Valor Mortis Review, Gameplay Impressions, Videos and Top Features

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Valor Mortis from developer One More Level is a bold departure for the studio and genre as a whole. 

A first-person Soulslike, Valor Mortis is a slower, measured take for a studio best known for its speedy, first-person parkour action in the beloved Ghostrunner series. 

There are familiar trappings in the Soulslike here, of course. But there are also some unexpected twists in exploration, an engrossing setting and interesting progression systems at play that truly help Valor Mortis stand out from the pack before launch. 

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A historical Eastern European setting besieged by a plague is suddenly one of the more captivating backdrops for a game in recent memory. 

This era has been done before, no doubt, but the supernatural twist on top of the fighting in realistic, grisly displays of violence and superb sound design really makes Valor Mortis feel distinct. 

Truly, there are few more interesting settings in games right now. What could have been a by-the-books historical romp instead has players stumbling upon odd growths throughout the landscape, grotesque monsters and so much more. There are landmarks aplenty, and it all makes even backtracking fun. 

A blade is the weapon of choice here. In an interesting twist on the expected gameplay tropes for the genre, players will sacrifice a little health to perform a block. There’s a risk-reward there, plus needing to properly read a foe’s intentions, as a dodge will get them past unblockable attacks and parries, as expected, reward proper timing with big counter damage. 

There’s a little era-specific range involved too courtesy of a firearms. Ammo is super scarce at times, but for good reason: Players can use this to target enemy weak points, leading to staggers. 

Leaning into the supernatural slant of the whole thing, players also get magic-like abilities dubbed “transmutations” that add another layer of strategy to the combat. It feels a little generic to call it Bioshock-like, but that’s what it is and it feels great. 

Valor Mortis goes the expected genre route with death, too, respawning players at the last checkpoint visited, but this time it’s lanterns. Enemies respawn too. 

Where the game veers away from others, though, is a Metroidvania-like revisiting feel. As players unlock new abilities, new spots in already-explored areas open up, as do new discoverable items and, of course, enemies. 

A heavy emphasis on exploration is a welcome surprise. The combat feels great, but getting to explore the world so much is a nice bonus that breaks up the pacing really well. 

With an alternate 1820 Eastern Europe setting, Valor Mortis was already pretty unique with just that going for it. Add a supernatural element and things just go over the top. 

It’s engrossing, with whispers in the narrative of Napoleon’s Battle of Waterloo victory being fueled by a mysterious substance that makes his soldiers die more than once for him. 

Players take on the role of a resurrected William, who must confront undead comrades and other memorable (or haunting) things out in the world. Players get wrapped up in conspiracies, mysteries and quite a bit more over the course of what is a pretty lengthy, strong story.

Overall progression gets a nice boost from the “catalysts” earned, enabling base stat upgrades to things like health. The fun wrinkle there is that players must spend them, as unspent catalysts get dropped upon death and gone forever. 

Layering atop that nicely are “ambers,” little add-ons to a build players can equip every five levels earned. It gives players some agency over what sort of style they want to take. 

Overall, Valor Mortis runs well amid all the chaos it presents and the options feature plenty of tweakable things for players to tinker with as needed. 

Valor Mortis presents a captivating world that serves as one of the most memorable settings in modern games. 

Beyond that, the strong combat from the first-person perspective is a must-have genre twist that’s done very well. Difficulty can be uneven at times, but staples of the genre, like learning enemy patterns and improving by the battle, are all there. 

The fact exploration of the world is enjoyable to the point that even backtracking can be fun is really just an exclamation point, cementing Valor Mortis as one of the best surprises of the year.