Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is a psychological thriller that meticulously recreates the life of a worn-down spy, crafting a conspiracy worth unraveling.
Armando fears for his life. Looking over his shoulder at all times, he is on the run from regime authorities during Brazil’s dictatorship of 1977. Staying at a safe apartment building with fellow refugees, everyone uses codenames to avoid familiarity. This is the plot of last year’s film The Secret Agent. In a pivotal scene bonding with the other political dissidents, an air of lament permeates the atmosphere. They start questioning their life choices and what caused them to escape from violence. Zero Parades: For Dead Spies grapples with the idea of political violence taken to extreme measures and what it does to a society.
Hershel Wilk, codename CASCADE, is back in action. Suffering from the downfall of a mission going catastrophically wrong, Wilk’s former crew are dead and gone. The psychological damage is incalculable, but the hunger to prove herself might just redeem her. Deployed in the fictional city of Portofiro, CASCADE’s point of contact is catatonic. Not a great way to start an apology tour.
Zero Parades: For Dead Spies uses ZA/UM’s trademark isometric view. Heavy reading is par for the course, as is a penchant for the analytical. Hershel can be roleplayed as several personalities: Kinetic, Charismatic, Analytical or Custom. Each of these focuses on your physical abilities, social awareness, and mental capacity. A spy can be dumb as rocks but strong enough to break any door. She can be the smartest person in the room, ready to bend any person to her will at any moment. What kind of spy are you?
Become The Spy
These three pillars offer five main skills each. As expected, the Faculty of Action includes Coordination and Instincts to push back and fight—or run—if the need arises. The Faculty of Relation shows how well Wilk knows the city, its people, and herself. At last, the Faculty of Intellect leans on the more esoteric side: the Entanglement skill allows for extrasensory awareness, whereas Grey Matter and Poetics will determine how rational or creative you are, respectively. Inspecting the room where your point of contact is knocked out at, Hershel’s dominant skills will describe how she perceives the world.
Juan Pujol, codename Garbo, is one of the most famous spies in the history of the world. Feeding misleading information to the Nazis during World War II, his deception proved pivotal in the successful D-Day operation that turned the tide for the Allies. Close to being exposed as a double agent in late 1944, the scare led him to cease operations. Much like this legendary operative, Hershel suffers from anxiety, fatigue, or delusion, depending on the situation at hand.
This first interaction with a semi-dead asset naturally leads to deep anxiety for Hershel. If any of the three aforementioned bars fills up, she loses a skill point of your choosing. This mechanic gives every choice more weight. If you are careless, you will get penalized. When you watch a conspiracy theory TV show, that raises delusion. If you bite a hard candy too strongly? Fatigue. And anxiety, well, pretty much doing anything outside the norm. Fortunately, there are items to lower these debuffs. For example, cocaine lowers fatigue but greatly increases anxiety. Who knew?
Balancing Act
One fascinating mechanic to account for is Conditioning. As Hershel makes her way through Portofiro, ideas will pop into her head. When you run out of money, the unconditioned thought Primitive Accumulation appears. When this condition is applied, CASCADE can raid more trash for items and steal from vending machines. Of course, there is a trade-off. Specific actions like buying cigarettes result in an “intellect disadvantage”. Some of these negative skill effects may be balanced with various clothing options, which also affect her stats.
Skill levels are important to maintain. Passive checks calculate whether Hershel is able to pull off an action correctly. Her weary, inner monologue is at the ready to chastise her for her inadequacies. Roleplaying is at the core of the experience. Knowing exactly what type of spy she is results in a more satisfying playthrough. Despite that, failing skill checks does not invariably mean that all is lost. Sometimes, while she will suffer a slight debuff, if a weak Wilk tries to kick a locked door out of sheer anger, maybe the handle will fall off. Zero Parades: For Dead Spies helps players find a way forward, accounting for even the most incompetent agents.
Jackson Lamb is, at first glance, a miserable British intelligence officer. Put in charge of rejects from MI5, they somehow find way to be entangled in national security issues. A remnant from the Cold War, this flatulent, disgusting man portrayed beautifully by Gary Oldman does care for his team. The spy thriller book and TV series Slow Horses show how that life is anything but glamorous. Betrayals are at every corner. Zero Parades’ lived-in world reminds us that being paranoid is actually a worthwhile endeavor.
Conspiracies Galore
Picking up the pieces of what the fainted agent known as PSEUDOPOD was going to request from Wilk, there is not much to go on. Sniffing like a hound dog, leads are few and far between, but what the game nails is how it all comes together. A grand conspiracy leading to a technofascist company called EMTERR influencing Portofiro’s inhabitants. A pool of blood in an unassuming couch. The mysterious disappearance of a popstar. Unraveling the plot is a delight.
The writing on Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is exquisite. Heavily inspired by John le Carré, you can never be really sure who is a friend or foe. Most characters are generally hostile to Hershel. Characters often refer to being “in-theater” as active agents on the field. This feels appropriate considering the twists and turns the story takes. Finding leads opens new avenues for conversation. To cement the friendship, they may ask you to complete questionable personal quests.
A mad doctor, for instance, thinks that our spy in tow works for the medical board. To gain his trust, he asks you to pull a tooth of someone he suspects as well. How far Hershel will go to find answers is up to the player. A modest door tucked away on the far side of the map turns out to be a simple poetry magazine office. On closer inspection, it could be so much more than that. This gritty playground is made for sleuths. I am certain that no two playthroughs will be the same.
Verdict
They say that WWI exotic dancer and spy Mata Hari blew a kiss to her firing squad at her execution. That defiant energy runs through Zero Parades: For Dead Spies. Protagonist Hershel Wilk knows she is not up to the task, yet a sense of remorse pushes her forward. What she finds is a web of deceit that it alone warrants the price of entry. This is no Disco Elysium, but a thrilling beast of its own.
Reviewed for Steam. A PlayStation 5 version is in the works.
Developer/Publisher: ZA/UM
Release Date: May 21, 2026
Pros:
- Intricate art style
- Complex storylines
- Authentic spy thriller writing
- Final conspiracy plot pays off
- Clever use of pressure system
Cons:
- Minor technical issues
- Some uneven plotlines
- Not all dialogues are narrated
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Great
