often. In that same vein, the cast and crew recorded DVD-style commentary tracks to play over the game, making jokes and sharing insight into the development process. A press release says there are over 16 hours of commentary from the game’s development team (like art director Derek Stratton and creative directors Dennis Lenart and Nick Herman) as well as some of the cast, including Aaron Paul, Laura Bailey, and Erin Yvette.
Storyboard and Commentary modes are included in the game’s deluxe edition, which you can upgrade to for $10.99. Both modes are available today.
If you haven’t played the game yet, AdHoc has announced a new way to do so; Dispatch is coming to mobile platforms on December 9. It’s been rebuilt to support touch controls and vertical play, and it will be available on iOS and Android. You can even play the first half of the game for free – the first four episodes are included, but you’ll need to pay $19.99 to play the rest.
Finally, AdHoc announced new merch, including a book created alongside publisher Lost in Cult called Dispatch: Design Works, which is both an art book and a “making-of” book. There’s also a live game soundtrack concert in Los Angeles featuring Thot Squad, Bershy, Primer, Caroline Kingsbury, Fartbarf, and Dispatch composer Andrew Arcadi with the SDN Company Band. It will be held at Avalon Hollywood on December 3, but it won’t be livestreamed, so you’ll need to grab a ticket to see the event. The press release states that people who signed up for updates from adhocstudio.com will be the first in line to purchase tickets.
We liked Dispatch quite a bit, with our review saying, “it delivers one of the most compelling interactive dramas in years, an adult animated superhero story with the emotional punch of prestige television and a script that truly shines.” For more on the game’s creation, subscribers can read our interview with the studio from the Ninja Gaiden 4 issue of Game Informer.