Game Rant spoke to Lizarraga about Sprawl’s ambitions for highly emergent gameplay, and the formula he and his partner are using to pursue that goal. The game will boast a highly exploitable movement system, inspired by the ‘surf,’ ‘b-hop,’ and ‘rocket-jump’ scenes of early Source Engine titles, paired with a greater emphasis on modern, vertical level design. Despite Sprawl’s seemingly simple premise, these factors could give the retro-futuristic shooter the unique hook it needs to stand out in a competitive marketplace.

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The Enduring Appeal of Emergent Gameplay

Among other things, Sprawl is a love letter to the frantic, twitchy, competitive shooters that dominated the PC gaming scene in the late 90s. But Lizarraga cited the id Software classic Quake as an especially prominent influence due to its enduring appeal.

Lizaragga called out Epic Games’ battle royale title Fortnite as a more modern example of a game featuring highly emergent gameplay. Even though Fortnite has seen a steady stream of content updates, special events, and high-profile crossovers, the game would not have become a phenomenon without a solid-yet-flexible game loop. The building mechanics in Fortnite allow players to create cover, set traps, and gain considerable altitude. The total number of options available to a player at a given moment ensure that no two firefights are exactly alike.

Built for the Z-Axis

Mechanics that foster verticality, in particular, are especially effective at mixing up garden variety shoot-outs, which is why so many developers have recently prioritized vertical level design. Building maps that offer those options to players is challenging, and only half the battle. Lizarraga said that making players aware of their options is a challenge in and of itself.

Taking a shooter’s gameplay to new heights is a fine idea in theory, but all those possibilities will fall flat if it never occurs to players to use them. Third-person action games like the Uncharted franchise naturally lend themselves to climbing and leaps, partially thanks to the camera configuration. An over-the-shoulder view and the ability to pan the camera around the character is generally more conducive to highlighting vertical thrills than a first-person perspective.

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Short of including enemies that attack from above, it is very hard to telegraph vertical paths through a level, especially in the middle of an intense firefight. It is no accident that Lizarraga said one of his favorite recent titles is Doom Eternal, which is another shooter featuring verticality and precision platforming rather than the floatier jumping mechanics of games like Halo. 

Exploitable by Design

Even if Sprawl presents players with numerous, clearly telegraphed opportunities to claim the high ground, players need creative movement options in order to make the most out of their experience. To satisfy that need, Lizarraga is drawing from his experience with exploitable movement systems like the ‘surf maps’ popular in Counter-Strike and other similar games. Certain weapons will also open up traversal options for players, such as Sprawl’s shotgun, which can be fired to trigger a rocket-jump like ability - without the usual price of losing some health.

The possibilities in Sprawl’s seemingly simple gameplay are designed to explode once players master these movement and weapon combos. If Lizarraga’s gambit on emergence and verticality pays off, Sprawl could become a classic in its own right.

Sprawl is currently in development for PC. A release date has yet to be announced.

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