Summary
A lot of games have malls in them, particularly sandbox ones like theGTAfranchise, but few have their key moments set in them, let alone their entire plot. But there are a few that manage to make this center of capitalism shine, either as a busy intersection of people, or as an eerie abandoned area where life used to flourish.
If you want to explore a surreal mall space, fight for your life in the different shopping ails, or simply have a mall for yourself, you’ll find something for you here. Not all of them are recent games, but malls haven’t changed that much over the years.
The murder mystery depicted in Heavy Rain mostly happens outside of a mall, but the opening hours have a mall as the central location of a tragedy. In it, Ethan loses sight of his son Jason, who exits the mall and is tragically killed in a car accident.
Heavy Rain is able to show the panic people can feel in crowded spaces, particularly when you have someone in your care, or when you’ve found yourself completely lost. There’s nothing supernatural or abnormal about the mall in Heavy Rain, but it remains a traumatic place all the same.
Much like Heavy Rain, Silent Hill 3 opens with our protagonist in a mall, although we spend more time in this mall than in the previous one. Heather, our lead character, is just minding her own business when nightmarish creatures invade the mall, twisting it into a hellish landscape.
Unlike other games,Silent Hill 3 doesn’t happen solely in a mall, but the time spent there makes it one of the most terrifying malls in gaming. The grimy look of the game is already unsettling, but once the place starts getting that Silent Hill makeover, you know you’re in for a ride.
Most of the maps in the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games are devoid of people, letting you enjoy the area and do tricks to your heart’s content. The focus for us today is the Mall map, although the mall depicted on the map has seen better days.
This is an abandoned mall, where nature has slowly taken over the place, grass growing wildly wherever it can. It gives a different vibe than most other malls on this list, although the place was reconditioned for sick skate tricks, adding many ramps where only walkways used to be.
Cruelty Squad is a surreal FPS/Immersive Sim that has the player taking on several missions, having to take down targets as they navigate a world ruled by corporations and greed. One of said missions is Mall Madness, where the player has to go to Cancer City Megamall and assassinate a politician named Bill Gurney.
The whole world of Cruelty Squad is a saturated mess of satire, political commentary, and grotesque imagery, and this mall level is no exception. The Cancer City Megamall manages to be more disturbing than the one depicted in Silent Hill 3, while somehow also being far more functional, with people doing their everyday shopping.
4Self-Checkout Unlimited
A Surreal Journey
Sometimes, all we want is a simpler, chilled journey through an empty space. Self-Checkout Unlimited offers just that, letting you explore a strange mall when no one is around, piecing together what little story there is, all while leaving a lot to interpretation.
While the game can be eerie, there aren’t really any jumpscares, so you can explore the game at your leisure. Just don’t expect a one-and-done explanation of what is going on, since there isn’t a lot of content made for this game; you’ll have to draw your own conclusions.
3Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach
You’re No Longer Confined To A Chair
Five Nights At Freddy’s: Security Breach is really a departure from the original games, and it was a much-needed one at that. You’re no longer relegated to a single room with a few screens, but you’re able to now walk and wander about as you explore your creepy surroundings.
Said surroundings are what we care about today, since the whole game happens within a mall, mostly revolving around kid-friendly animatronics. You’ll be exploring all kinds of stores, hallways, and back alleys as you try to survive from your pursuers; surprisingly, Freddy is one of the good guys this time!
2Sunset Mall
A Pixelated Fever Dream
Sunset Mall is a simple, strange little game, with a premise that doesn’t last too long. You are given a shopping list, and you have to find the items on the list while avoiding the muggers, and you lose if you run out of money or the required items are stolen.
If you want all the achievements, however, you’ll be running around this mall for a longer time than expected. Which is good, since each item you’re able to buy has different references to discover, and for mall lovers, this is the most “mall” game of them all, with the point of the game being to buy things at a mall.
When a zombie apocalypse is described in different forms of media, the most crowded spaces are the first to become the most lethal. Many zombie games have a mall level, but the one that takes the concept to the extreme isthe original Dead Rising.
You are photographer Frank West, and you’ll have to make your way through the zombie hordes with ingenuity, using all the things you can find from the mall shops to your advantage. You can play the original game right now, or you can wait for the release of Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster, with updated graphics and gameplay elements.
