When I played the preview build of Valor Mortis a couple of weeks ago, I came away thoroughly impressed. One More Level’s Ghostrunner is one of my favorite new franchises of the past few years, so the studio’s decision to pivot from frantic action platforming to a slower, more brutal soulslike had me intrigued from the getgo. Now that I’ve finally gotten my hands on the full game, I can safely say it’s pretty much what I expected: an incredibly solid soulslike that manages to feel refreshing in an increasingly crowded genre.

A soulslike-inspired game in a brand new visual perspective.

Set in an alternate 19th century during the Napoleonic Wars, Valor Mortis takes place in a Europe ravaged by a supernatural plague. Armies, resistance fighters, and everyone caught in between have fallen victim to the outbreak, with those who survive being mutated into twisted abominations. You play as William, a soldier who awakens among the bodies of his fallen comrades, resurrected by a mysterious substance known as Nephtoglobin, which grants him supernatural abilities.

Caught between Napoleon and a mysterious resistance leader known as the Shrike, both of whom seek to sway his loyalty, William struggles to figure out whom he can trust. He sets out to find survivors and put an end to the plague before it consumes the rest of the world.

While the premise and setting are intriguing, Valor Mortis doesn’t do nearly enough with them throughout most of its campaign. Just as the story starts getting interesting, it abruptly ends on a cliffhanger, leaving me wishing there had been a little more to it. Thankfully, even if the narrative falls somewhat flat toward the end, the worldbuilding remains consistently excellent. Notes scattered throughout the environments flesh out the setting, while the characters you encounter showcase both the best and worst of the opposing factions. At the very least, the ending leaves the door wide open for a sequel, and I sincerely hope we get one.

Valor Mortis features all the hallmarks of a classic soulslike experience. Its sprawling, lived-in environments intertwine and loop back on themselves, with cleverly placed shortcuts and lanterns where you can rest, level up, and replenish your limited healing supplies. You’ll explore the remnants of devastated battlefields, abandoned forts, and nearby villages overrun by the plague. Each location has its own distinct atmosphere, packed with secrets to uncover, enemies to defeat, and even side quests to complete. Some of these quests also feature different outcomes and rewards depending on your decisions, giving you an extra incentive to explore and experiment.

Every boss brings something entirely different.

The game starts off relatively linear, but eventually opens up with branching paths and metroidvania-style backtracking, encouraging you to revisit previous areas to unlock new routes and progress through quests. Some of these quests even feature multiple endings depending on your actions. While they don’t affect the overarching narrative, they’re welcome additions that made me stop and consider my decisions.

Where Valor Mortis really starts carving out its own identity, however, is through its perspective. Rather than sticking with the traditional third-person viewpoint of most soulslikes, it shifts the action into first person. It’s a risky move, considering first-person melee combat doesn’t exactly have the greatest reputation, often feeling floaty and unresponsive. Thankfully, I think OneMoreLevel has pulled off something special here, delivering first-person melee combat that not only doesn’t suck, but might be some of the best I’ve experienced in quite a while.

Your right hand is almost always occupied by a melee weapon, allowing you to perform standard light and heavy attacks. You can also block incoming blows, with well-timed blocks functioning as parries. Successfully parrying an enemy drains their stamina, eventually stunning them and leaving them vulnerable to a devastating finisher.

Throughout the game, you’ll gain access to three melee weapons, each catering to a different playstyle. The sabre is your standard all-rounder, offering a solid balance between offense and defense. Although blocking still causes you to take damage, quickly retaliating with your own attacks allows you to recover that lost health. The rapier, meanwhile, is faster, deals piercing damage, and is much better suited to parrying. The catch is that you can’t block with it, making every attempted parry a potentially costly gamble. Finally, there’s the claymore, which sits at the opposite end of the spectrum, favoring a slower, more defensive approach.

Your left hand handles ranged weaponry, starting with a simple pistol that can target enemy weak points or interact with environmental hazards. These include explosive objects and strange growths that can open new paths or reveal shortcuts. It’s worth paying close attention to your surroundings, as a surprising number of environmental elements can be used to gain an advantage during combat. You’ll also gradually unlock a handful of Nephtoglobin abilities tied to the plague ravaging the land, with a flamethrower-like attack and a stasis ability being the most notable. Between the combination of firearms, supernatural powers, and environmental interactions, there’s definitely a little bit of Bioshock creeping into the formula.

Believe it or not. That’s a boss fight.

While the arsenal might sound relatively limited, it’s far less of an issue than you’d expect. I found myself constantly switching between weapons and abilities depending on the situation. Against some enemies, I was a parry god, while others forced me to play more cautiously, using stasis to create openings or fire to detonate canisters strapped to their backs. Combine these tools with the game’s faster combat, and you’ve got an addictive gameplay loop I simply couldn’t put down. Getting creative and making full use of your arsenal is the key to getting the most out of Valor Mortis.

Despite the shift in genre, the developers clearly haven’t forgotten their roots in fast-paced action games. Valor Mortis is considerably faster than many of its soulslike contemporaries, with a pace closer to Bloodborne. Players can dodge quickly and perform light parkour, with William able to swing from branches, run along certain walls, and use a grappling hook to traverse the environment. For the most part, these mechanics are reserved for specific sections along the main progression path, although they occasionally come into play during combat in larger arenas. Enemies can also move incredibly quickly, unleashing rapid, devastating attacks that make successful parries difficult but immensely rewarding.

Boss fights are generally pretty solid, offering a satisfying challenge while making good use of the game’s combat mechanics. Some of the later encounters took me quite a few attempts to overcome, but finally landing that killing blow always felt incredibly satisfying. My main complaint is the game’s overreliance on surprise second phases. This kind of twist can be fantastic when used sparingly, like the Guardian Ape in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice or Malenia in Elden Ring. In Valor Mortis, however, it happens so frequently that the surprise quickly wears off. Thankfully, the bosses themselves are largely varied and distinctive, even if their tendency to refuse to stay dead becomes a little predictable.

Insert obligatory poison swamp in a game like this.

My initial playthrough took around 20 hours, with plenty of exploration and side quests completed, although I still had a few left unfinished. There’s no NG+ mode at launch, but the developers have promised to add it before the end of the year, alongside some additional challenges. Speaking of challenges, Valor Mortis is certainly demanding, but it’s also an incredibly fair and well-balanced game for the most part. The opening hours absolutely beat me as I adjusted to its unique gameplay style and admittedly clunky controls, but things became much smoother once I got the hang of them.

That doesn’t mean the experience is without its low points. The obligatory sewer and cave levels are rather lackluster, while some scripted set pieces fall completely flat. One particularly out-of-place stealth section temporarily strips you of your weapons, resulting in an awkward sequence that feels more clumsy than tense. The weapon wheel could also use some refinement, and I wish there were a bit more variety among the regular enemies you’ll spend most of your time fighting.

There’s also a noticeable lack of polish that holds the experience back somewhat. I’ve encountered enemies suddenly popping into existence, remaining aggressive even after I died and respawned, and occasionally getting stuck while trying to make their way back toward a lantern. I’ve also found myself trapped in the environment thanks to traversal mechanics that don’t always behave as intended. I’ve been told that many of these issues have been addressed in the day one patch, so I’m hopeful the launch experience will be smoother. Thankfully, none of the problems I encountered were particularly game-breaking, even if they occasionally disrupted the flow.

The world of Valor Mortis is dark, brutal, and relentlessly depressing. From the moment you awaken in a mass grave to the very end of your journey, you’re surrounded by the horrors of war and a supernatural plague. You’ll explore everything from devastated battlefields to villages and cities ravaged by the conflict, each location reinforcing the sheer misery of this alternate version of Europe. The enemy designs are equally disturbing, featuring some fantastic body horror as infected creatures twist and mutate into grotesque abominations. The dog-like mutations, in particular, are spectacularly disgusting. It’s a visceral experience that constantly found new ways to surprise me. While Valor Mortis isn’t a dedicated survival horror game, its atmosphere is so well executed that it genuinely had me on edge at times.

Things are really heating up.

Much like its gameplay, however, the presentation isn’t entirely flawless. PC performance can be rather inconsistent, with frequent framerate drops and hitching, particularly when moving quickly through certain areas later in the game. The visuals can also look a little rough around the edges, with muddy textures and noticeable drops in quality whenever you venture off the beaten path. And while ultrawide resolutions are supported, the lack of a proper FOV slider is disappointing.

Thankfully, the small cast of characters is brought to life by some mostly excellent voice performances. James Alexander leads the way as William, portraying him as a surprisingly smooth-talking protagonist. Vincent Cassel, meanwhile, steals the show as a ruthless Napoleon, while Jennifer English delivers a mesmerizing performance as the mysterious Shrike. The sound design is equally impressive, with satisfying weapon effects that make every successful parry and gunshot feel impactful. Unfortunately, I also encountered some bizarre audio issues, particularly when enemies were in adjacent rooms. In these situations, certain sound effects simply wouldn’t play at all, making the audio feel strangely inconsistent.

For the most part, Valor Mortis has lived up to my expectations. It’s a fast-paced, visceral first-person soulslike that manages to be both challenging and a hell of a lot of fun. A little more enemy variety and an extra layer of polish would have gone a long way, but these are relatively minor complaints in an otherwise excellent experience. I sincerely hope we haven’t seen the last of this franchise, even if that means Ghostrunner has to take a slightly longer vacation.

Valor Mortis is available now on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. 

Reviewed on PC with an RTX 4070, Ryzen 7 7800X3D and 32GB RAM.

A copy of Valor Mortis was provided by the publisher.