In the world of Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, the ghosts aren’t just metaphorical. They’re the remnants of a studio fractured by betrayal, the echoes of a creative vision hijacked by corporate infighting, and the lingering presence of a game so singular it redefined what an RPG could be. ZA/UM’s follow-up to Disco Elysium* arrives with a narrative of espionage and ideological decay, but its systems, voice, and even its humor feel like a secondhand inheritance—brilliant in patches, but never quite its own.
The game drops players into the role of Hershel Wilks, a disgraced spy known as CASCADE, who has spent years rotting in the Superbloc’s Freezer—a purgatory for operatives too broken to be useful. Five years earlier, her entire cadre died because of a mistake, and now she’s been pulled from obscurity for a mission she doesn’t understand. The setting is a world of crumbling ideologies, where the line between paranoia and pragmatism is razor-thin. It’s spy fiction with the soul of a John le Carré novel, but the execution is tangled in the weight of what came before.
The Upside: A Familiar, Flawed Brilliance
Mechanically, Zero Parades refines Disco Elysium’s skill-check system rather than reinvents it. Instead of three ability pools, there are now three distinct health bars—physical, interpersonal, and intellectual—each tied to a set of skills. Players can Exert themselves during checks, burning health to gain a temporary advantage, a mechanic that adds a layer of risk and strategy. It’s a natural evolution, but one that feels more like a polished upgrade than a radical departure.
The voice acting is another standout. Where Disco Elysium’s Lenval Brown delivered a detached, almost clinical narration, Zero Parades introduces a nasal, youthful yet ancient voice—equal parts mockery and sincerity. It’s a striking contrast, though not without its detractors. The dialogue itself is sharp, often absurd, and dripping with the same offbeat charm that made Disco Elysium’s characters unforgettable. Take Constanz, the safehouse manager, a petit-bourgeois rebel clinging to communist ideals, or Petre, the eccentric music dealer who categorizes his wares by bizarre genres like Hairdresser Music or Music For Pederasts. These moments feel like ZA/UM at its best—weird, funny, and deeply human.
Visually, the game leans into a gritty, low-fi aesthetic that suits its themes. The world feels lived-in, decaying, and steeped in the weight of history. Even small interactions—like repairing a malfunctioning fax machine—are narrated with a darkly humorous edge, though the tone sometimes veers into self-parody, as if the game is struggling to decide whether to be Disco Elysium or something else entirely.
The Limitations: A Shadow Longer Than Its Light
Yet for every strength, there’s a corresponding weakness. Zero Parades is trapped in the gravitational pull of its predecessor. The skill checks, the voice, the very structure of the game—it all feels like a secondhand coat, ill-fitting in places. Even the humor, which was so uniquely Disco Elysium’s, now reads as a pastiche. When Hershel Wilks adopts a Superstar Cop persona, declaring, I was too cool. They couldn’t keep me down, it doesn’t feel like character development—it feels like a callback, a lazy nod to Harry DuBois’ delusions.
The narrative also suffers from a lack of originality. The cold-war spy thriller is a well-trodden genre, and Zero Parades doesn’t bring much new to the table beyond its setting. The ideological tensions are real, but the characters often feel like supporting players in a story that’s more concerned with mimicking than innovating. And then there’s the voice acting—a divisive choice. Some players will find its nasal, mocking tone refreshing; others will find it grating, a misstep in an otherwise promising game.
The most glaring absence isn’t just the missing co-creators of Disco Elysium—it’s the lack of a distinct identity. Where Disco Elysium felt like a love letter to philosophy, surrealism, and self-destruction, Zero Parades feels like a footnote. It’s competent, occasionally brilliant, but never transcendent. The game’s demo leaves you with the uneasy feeling of attending a holiday gathering where the host is trying too hard to pretend nothing’s changed.
The Bottom Line: A Good Copy, Not a Masterpiece
Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is a game that knows what it wants to be—it just doesn’t have the confidence to be it. The mechanics are solid, the writing is often excellent, and the atmosphere is undeniably immersive. But in a world where Disco Elysium redefined what an RPG could be, this follow-up risks feeling like a pale imitation. It’s the first Christmas after the divorce: the decorations are up, the presents are wrapped, but the silence in the room is deafening.
For fans of Disco Elysium*, there’s enough here to justify playing through. For everyone else, it may leave them wondering why the studio didn’t take a different path entirely.
