Zero Parades: For Dead Spies

Story and setting

You play as Hershel Wilk, alias CASCADE, a brilliant but exhausted operant who led her team into disaster five years before the game begins. Recalled for a mysterious assignment, Hershel must rebuild the Whole Sick Crew, the network she lost, while investigating a crisis in the city of Portofiro and the wider region known as the End of History.

The story centres on a three-way struggle for cultural and ideological power. Hershel’s targets and possible allies include international bankers, foreign techno-fascists, psychic doppelgängers, a paranoid television presenter and a man with a box for a heart. The old crew includes Karolina, Ramses, Tempo, Vespar, Eszti and the cryptographer Holocene. Their loyalty is not guaranteed, and the game’s central question is as much whether they can trust Hershel as whether she can trust them.

How it plays

ZERO PARADES is an isometric, dialogue-heavy cRPG built around exploration, investigation and skill checks rather than conventional action combat. It gives Hershel 15 skills, with conversations, objects and confrontations opening different routes through the city. A failed roll does not necessarily stop the story; it usually changes the situation and leaves you to deal with the result.

Dramatic Encounters are the main high-pressure set pieces. Tactical View pauses or slows events so you can choose a response, then dice and Hershel’s attributes determine what happens. Exertion adds a third die to a roll, letting you keep the best two, but increases the physical or psychological cost. Conditioning lets you reinforce Hershel’s thoughts and reshape her abilities, while the Fatigue, Anxiety and Delirium pressures track the damage caused by life as an operant.

Trailers and showcases

The August 2025 Gamescom Opening Night Live reveal established the premise: a surreal spy RPG about a damaged operative attempting to recover her broken network. The 24 September 2025 State of Play gameplay reveal then showed Dramatic Encounters, Tactical View, failure that carries the story forward, Exertion and the Conditioning system.

A 23 April 2026 PlayStation trailer introduced the Whole Sick Crew and detailed the roles of Hershel’s former colleagues. ZA/UM’s 15 May developer showcase offered a longer gameplay deep dive alongside an in-game music video and a tabletop one-shot teaser. Finally, the 17 September 2026 Director’s Cut announcement trailer confirmed the PS5 date and the expanded edition.

Platforms, editions and UK price

The original PC version is available through Steam, Epic Games Store and GOG. Existing PC owners receive the Director’s Cut as a free update on 1 October 2026. The PS5 release on 3 November is the Director’s Cut from day one, with support for offline play, one player and DualSense vibration and trigger effects.

The standard PC listing is recorded at £34.99 in the UK. ZA/UM and PlayStation have not announced a UK PS5 price, a physical edition or named retail partners. The Director’s Cut adds roughly 40,000 words, the Quisach Roundabout Dramatic Encounter, Backstage development content, new clothing and interactions, improved voice-over, inventory sorting, controller remapping, a photosensitivity mode and ultrawide support.

Should you pre-order?

There is no need to commit before the PS5 price and purchase options are published. Wishlist it on the UK PlayStation Store if you want a notification, then wait for PS5-specific performance coverage. PC owners are in the better position: they can buy the existing game now and receive the Director’s Cut update without paying again.