Dead Center - 3/4: Mall

"Everybody, gather 'round. Let's pray. Dear Lord, see us safely through our time of trial in this mall. And please Lord... let the food court be okay."

- Coach "Amen"

- Rochelle/Ellis


 * For the actual in-game mall, see Liberty Mall.

In The Mall the Survivors finally reach Liberty Mall, only to find that the evacuation center there has already been overrun by the Infected. This chapter contains a Crescendo Event in which the Survivors must either open alarmed emergency doors on the first floor or smash the windows of a barricaded toy store on the second floor thereby triggering a burglar alarm that attracts Infected hordes until such times as the Survivors manage to run and fight their way to the security office on the third floor to shut it off. This chapter seems to feature a generally increased number of Horde attacks and on Expert this onslaught is often thrown at players on a nonstop basis.

Campaign
Many players consider this chapter to be the toughest in the campaign as it seems Common and Special Infected spawn much more frequently than other chapters, often with multiple Special Infected spawning together.

It is advisable that teams stay within close proximity to each other and avoid lingering in areas unnecessarily as continually spawning Specials and Hordes will deplete resources quickly, most particularly on harder difficulties.

The Mall's open spaces and long vistas are conducive to selecting ranged weapons like sniper and assault rifles.

Tanks and Witches: Tanks appear in two areas. Firstly, in the open spaces around the mall's atrium areas and secondly in cramped areas and narrow passageways. To begin, if a Molotov is found in Kappel's clothing store, keep it in reserve until faced with a Tank. Thereafter the building's layout (most particularly the upper level) dictates that most of the time Tanks must attack from specific, channeled directions in open spaces thus making it relatively easy for Survivors to keep their distance and to cone the Tank with concentrated fire. However, Tanks and Witches can appear in confined spaces, in which case players need to stand their ground and battle it out on less favorable ground: as always, starting health levels and accurate firepower are decisive.

A Magnum or second pistol can usually be found in the clothing store located just before the escalator to the mall's lower level. Look for a shelf that sits with its back to the security screen which didn't close completely. A Tank will often spawn at this point, however if all survivors move to the very back of the shelf with their backs to the fence over the display case, the Tank often becomes stuck in its attempt to reach the Survivors and can easily be shot down without anyone suffering damage.

Take the escalator down to the food court area. Look into the conversation pit between the two escalators on that level, a new primary weapon can often be found there.

After passing through the food court, go back upstairs and over a broken down door that forms a no-return ramp into the next area. A wandering witch may spawn here.

Tactical tip: Ordinarily, the food court area cannot be revisited. But a chair meleed or shot from the adjacent office and positioned under the ramped door makes it possible to jump up and go back to the previous area. It is strongly advised players familiarize themselves with this technique as a Tank in this area can easily incapacitate all players in this rather narrow corridor. Being able to exit back into the former area will enable all members of the group to easily deal with the Tank by kiting it around the upper floor on the food court side.

The ramped door hallway will lead to the gauntlet crescendo event for this chapter, of which there are two variations as determined by The Director.

The first (and most common option) directs players to the right down a flight of stairs into a passage with an alarmed double door at its end (the stairway-down route).

The following few paragraphs concern themselves with the second (and more rarely encountered) "toy store". Players head down the ramped door passage and are obliged to turn left into a right-angled passage. Part way along this passage is a door that is ajar and which leads into a storage room at the rear of the toy store. An ammo pile will be seen on a table at the end of this room, next to which is door opening into the toy store. The Director may either spawn a mini-Horde from the toy store at this point or allow players to peek into the toy store and get orientated. A Witch may be encountered in the toy store.

Special notes regarding the toy store scenario: Breaking the store windows triggers the gauntlet crescendo event. Shooting at Infected inside the store or the Special Infected who often spawn outside the windows is almost certain to break the glass. A Molotov is of great use just prior to starting this event; by throwing at the ground in between the two windows the flames will pass beyond the boundaries of the glass without breaking it but immolating all Infected on the other side. Be aware that there is a ventilation duct that leads to the ceiling of this room and Infected and even Special Infected can (albeit rarely) drop into the store from above.

Warning: If Infected are present outside the windows, an AI Bot team member is certain to fire and trigger the gauntlet crescendo event.

Players wishing to indulge in some extended target practice can shoot the glass and camp in the storage room doorway next to the ammo cache.

Once clear of the toy store by jumping through the broken windows, it is a case of run-and-gun, perhaps with the distracting assistance of a Bile Bomb to enable the team to get a head start. Melee weapons or an Assault-class rifle are advised for the player in the lead position. Fortunately, the distance to the safe room is relatively short (since the toy store is located one level up from the stairway-down route's exit) but players should remain close together as Smokers are easily able to incapacitate Survivors by pulling them off ledges.

Returning to the stairway-down scenario: Opening the alarmed double door commits the team to a run-and-gun gauntlet crescendo event spanning no less than three levels in the mall: it is a long way. Saving a Bile bomb or Pipe bomb to distract and buy time and distance is always a good idea. As noted above, the team must keep together at all times and the player in the lead is well advised to equipped with a rapidly firing, hard-hitting primary weapon.

After completing the crescendo event, descend a stairwell and emerge into the final atrium. This area, which appears to have stocked with construction equipment, often contains pills, adrenaline or throwing items, so search along its perimeter before re-entering the mall proper.Normally,a medium sized horde will be wandering in this area. A witch may spawn here,so check that if she spawned before clearing the Common Infected or throwing a item.

Players finally ascend an escalator at the end of which they find a safe room. It is imperative not to relax at this point, maintain group cohesion and stay watchful as health may be extremely low and it is easy for Special Infected kill or incapacitate an incautious players; e.g., a well-placed Charger can easily incapacitate an entire team due to low health.

Survivors:
Basically, keep the same strategy in mind as in campaign mode. The very beginning could be the worst part of the level, as there are plenty of places for the Infected to spawn. Be very wary when traversing up or down the escalators, as Chargers are likely waiting to charge through them. Half way through the level, after the Survivors have gone back up to the 2nd floor for the second time, there is a one-way gate as you enter the service hallways (there is a desk in the way that you can't jump over once inside the hallway). Although it may seem that you can't get back over the desk, you actually can. But it will take you about 20 seconds to do so. Just head to the room on your right as you jump over, there will be an office chair. Melee it out of the room & then push it to the desk, then if you have done it right you can jump onto the chair & then over the desk. but this is only neccesary if any Survivors are unfortunate enough to be incapped before they enter the hallway or a Tank shows up.

The service hallway takes two paths to the gauntlet crescendo event. Either it ends up in the back room of the Just 4 Kidz store (on the 2nd floor), or ends up in front of an emergency exit door (on the 1st floor). However it is much more likely that the Just 4 Kids store route will be open. When you reach the Just 4 Kids store, be very careful not to fire your weapon inside the store, as there is a high chance you will break the glass and prematurely activate the crescendo event before the other Survivors are ready to go. Once the crescendo event is started, take the escalator right in front of you up to the 3rd floor (watch out for Chargers), and run down the hallway right into the security room to deactivate the alarm.

After the security room, they have to run down, and back up to the 3rd floor into the safehouse.

Infected:
There are plenty of places to spawn inside Kappel's clothing store. Ideally you want to set up right outside the safe room door to cause a good amount of damage. Chargers are key in this level, as there are plenty of escalators the Survivors must traverse, which force them into a small area for a decent amount of time. Just make sure to properly line up your charge.

A good ambush spot is at the entrance to the service hallways on the second floor, as this is a one-way gate. Successfully pinning someone outside this gate, might lead to Survivors being unable to save them. When the Survivors activate the crescendo event. Try to single out the loner of the group (this will usually be the first or last guy). Smokers can drag from separate floors, and there are plenty of straight hallways for Chargers. It might be a good idea for the Spitter to spit right in front of the entrance to the security room, as the delay will likely cause another wave of Common Infected to slow down the Survivors

During the Crescendo Event where the survivors have to turn off a burgler alarm, a Jockey can be useful here. While a Survivor is still on the second floor, it is possible to ride him/her over the escalator or the planters down to the first floor making the Survivor useless. This is because there is no possible way to the first floor without being downed as well as no way to get back on the second floor.

Easter Eggs

 * Just For Kidz (the children's store in the mall that starts one of the crescendo events) is likely another parody of the game's name (Just 4 Kidz).
 * The design and architecture of the mall's interior is roughly based off of the mall from the original Dawn of the Dead.
 * The fact this and the next level are in a mall, may be a reference to malls in zombie invasions, such as Dawn of the Dead movies and the game Dead Rising.
 * There is a reference to The Blues Brothers movie in the form of a shop called 'Disco Pants and Haircuts.' When the team walk past the shop and if Nick looks at it, he might say "Lots of space in this mall", which is a nod to the movie's mall car-chase scene.