ZA/UM, the company behind 2019’s critically acclaimed “Disco Elysium,” returns with the release of the early-access demo of their next game, “Zero Parades.”
The demo was released for public playtesting on Feb. 26 and features the opening few hours of what is likely to be an ambitiously large game.
However, the quality of the game isn’t what fans are focusing on–their eyes are on ZA/UM itself, and they are not happy.
Following the release of “Disco Elysium,” ZA/UM had a change of ownership, then it laid off the majority of the staff that had worked on the title, meaning they stopped making money from the game’s sales–their work.
Fans caught wind of this and quickly rallied against the company.
“This is an amazing game, all the characters, lore, setting, gameplay, ALL OF IT, is amazing [from] beginning to end. But the original devs who worked on this game got ****** over and kicked out. Don’t buy this game, pirate it and deny the corpo shivs their wad of cash,” reads one scathing ‘Not Recommended’ review by “Steam” user ‘RamanNoodles.’
“The game is wonderful but do not support these thieves, support the [original] creators of this game,” suggested user ‘idddq87.’
Notably those reviews are from only last month, despite the initial controversy occurring back in 2022, seemingly showing great support for the terminated team.
This all comes back to bite ZA/UM as they now prepare for the full release of “Zero Parades,” later this year.
The game itself is – quite honestly – a bit hollow. Granted it is only an early demo and does not feature even half of the art, gameplay, story or voice acting the full release will – but what is displayed so far is not very promising.
The player operates as Hershel Wilk, a communist spy situated in the fictional city of Portofiro, trying to complete a mission – that due to a sudden debilitating panic attack – she has completely forgotten.
She must discover the details of her mission, all the while having entire conversations with her own psyche – which depending on the player’s chosen stats may lead her to interact with the world more intellectually, conversationally or physically.
From the very opening of the game, “Zero Parades” exhibits a serious case of ‘underachieving sibling syndrome.’ Wilk’s conversations with her own pysche, the human interactions, even the opening scene –one where the protagonist is hit with sudden retrograde amnesia – is ripped straight from “Disco Elysium.”
Yet instead of feeling like a worthy sequel, it downright feels like a cheap imitation. Like the ‘vibe’ of “Disco Elysium,” was appropriated without any of the soul.
That is not a narrative critique, the writing of “Zero Parades,” is witty, ridiculous, and even at times serious. The characters feel just as real and the world just as alive. But what the developers failed to account for was the very medium they are working with: the videogame.
Gameplay mechanics are directly stripped from “Disco Elysium,” with no noticeable differences: psyche stats affecting the way the dice roll, clothes able to increase your odds, quests given to you by the seemingly random people that line the streets.
Adding on top of all that deja-vu-inducing story beats and similar aesthetics, it ceases to matter if you’re able to earn a Pulitzer Prize with your writing, it still feels devoid of originality.
But criticism of “Zero Parades,” appears not to focus on the game itself at all, anger remains directed at the company.
“Remember people. OG creators of Disco aren’t involved in this,” comments YouTube user ‘ESJSilver97’ under the reveal trailer for “Zero Parades,” posted by the Playstation account.
That comment received 1,600 likes, more than half of the trailer’s 2,400.
The clear vitriol people display for ZA/UM guarantees that – if not completely fail – the game will assuredly lose out on sales it would have otherwise garnered with its house name.
The unfortunate side effect is, of course, the consequences the talented artists, developers, voice actors, and creatives hired by ZA/UM are made to face at the hands of fans.
All around, given the surrounding circumstances, flimsy writing, carbon copied gameplay, and audience reception, “Zero Parades” is shaping up to be more of a tragedy than a spiritual successor.
