SPRAWL zero Gravity Gloves Guide: Master Physics Combat in MAETH's Retro FPS

A complete combat guide to the SPRAWL zero gravity gloves — how to grab, throw, punch, and chain them with Bullet-Time, Gravity Shield, and Rushdown.

The SPRAWL zero gravity gloves are the defining weapon of MAETH's cyberpunk shooter — and the reason its firefights play out like physics experiments instead of shooting galleries. Treat the SPRAWL zero gravity gloves as a novelty and you will spend the campaign scrambling for ammo. Master them and you will be ripping rifles out of enemy hands mid-sentence.

SPRAWL zero launched on September 8, 2026 for PC, Steam Deck, Epic, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and Nintendo Switch 2, and it currently sits at a "Very Positive" rating on Steam, with 94% positive on the live Steam listing. You play as FIVE, a cybernetically enhanced supersoldier under Junta control, sent to eliminate SILAS, leader of the techno-religious faction IMAGO-DEI. Your gloves are how you survive that assignment.

What the SPRAWL zero Gravity Gloves Actually Do

The gloves are not a single button — they are a small toolkit. The official store page describes them as expanding combat "beyond gunplay," and that framing is accurate: they enable aggressive pushes, defensive plays, and physics-driven encounters, all from the same input set.

The key detail that separates them from similar gadgets in other shooters is that they interact with live enemies, not just scenery. According to a detailed review at Tech-Gaming, the gloves eventually become strong enough to physically toss enemies around, not merely yank props.

Glove actionWhat it doesWhere it shines
Gravity grabPulls firearms, crates, and loose objects toward you from a distanceSnatching a fresh weapon without crossing open ground
Gravity throwHurls whatever you are holding at high speedTurning barrels, pallets, and dead weapons into projectiles
Gravity punchA slow but powerful unarmed strikeFinishing shielded targets when your magazine is dry
Environmental breachTears through weakened walls and smashes cratesFinding shortcuts and hidden routes
Enemy manipulationLater upgrades let you shove and throw hostilesCrowd control in tight arenas

Explosive barrels behave like improvised grenades when thrown. A discarded rifle becomes a projectile once its magazine runs out. Even a health pod can be pulled across a room, which removes the classic "sprint through a wall of gunfire to heal" problem entirely.

The No-Reload Loop That Makes the Gloves Mandatory

Here is the design decision that makes the gloves indispensable: guns cannot be reloaded. FIVE carries one firearm at a time, and every weapon ships with a fixed ammunition supply. When it runs dry, you throw the gun at someone's head and use the gloves to grab the next one off the floor.

A fight might open with rifle rounds, pivot to a couple of point-blank shotgun blasts, and finish with an empty pistol bouncing off a helmet while you pull a rocket launcher across the room. The rhythm feels choppy for the first twenty minutes, then clicks into something genuinely catchy.

Weapons are color-coded by tier, which helps you read strength at a glance in the middle of a firefight.

Tier signalRough roleGlove interaction
Low tierBasic pistols, junk weaponsThrow it away without regret — it is ammunition you did not have to carry
Mid tierSMGs, shotguns, riflesThe bread and butter of the shoot-throw-grab cadence
High tierSnipers, explosives, heavy weaponsWorth crossing a room to grab before it despawns
SpecialistFlamethrowers, gatling gunsHigh burst damage, awkward to swap — commit or ditch fast

Community reports from early playthroughs note that distinguishing weapons mid-air is genuinely difficult because held guns render small. That is a feature as much as a flaw: you often pull the trigger on whatever you caught and adapt.

Pairing the Gloves With Bullet-Time, Gravity Shield, and Rushdown

The gloves are the centerpiece, but they are one leg of a four-part combat kit. Three abilities unlock at predetermined story beats rather than through a skill tree, which keeps your attention on the fight rather than a menu.

AbilityActivation costPrimary useBest pairing with the gloves
Bullet-TimeMeterSlows time and bends your shots toward targetsLine up a throw arc on a moving target
Gravity ShieldMeter / block stateSuspends incoming fire, then reflects it backCover your grab animation in the open
RushdownCooldownTemporary invulnerability plus heavy punchesClose distance, then steal a weapon at contact range
Gravity punchFree while unarmedSlow, heavy meleeBreak through shields and armored foes

Bullet-Time gives you more time to line up shots and throws, but it is not direct healing. The official demo patch notes document one health stim drop for an ability kill; that pickup reward is separate from Bullet-Time. The shield is especially strong against airborne enemies — the review notes MAETH gives you generous timing for the catch-and-return reversal, so you rarely feel cheated when you mistime it.

Player experience from the demo suggests many newcomers forget the shield exists for entire levels and then wonder why they are taking so much chip damage. If your health is melting, check whether you have been holding the shield button at all.

Practical Tips for Chaining Gravity Gloves Combat

These are the habits that separate a smooth run from a scrappy one.

  • Never walk past a weapon. A gun on the floor is a reload you do not have to earn. Grab it before you need it.
  • Prioritize squad leaders. Eliminating a captain temporarily reveals the rest of the squad, which turns a blind firefight into a shooting gallery.
  • Pull, don't run. Health pods can be drawn to you. Standing still behind cover while your gloves do the work is almost always safer than sprinting.
  • Throw before you empty. If a fight is turning, launching a half-full gun into someone's face and grabbing a better one is faster than squeezing out the last rounds.
  • Watch the air. Airborne enemies fire missiles that arrive faster than your gravity systems can answer. Break line of sight early.

Movement matters too. Player experience reports that sprinting lets you slide, and sliding while carrying an object lets you reposition a thrown weapon or barrel without dropping it. Bunny hopping adds a small speed boost that compounds with slide momentum — useful for crossing arenas before the gloves finish their cooldown.

SituationRecommended response
Surrounded at close rangeRushdown in, punch, then grab a dropped weapon on the way out
Pinned by covering fireGravity Shield up, catch the volley, return it, then push
Long sightline with distant targetsBullet-Time to bend shots; do not waste throws on far targets
Shielded soldier blocking progressDrop your weapon, use the gravity punch, then re-arm
Low health mid-fightPull a health pod toward you rather than crossing the room

Where the Gravity Gloves Struggle

The gloves are not flawless, and honest reviews flag where the system buckles. Late-campaign shielded soldiers interrupt the shoot-throw-grab rhythm because bypassing their defenses usually means discarding your current weapon for a slow punch. Heavily armored opponents can absorb enough damage that constant weapon swapping starts to feel like a chore rather than a joy.

Airborne missile attacks are the sharpest pain point: projectiles can arrive faster than your gravity systems can respond. The level design also draws criticism — objectives scattered across drab brown and gray environments are occasionally hard to distinguish, even with the viewpoint scan assist.

None of this makes encounters impossible. It simply means the gloves reward deliberate play more than pure reflex at the highest difficulty tiers, where a single mistake costs you a run.

FAQ

Do the SPRAWL zero gravity gloves work on enemies? Yes, eventually. The gloves can deliver a heavy unarmed punch from the start, and later upgrades let FIVE physically shove and throw hostile soldiers rather than only manipulating objects.

Can you reload weapons in SPRAWL zero? No. FIVE carries one gun at a time with a fixed ammo supply. The intended loop is to empty a weapon, throw it, and grab a replacement with the gloves — a system that turns every firefight into an improvisation exercise.

Are the gravity gloves required to finish the campaign? They are central to the design. Because weapons cannot be reloaded, the gloves function as your reload button, your grenade, your traversal tool, and your melee finisher. Playing without them is not really an option.

Is SPRAWL zero playable on Steam Deck? Yes. The game is listed as "Playable" on Steam Deck, and it is also available on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and Nintendo Switch 2 alongside PC via Steam and the Epic Store.

If you want to see the full kit in motion before committing, the official SPRAWL zero Steam page hosts the launch trailer, screenshots, system requirements, and a downloadable demo — and the demo is the fastest way to feel whether the gravity glove rhythm clicks for you.