When Valor Mortis first revealed itself, something about it raised eyebrows. The developers of both Ghostrunner games made a hard pivot from a speedrun-centric first-person cyberpunk platformer to a 19th-century alternative-history soulslike. A huge change that seemingly would go against the developers’ strengths, but it’s clear they aren’t looking to play things safe. With a shift in genres that takes them into an entirely different direction, it’s an interesting change, but one I was immediately down for.

I’ve played the first few chapters of Valor Mortis, and it’s definitely something different. Pitching itself as a first-person soulslike. Starting off in the first chapter from the publicly available demo from not too long ago. Things largely remain the same; you wake up after being brought back from the dead and immediately explore a devastated battlefield where enemies and former allies have mutated into something else entirely. 

Looking forward to exploring more of this world.

I’m not going to lie, my playthrough of the first chapter was a little bit rough. I played on keyboard and mouse, and the default key-bindings are admittedly awful. But against my better nature, I turned on my Steam Controller and found it a much better experience. Except for my fairly embarrassing controller aim. Valor Mortis has a steeper difficulty curve than others in the genre but it also evens out once you get used to the combat loop. 

Gameplay should feel familiar to anyone who’s played a Souls game, but it’s closer to Bloodborne than FromSoftware’s other titles. You’ve got the standard health and stamina systems with limited healing items that can only be recovered at various lanterns that also respawn most enemies on the map. In your right hand, you will have a choice of melee weapons, starting with a standard sabre with its light and heavy attacks. But more interesting is the left hand, where you’ll unlock various different abilities such as flamehands that light up darker areas and spew flames at enemies. And you’ll also have firearms that can be used to interact with the environment and destroy weak spots.

Getting hit while blocking will chip away at your health bar, but you can recover it by quickly attacking back. Whilst perfect parrying, you won’t take any damage and instead build up the enemy’s stagger bar. Once full, the enemy will be open to a devastating finisher move. On top of this, you will be able to dodge out of the way, time this perfectly against red powerful attacks, and you’ll deal more damage on your next hit. 

Wasn’t expecting a village attack section straight out of RE4.

Valor Mortis has left strong impressions on me in its opening hours, and I’m excited to play more. The combat is fast-paced, brutal and surprisingly well-tuned. Across the chapters I’ve played so far, I’ve had access to a variety of equipment, with the rapier removing the block function but buffing counterattacks. This makes parrying an even riskier endeavour, but it feels like an absolute badass pulling it off against a barrage of attacks.

My favourite moment from the first few chapters was straight out of Resident Evil 4 meets Bloodborne, as you enter a remote village completely overrun by this infection. Villagers attack on sight with horrific mutations, and you sneak through wheat fields and village buildings. They often lie in wait and keep themselves hidden until you get close. Whilst Valor Mortis isn’t strictly a horror game, it has an atmospheric horror layer that just works wonders. 

Whilst environments are mostly linear, split into their own loading zones, there is that signature soulslike exploration as well, with many hidden pathways and secrets to find. As well as an incentive to return, with entire areas from earlier sections locked off until you get an ability later in the game. 

Bosses are an excellent test of your skills so far.

Playing the preview build on PC at 3440×1440 with full ultrawide support I’m largely impressed with what’s on display here. Environments are densely packed with detail, enemy designs are often horrific, and the game largely runs well. Though there have been a few moments where it started stuttering entering new locations

Valor Mortis releases on 13th October, and I’m incredibly excited to play more. I’ve been following this game since its announcement, and finally getting hands-on with an extended chunk of the game has made me even more excited for it. If you are a soulslike fan, you should keep an eye on this one.