SPRAWL zero Beginner Guide: 12 Tips for Your First Run

SPRAWL zero plays differently from most modern shooters. The tips below come from the developers’ own explanations (dev diaries, forum replies, the IGN showcase) and from reviewers who finished the game. Nothing here depends on a secret route.

Combat

Forget ammo. No reload, no ammo pickups, one gun at a time. Fire it empty, throw it (it staggers the target) and pull the next gun with the Gravity Gloves. Hanging on to a gun you like is a trap; the swap trick (grab a second gun while holding one) is how you carry two. See weapons.
Kill the squad captain first. It reveals the rest of his squad through walls, and he often carries the better gun. Without that, the squad AI flanks you and uses grenades to force you out of cover.
Pick who you kill for their gun. Redeemers carry the Penetrator, which executes low-tier enemies; Legionnaires carry the Deimos flame shotgun. The weapons diary suggests exactly this. See enemies.
Use Bullet Time to refill. Enemies killed with an ability active drop health stims (one each since the demo update), and those stims refill adrenaline too. A group killed in one Bullet Time window pays for itself.
Time the Gravity Shield. Raise it when enemies flash red just before firing, not whenever you take damage. It does not stop fire or electric damage. See abilities.
Your punch is a weapon. It stuns and hits hard, but the wind-up is slow; do not punch with three rifles on you. Rushdown’s punch breaks enemy shields.

The environment

Everything is a tool. Toxic gas canisters, barrels and boxes deal damage and stun; car doors block some bullets; turrets can be carried and fired; pipes can set enemies alight. Catch grenades and throw them back. See Gravity Gloves.
Shoot through cover. Weapons chip pillars and walls, and some doors and walls are meant to be blown open. There is no use key.

Getting around

Lost? Bring the marker back. Alt on keyboard or down on the D-pad re-shows the objective. Reviewers say later city areas look alike.
Keep momentum. Slide down stairs and slopes, and jump out of a slide to keep speed. Advanced players strafe-jump and tap crouch in the air for a forward dash.

Progress

Grab relics and codex entries as you go. Relic Fragments pay for the post-game modifiers, and there is no per-level counter. Listen for the hum. See collectibles.
Pick a difficulty that makes you die a bit. The demo levels are the easiest by design. Martyr doubles enemy damage and roughly doubles play time. See difficulty.

What comes next

The levels page has the mission order and each level’s optional challenge, and New Game Plus is where reviewers say the game really opens up.

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