| ZERO PARADES - For Dead Spies | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Release Date | Gameplay & Story | Pre-Order & DLC | Review |
ZERO PARADES - For Dead Spies was just announced at the PlayStation State of Play September 2025. Read on to learn how it plays, what it's about, and everything else we know so far.
ZERO PARADES - For Dead Spies Gameplay
Zero Parades - For Dead Spies is a narrative-driven cRPG in which players assume the role of Hershel Wilk (codename: CASCADE), an operative assigned to a mysterious espionage mission. Presented from a top-down perspective, the game emphasizes exploration, dialogue, and investigative play as you hunt for secrets across a city shaped by intrigue and betrayal.
Gameplay centers on conversation and choice. Players interact with informants, loyalists, and a wide range of characters. Decisions matter, and outcomes are often resolved by dice rolls and RNG. The game features multiple skill checks and a customizable set of abilities, including new options not present in Disco Elysium.
Key systems introduced in the title include:
⚫︎ Dramatic Encounters: Moments where time pauses and players must resolve high-stakes situations through a sequence of dice-based choices. For example, if you are being tailed, you might try to blend into a crowd or confront the pursuer. Both options are valid, but each carries distinct consequences.
⚫︎ Failing Forward and Exert Option: Failing Forward ensures unsuccessful rolls or poor choices still lead to meaningful, story-driven outcomes. The Exert Option allows players to roll a third die and keep the best two results while discarding the lowest, at a minor cost.
⚫︎ Conditioning: A streamlined alternative to the Thought Cabinet, Conditioning lets players reinforce traits that modify skills and perspectives. These traits can provide both benefits and drawbacks, allowing you to shape Hershel’s progression by balancing positive and negative effects.
The game also retains the ability to pause time for tactical reflection, and it preserves a strong focus on narrative agency, combining ZA/UM’s signature conversational depth with new mechanics that expand player choice and consequence.
ZERO PARADES - For Dead Spies Story Plot
Zero Parades - For Dead Spies follows Hershel Wilk, also known as CASCADE, a burnt-out yet brilliant operative who is sent on a dangerous assignment. Tasked with unraveling a web of secrets and betrayals, Hershel must navigate constant threats and the risk of failure at every turn. The mission also serves as a chance for him to prove himself once more as a spy and seek redemption for the mistakes of his past.
