Developer ZA/UM is celebrating the release of ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies Director’s Cut on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. The studio has released a brand-new trailer for the console launch, showcasing some of the spy drama’s gameplay and narrative elements. The trailer, which you can check out below, clocks in at a minute and a half in length, and also includes some of the accolades the game has seen since its original PC release.
It is worth noting that the console release of ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies is the Director’s Cut, and that the PC version had already gotten the Director’s Cut content as part of a free update last month. The content is quite expansive, and even includes an entirely new Dramatic Encounter – the Quisach Roundabout.
“Hershel Wilk and her old friend Ramses find themselves stoned out of their minds, behind the wheel of a hijacked tuk-tuk and seemingly unable to escape the Quisach Roundabout late at night. The objective seems simple enough. Take the right exit and head home. Fail to do so, and well… things might get existential. And possibly fatal,” said the studio about this new encounter.
Along with this, the Director’s Cut update brought with it many behind-the-scenes additions thanks to the new Backstage feature, which gives players a look at various versions of the in-game world as it grew and changed from the early stages of the RPG’s development. There is also commentary that provides insight into the “technical steps and creative processes” that were involved with the development of the game. The commentary can be accessed through interactive orbs that can be found throughout the world, and features various members of the development team, including art director Kaspar Tamsalu.
ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies is a narrative RPG that puts players in the role of a cryptonym CASCADE operative, Hershel Wilk. Working for an alliance of communist nations, named the Superbloc, locked in a cold war against the technofascist state of La Luz, Wilk has been tasked with heading to Portofiro on a mysterious new assignment. The completion of this assignment could get Wilk back into the bureau’s good graces. However, on reaching Portofiro, she finds out that her partner has already been “zeroed out”.
This sends Wilk on an adventure through the streets of Portofiro as she tries to find some way to help her partner out, as well as who might have been responsible for getting him “zeroed out”. Along the way, Wilk will meet many citizens of Portofiro, each with their own outlooks on life, and make decisions that could end up having massive ramifications for the cold war itself.
For more details about ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies, take a look at our review, where we gave it a score of 9 out of 10 thanks to its setting, the concepts it carries over from Disco Elysium, the phenomenal premise, the sheer level of player freedom, and fun world-building. Our only complaint was that its unguided nature might leave some players feeling lost.
