SPRAWL zero Story: FIVE, Silas, the Junta and Imago Dei

This page stays within what MAETH published before launch. Worth A Buy warns of “a massive twist round about halfway through”, and the official artbook says it “contains major story spoilers”. We do not cover either.

The Sprawl

A walled megacity that MAETH’s weapons diary calls “the last city-state on earth, where every remaining culture has migrated to seek stability”. That is why the city mixes signage and design from everywhere. Reviewers compare it to Mega-City One.

FIVE

The protagonist: a cybernetically enhanced super-soldier controlled by the Junta, sent in “with extreme prejudice” (Flexin85). MAETH’s tagline, “Reconcile your truths or succumb to the SPRAWL”, and TheReviewGeek’s summary both point to FIVE questioning what is real and who is manipulating him. FIVE came before SEVEN, the hero of the first game.

The Junta (NCO)

“The military police state created as a result of the union of corporate power and post-democratic government” (weapons diary). Your side at the start. Its weapons are high-tech, blocky metal and rounded plastic, generally much stronger, some of them experimental. Friendly Junta troops, a spider tank and Seraph gunships appear in your levels.

The Imago Dei

“An anarcho-primitivist cult who believe the only way to ensure humanity’s survival is through a return to a pre-industrial society.” The store page calls them “a radical techno-religious group”. Their smiths forge weapons from old tools and obsolete platforms, and their soldiers include Dregs, Legionnaires, Redeemers and Sightless Sisters. In God’s Light they plan to set off a nuclear bomb. See enemies.

Silas

Leader of the Imago Dei and FIVE’s target. He can disable FIVE’s augments, and he is the final boss. See bosses.

Other factions

MAETH’s copy says the city plunges into chaos “as all factions known and unknown grasp for the reins”. The Amalgams, enemies Junta weapons work well against, and the Archons you protect in God’s Light suggest there are more players than the two main sides.

Where to read more

• Codex entries in each level carry the lore. See collectibles.
• The Art of SPRAWL zero, the $3.99 digital artbook, covers the worldbuilding with the spoiler warning above.
• The first game and how it connects: SPRAWL vs SPRAWL zero.