ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies
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Critics Recommend
Critic Reviews for ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies
Despite a beautiful world and some clever mechanical flourishes, Zero Parades doesn't commit to its espionage concept enough to be convincing.
The second game from Disco Elysium studio ZA/UM, this text-heavy, dice-driven RPG is an exquisitely constructed take on consumerism, empire, nostalgia and beyond.
All in all, Zero Parades has that ever-elusive quality of convincing you to keep playing: to find out what happens next, to unravel the narrative, to keep experiencing Portofiro.
As a successor to Disco Elysium, ZA/UM's spy-fi RPG is a little too fearful to roll the dice on something new. But if the systems and themes are a little too familiar in Zero Parades: For Dead Spies, that does mean some of the old charm persists – and if you can look past the odd irritation, you'll find an NPC crew worth getting to know in Portofiro.
It's these systemic enhancements that most notably separate Zero Parades from Disco Elysium. It struggles in other areas, often feeling like a pale imitation of the studio's predecessor--dangerous territory when the likelihood of reaching the same heights is marginal at best.
Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is weird, beautiful, and dense with characters that I wanted to understand. It plays with its choices and narrative threads with confidence, allowing foundational elements to rot and die in service of the paths the player is willing to take.
Zero Parades: For Dead Spies brings a new take from studio ZA/UM on the narrative RPG format, now digging into espionage drama.
Overall, ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies is an exciting espionage thriller that succeeds far more than it stumbles.
