Icon of Helll -Dunkelschwamm

 

     I'm starting to think the third L in the title is a typo. Icon of Hell(l?) is a conversion of a mod with a lot of futuristic and archaic visuals all thrown together in an interesting linear experience. It's also got custom models and scripted weapons which really help sell that this is as a new experience.

SCMapDB page

Original map author: Lefront

Conversion author: Reuniclus-579

Date of original mod release: 2013

Date of final Sven Map release: 2024

Maps in package: 7

Map review of Icon of Helll

(originally posted on SCMapDB) 

by dunkelschwamm | March 29, 2026 | 3901 characters

    Icon of Helll is a very inspired spooky mapset converted expertly by Reuniclus-579. There are lots of recognizable assets (and even some map setpieces and layouts) from games like Doom 3 and Duke Nukem 3D. You'll notice more than anything, though, the really nicely scripted weapons and enemies borrowing heavily from Cry of Fear. While lots is repurposed assets, I feel this mapset is more than the sum of its parts, using assets in interesting ways and creating unexpected moments.

    The gameplay is really fun: you have weapons to deal with enemies, but much of the map is in the dark. You can use a lantern to light the area immediately around you, but can only deliver a weak melee attack (again, think Doom 3). However, you can drop your lantern using the weapon drop command, and your dropped lantern will illuminate the area until it is picked up. This creates a fun setup where players might open a doorway into a dark room then chuck the lantern in and wait for the enemies to walk into the light to blow them away with the arsenal of firearms.

    It's good the combat and lighting dynamic is fun, because much of the game's progress feels like linear corridors dressed up very pretty then hidden in darkness. I personally don't have any problem with this, but those who feel bored by linear progression may want to take note.

    The firearms and enemy variety create good target prioritization situations and situational usefulness of each weapon. Pistol and shotgun are good for mid-long range, shotgun and MP5 are both good at close-mid range, and if you have balls of steel you can try to use a knife or your weak punch that comes sith holding the lantern. And the enemies are each very difficult, but are clearly differentiated by their speed, damage output, and how durable they are. Later on, when faster enemies become more common, melee becomes far less viable, however.

    While the visuals and meat-and-potatoes gameplay impressed, there are moments where the map just kinda dumps enemies on top of the player. This is annoying in later maps where enemies will spawn out of midair during a big fight, but I can imagine it being very managable with more than two players. What's less manageable, however, is when the map blinks to darkness for a moment only to teleport players into a spot where they are surrounded by enemies. These feel like very cheap kills on the player, and because of these moments cannot recommend playing with survival enabled.

    It's also worth mentioning that this map has a lot of story which is accessed by finding PDAs and computers. It was in a language I do not speak, however, so I cannot comment on this aspect of the map other than to note its inclusion.

    Overall, I think Icon of Helll is a great straight-forward horror-shooting-gallery mapset that is fun, inventive, and feels very unique for what it is. Play this when you want a spooky time.

Pros:

• Great re-purposing of existing assets to create something new
• The scripted weapons, especially the lantern, are incredibly fun
• Much of the fighting before the last couple maps is tense but balanced
• The conversion has convenient checkpoints for the most part
• Clear difficulty curve
• The atmosphere is just incredibly well put together.

Cons:

• As neat as the lantern is, sometimes the darkness is quite frustrating
• The maps devolve into big shootouts with respawning enemies toward the end, which the gameplay doesn't support
• There are frankly unfair moments that drop quick-murder enemies on players' heads
• Despite being mostly linear, lots of locked doors and dark areas make navigation clunky

Score: 8.1 / 10