Nine Locations That Need To Be Used in Videogames

In a strange turn of events a few days ago, myself and another VeryAli writer ended up covering the same piece of news regarding Hitman 3 Locations. As his was better, we published that. But rather than pass up on the theme, I thought we should look at some great locations that should be used in gaming. There’s a few I wouldn’t mind visiting someday too.

Kremlin, Moscow, Russia

Now as locations go, I had never appreciated how awesome this one was. Its a place we’ve all heard of, the heart of Moscow and residence of the President. But did you know it includes five palaces, four cathedrals, and a wall spanning over two kilometers, complete with towers? At 27.7 hectares in size, the Kremlin is about the equivalent of 55 football pitches.

Its not only incredible from the outside either. The Grand Kremlin Palace in its center has over 700 rooms. Can you imagine how much you could squeeze into an style game using this location? The parkour would be intense, but it also has a rich and fascinating history with the first settlers arriving around 200BC.

The Catacombs, Paris, France

How a horror game hasn’t already been set in the Catacombs, I will never know! This is definitely one of the creepiest locations in the world. When Paris’ cemeteries began to fill up as the city got bigger, it was decided an alternative needed to be built. Its reported that six million people were laid to rest in the catacombs below the city. Many are in fact still on display as you can see above. The catacombs are a maze of tunnels, some blocked off from cave-ins, that could span more than 200 miles. How creepy would a VR title be where your only light was a torch, and you’re surrounded by the dead… or something worse?

Since bodies stopped being interred there, the Catacombs have been no less busy. During the Second World War, French Resistance fighters used the tunnels to move around unseen. In 2004, police reported finding a fully equipped movie theatre underneath the Trocadéro too!

If you’re interested in learning more about the Catacombs, I recommend the documentary below. It specifically looks at what happens when there’s heavy rain and many of the abandoned tunnels flood.

Aokigahara, Japan

Want somewhere just as creepy but worried about claustrophobia? Then we have the game location for you. Sometimes referred to as the Sea of Trees, the forest has the second-highest suicide rate in the world after the Golden Gate Bridge. You may remember in 2018, Youtuber Logan Paul faced fierce criticism after shooting a video there.

Thanks to a volcanic floor beneath, the forest is incredibly dense. Because of this, explorers have often become lost or disorientated within it. Local legends say that the spirits of those lost in the forest still haunt it today.

Hunyad Castle, Romania

Let’s go back indoors for a minute but keep the creep factor up. This addition is one of the largest castles in Europe and is on the list of the Seven Wonders of Romania. It was built in the 14th century over the top of an even older settlement and has received a much-needed renovation thanks to a great fire.

Legend says that Dracula inspiration, Vlad the Impaler, was imprisoned there. It’s an iconic view that would make for a great supernatural videogame.

New Reef Off of Cape York, Australia

After the huge popularity of Abzu, I think its about time we donned our flippers once more. What better place to do that than a recently discovered reef off the coast of Australia. As locations go, this is another pretty big one. Scientists have predicted the huge structure is over 500 meters tall. That’s bigger than the Empire State Building or the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur.

The director of the expedition, Dr Jyotika Virmani, said of the new reef “To find a new half-a-kilometre tall reef in the offshore Cape York area of the well-recognised Great Barrier Reef shows how mysterious the world is just beyond our coastline”. I think it would be great fun to explore the reef in all its glory.

The Tianzi Mountains, China

Speaking of ridiculously tall natural structures, how about these amazing column-like mountains in the Hunan Providence of China. A climbing based game or an level would be a perfect fit for this more unusual of locations.

And if you’re thinking they look familiar, they were inspiration for the floating mountains in Avatar. Even without their bases CGI’d out, they look pretty awesome.

North Brother Island, New York City

From big to small, we go now to the East River between Rikers Island and the Bronx. Now a designated bird sanctuary, North Brother Island has had plenty of roles over the years. Its main usage was as a nineteenth-century Smallpox Hospital and then a quarantined TB hospital until 1945. After that the island, and the medical buildings were abandoned to the elements. It’s most famous resident was Typhoid Mary, a woman who infected countless people with the disease over the course of her life.

Few people have been allowed access since the island was abandoned, and even then, they’ve mostly been for scientific purposes.

This would be a great location for a survival game I think. Something where you had to work out a way off the island by searching for resources. The abandoned structures add a fear factor too. But devs would have to be quick as there are murmurs of the island being turned into a controlled access park in the future.

The Great Blue Hole, Belize

Yup, this one does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s big, it’s blue, and it’s a giant hole. To be fair, that doesn’t give credit to how cool this place is. At about 400 feet deep, it started out as a giant sinkhole. Eventually, as tides rose, it was flooded to become the aquatic phenomena we see today. Just to get a feeling for size, that boat on the right of the image is a cruise ship. The last 100 feet of the hole are completely devoid of life thanks to a layer of hydrogen sulfide that floats in the water. An exploration of the caves below the surface would be pretty cool.

Whittier, Alaska

Finally, I’ve thrown this one in because I think it would make such a bizarre addition. I’m thinking unsettling walking simulator probably. Or maybe even a zombie survival game given the isolated location.

Whittier is a small town in Alaska home to about 200 people, pretty much all of them live in that big building pictured. I think it’s such a unique location, with the whole population stacked together. When the snow sets in I could see it getting like The Shining. There’s even a tunnel that links the building and the school so kids can travel during the winter.

It’s even creepier when you factor in the abandoned building pictured below. The Buckner Building was once a US Military base but was left after an earthquake in 1966. I could definitely see Joel and Ellie having to kick ass in there!

So there you have it folks. Nine locations that would make for pretty amazing videogames. On a side note, if anyone does get an idea from this list and make a videogame, I expect full credit!