Sprawl Zero

Five days ago we covered a cyberpunk game called Replaced, which was basically Blade Runner if the protagonist was more existentially challenged and loaded on anxiety. Now we’re hopping into another cyberpunk game, Sprawl Zero Developed by indie studio MAETH who are a team only composed of two people, which is always impressive in my opinion. Indie developers are growing in size these days, but it’s nice to see there are still dudes making art in their basement. Sprawl Zero is the 2nd title to come from MAETH after their debut release Sprawl back in 2023. A retro boomer shooter attempting to combine fast paced movement seen in titles like Titanfall and Ghostrunner with the design of the classics. Quake, Doom, Blood, Serious Sam, you get the drill if you played a ton of these games. Sprawl was interesting in that between the godfathers of the cyberpunk genre, Blade Runner and Ghost in The Shell, it chose to take inspiration from the latter. Whether it be in its setting, themes, or the literal soundtrack feeling like it were ripped out of Ghost in The Shell or Nier: Automata. The game had a lot of confidence in itself, and for most people it succeeded. Being a solid first title from a studio trying to find their footing.

That said it failed to resonate for some, and I was one among the some. There is no such thing as a game made for everyone even if it tries to be highly accessible, and Sprawl already belongs to a niche genre. The retro shooter revival was great a few years ago, but now it’s gotten too much. With five of these kinds of games coming out each year, and not a lot of them doing enough to go separate from the rest of the pack. Sprawl to me wanted to stand high on it’s own, but ended up struggling. Mainly in how it wanted to combine its advanced movement options with retro shooter gameplay. Personally I think fast pace games work best when the tools and room to use said tools are spacious. You can experiment to see what works, but occasionally gotta lock in for when problems arise. A decent difficulty curve pushing you to pursue a speedy power fantasy. To feel like a racecar on legs. I hate saying this as it’s only two devs behind the game, but it failed to click with me for how ideas were executed. On paper they’re splendid. In practice it’s frustrating. As the claustrophobic level design doesn’t let you experiment, or set up scenarios where you can pull off cool moves. Difficulty was whack by the end, and playing the game also just didn’t feel good. It’s a game I prayed MAETH could learn how to improve from.

Turns out they did, but instead of creating the same game again with a few tweaks they went in the opposite direction. They asked, “What if we made a new game, but we take inspiration from the 2000s era games rather than the 1990s like every other indie boomer shooter nowadays? Also make it take place within the same universe, because drafting up a new one is hard" And so this is how we ended up with Sprawl Zero. The game that advertises itself as a successor to 2000s era shooters. The main description on the Steam storepage literally states, “... inspired by the Golden Age of 2000s FPS.” They released a kickass trailer full of techno babble, slow motion fights like the ones in F.E.A.R, gravity gauntlets to pull guns toward you, firing them, and then throwing the guns so hard it causes a bloke’s body to splatter into multiple chunks. A few months ago they put out a demo before the game’s release, and while I didn’t play said demo I had a few friends who did. Their impressions were positive with one friend in particular having Sprawl Zero rocket towards being their most anticipated game of 2026. Now it’s their second favorite of 2026.

My inner thoughts were wondering what black magic could possibly be at work for yet another boomer shooter among many to have a perfect score on Steam. Was it truly that good, or maybe they were overhyping it? I bought it recently as I was given a discount for owning the first game on Steam. Within the span of two days I managed to pummel my way through. A crazed smile flooded my face from the intense action I witnessed. Okay, Sprawl Zero is actually great. Let’s discuss Sprawl Zero and why it deserves your attention.

Story

Set in the faroff future where mankind enhanced themselves with cybernetics and made sentient AI super computers, we follow supersoldier FIVE. One of the strongest fists in the megacity for where the game takes place. Natural resources are at an all time low, and corruption is at an all time high due to political conflict between the lower and higher class. Corporations rule all, any who oppose are outlaws, and you get the idea if you see a cyberpunk piece of work. Last game made you play as someone who was abandoned by the enforcement she worked for, and this time you follow someone who still works for the enforcement. At least for the first half of the game. That sounds like a major spoiler, but this game is only four hours long and you know something like that was gonna happen. It’s cyberpunk for lord’s sake. Anyways, FIVE is owned by & works for Junta. The government who rule the city and grant those wanting to serve enhancements. The body of FIVE has been heavily altered with superstrength, reflexes, and thick metal armor being what mostly encases his body.  He’s one of the best, doesn’t talk much, and would rather follow protocol and orders than think about what is happening. Not saying he’s dumb, but he’s stoic in the same way Master Chief or the Doom Slayer is. There’s a cult causing problems in the city led by a man named SILAS. Someone who was technologically enhanced, but chose to run off rather than serve the people he was supposed to take orders from.

That’s what I think happens at least.

FIVE is given the job of securing outposts and areas overrun with cultists. Clear them out while stopping any acts of terrorism they commit. Ultimate goal is to stop SILAS before he performs an act that harms millions in a world that’s already ruptured by what’s going on. Along the way FIVE will be questioned of his purpose and willingness to choose. What happens when Junata no longer has the need for him as a tool? Shall he be tossed aside and be only remembered for the acts he committed, or break free from the shackles that restrain him. Run off and be free with the wind. An agent of independence who does what is right rather than what is taught to be right. It’s a good premise, and if you want to read more of the universe’s lore you can find documents laid about. However, despite how much thought was put in the storytelling isn’t the main focus. It’s quite light to be honest as the biggest core aspect of Sprawl Zero was the gameplay. (It's really f*cking good)

Gameplay

The game is divided into eleven missions, and each one is packed with objectives and obstacles to navigate around. One mission may contain three goals and you can pursue them in any order of your choosing, or another one has you navigating through poisonous gas that is then exposed to will slowly drain your health. One has you avoiding a colossal enemy you can’t kill for a short period of time, and another has you fighting choppers on a rooftop. Missions are varied enough, but a majority of the time you’ll be following a linear path and killing tons and tons of enemies. Combat is the core of Sprawl Zero, and whereas most boomer shooters arm you to the teeth this game takes a different approach. It being a 2000s era inspired shooter your carrying capacity for weapons is limited. One gun, you get one gun to carry at all times. One less than the two weapon restriction games of that era have, but there’s a reason why Sprawl Zero is designed this way. A gun will have one clip of ammo attached to it, and when drained you can’t reload or loot more ammunition off of enemies. Instead you throw away your current weapon and pick up another one. There’s even a designated button on the controller to throw your gun at a foe and watch them tear apart into little meaty pieces. You pick up new guns using your gravity gloves. There’s a rarity system, and guns with more legendary status are often stronger and more deadly.

The gravity gloves aren’t just used for pulling guns toward the player. They can also be used to hoist inanimate objects, and throw them back similar to how telekinesis works in BioShock. This means even if the player runs out of guns to use they can use the environment to their advantage. Heck, sometimes levels have hazards to utilize such as flaming vents or collapsing debris. There are other powers to use alongside the gravity gloves such as shield that absorbs and spits bullets back, a time slowdown power allah May Payne, and overcharge where FIVE goes berserk & will beat down an enemy at the expense of using time slow energy and sacrificing his firearm. You have a lot of options to combat the different enemies that stand before you, and the game tries to push players into using them as much as possible. Some enemies need to be dealt with in specific ways such as choppers that can only be damaged by absorbing their bullets with the shield. The shielded enemies who soak bullets before their barrier breaks, so sometimes going berserk is the more efficient choice. Snipers who are best taken down with long range artillery, and the list just goes on. As you progress through the main story you unlock upgrades to make your powers even deadlier. There’s a nice sense of progression, and differentiation in strength when comparing the beginning to the end.

Your mission going forth should be clear as day. Ready? EXECUTE.

Thoughts

Playing this game immediately after having gone through Replaced was interesting. Both games are on opposite sides of the spectrum in terms of what they prioritize. Replaced was iffy when it came to the gameplay department. You can read my full review if you want, but basically I said that clunky controls and restrictive linear design may turn people off. Yet, the story combined with stellar art direction that kept me pushing onward. The story of Reach becoming human and learning to empathize with those struggling in a world of economic and political corruption was done amazingly well. Stories and writing can do a lot of heavy lifting in a video game if enough effort is put in. One of my favorite reviewer quotes in recent memory is, “No one says story does not matter in a game if the story is good,” by Yahtzee Croshaw. Not every game needs a story or message, but games that aim to say something will always age better in time. Sprawl Zero is the exact opposite of Replaced. Instead of prioritizing writing it instead chose gameplay. There is a story and world building here if you look hard enough, but it’s so light that you can pretty much forget that it’s there. Sprawl Zero shouldn’t be the type of game I love, especially considering by now I’m getting kind of tired of indie boomer shooters. Again, not a lot of these types of games do enough to separate themselves. I think boomer shooters is one of the most oversaturated genres more so than roguelikes, and there’s even more of those. 

There are too many boomer shooters, but that doesn’t mean I think boomer shooters or shooters in general are bad. Some of them are good. Some of them are really good, and Sprawl Zero is a really good game. If a game cannot have strong writing then I expect the game design and feel of the game to be tight. Sprawl Zero, while not a completely original game, does reinvent the wheel a bit for boomer shooters by choosing not to be a boomer shooter. Instead combining good ideas of the past to create a unique experience. The one gun gimmick and gravity gauntlets create an engaging combat loop where you’re constantly adapting on the fly. Analyzing what is happening on screen and calculating what is the best choice to make. My friend says this game reminds him mostly of Halo, but to me it oddly reminded me of Hotline Miami. Now that’s not a 2000s era shooter, but the design philosophy of not relying on one weapon all the time. I like how the guns are highlighted with bright neon colors, so aiming the cursor to whip a gun at you is easy. The game has good aim detection and assist in general. There’s not a lot of instances where I felt like I was wasting ammunition or fifty percent of my shots weren’t landing correctly. Something that can easily occur in a game that’s visually chaotic as Sprawl Zero.

All the guns feel good to use outside one or two. You can tell what games they specifically took influence from when making specific weapons. Such as the harpoon launcher from BioShock 2 being a rod launcher here, or the Gravity Hammer from Halo 3 being…. Well a gravity hammer. There’s a grenade launcher with flaming rounds, and if you don’t like that then why not a fiery shotgun? The lightning cannon that fries people, automatic pistol that fires so fast you look like a hacker in a multiplayer game, and at some point you can wield a katana & deflect bullets. There are so many good guns in this game. It’s amazing how well thought out these weapons were for a gameplay loop where you’re constantly throwing firearms aside for what is closest. In a game like Hotline Miami it’s easy to mess up and pick a weapon you don’t want or is sh*t. Here they knew what they were doing. I also like how there’s a rarity system, but not in the usual sense. In Borderlands or Nioh, rarer weapons means ‘better stats’ their normal counterparts won’t have. In the long run it doesn’t matter, because it’s an RPG and one or two hours later you’ll find better weapons. In this game it is used to show what guns are actually stronger, which is great.

Guns aren’t the only method to defend yourself as you have powers. Most games have powers for the sake of being there, but Sprawl Zero makes you use them pretty well. The enemy variety isn’t great, but it’s enough so that you whip out your tools to adjust to the situation. Final boss in particular makes you use everything you have to combat him. Even bashing dudes with your bare fists feels good, because it’s designed to be a last resort to kill a basic bloke and get the gun they have. I’ve been saying ‘gun’ and ‘guns’ a lot throughout this review, so let’s talk about a few of the other good aspects. Some of the level ideas and mechanics are cool. Good enough to switch up the gameplay so combat doesn’t become too repetitive. There are times you solve puzzles in stressful situations, or are ambushed by enemies while securing a point so again adaptation is the key. As someone who played the original Sprawl the environments are a bit more varied. Not by a lot and we’ll address this critique in a few minutes, but at some point near the end you travel to an underground city. With alien-like design and architecture, which is a fun twist for a game that is mostly just the color brown and gray. Set in a city I assume is in Hong Kong. You can really see the Ghost in The Shell influence dear readers. :D

The soundtrack is surprisingly good though. One of my favorite moments was when I got a generator started, and once on rave music started playing. The lights turned off and I had to fend off a wave of enemies for a short period of time while an elevator came down. Banging my head to both the music and bullets flying through flesh. Sprawl Zero is an incredibly different game compared to the first Sprawl. They sacrificed the speed and fluidity of Sprawl, but in doing so they focused more on mechanics and the execution of them. It reminds me of when Doom tried to do it with Doom: The Dark Ages, but whereas that game had ideas that clashed in a somewhat boring way this one actually works. By happening addicting adaptive gameplay and ideas that are well accounted for.

With all the appraisals out of the way let’s talk about the negatives. The level design is good and I already said environments are more varied than the first, but not by a lot. Nearly every level is a shade of brown, gray, or a combination of the two with shadows. Leading to some levels feeling samey, or getting lost because one pathway or corridor may look the same as the previous. Making me feel grateful there’s a nav system otherwise it would’ve run into the problem so many boomer shooters have. Where you get lost, wander around, and waste up to five to ten minutes finding the critical path. When the game gives me a mission briefing at the start of a level I wish they labeled the interaction points in order. Otherwise you click them out of sync. Also why is the interaction button for briefing the same as skipping a cutscene. As you accidentally hold a button for too long and skip the briefing. You can aim down sights, and I’m sure why it’s here because so much of the game can be tackled without it. Maybe that’s a reminder for the tight design and hit detection.

Sprawl Zero costs 25 dollars if you purchase it regularly. Its runtime is even less than the first game, taking close to four hours to beat on regular difficulty. This is also the exact same runtime my other favorite boomer shooters have; Dusk, Cultic, and Prodeus. The game achieves a lot in that time, and there’s a decent amount of replay value. With the new games plus being available once you beat the game rather than some option the devs add in an update. This is a high quality game well worth your time, but for some twenty dollars might be quite a bit. Especially when I have seen a ton of indie games charge the same price in the past and gave more in return. Hades, Spiritfarer, Lorelei and The Laser Eyes, the list goes on. Yet, don’t let the price put you down. It was nice seeing how much MAETH managed to learn since Sprawl. It’s even more amazing to see them make a completely different game and succeed without accidentally making a whole bunch of new mistakes. Sprawl Zero gets a recommendation out of my book for being one of the better boomer shooters out there. In the end I am going to give Sprawl Zero a 9/10 for excellence.

9/10, Excellence