Game: Valor Mortis
Developer: One More Level
Publisher: Lyrical Games · One More Level
Genre: First-Person Soulslike
Release: October 13, 2026
Price: $39.99 (Deluxe Upgrade $20)
Platforms: PC · PS5 · Xbox Series X|S · Game Pass
Length: 15–20 hours
⚔️ How we reviewed it: we played Valor Mortis on PC with a review code provided by the publisher. Our verdict also draws on the experiences of players and another reviewer since launch.
Content note: Rated M (Mature 17+) for intense violence, blood and gore, and strong language. Expect brutal finishers, mutilated bodies and body-horror creature designs throughout.
80OpenCritic
15–20Hours
$39.99Price
39Achievements
UE5Engine
☠️ Know this first: this is a real Soulslike, and first-person makes it trickier. Valor Mortis is punishing, parry-focused and unforgiving. Judging distance without seeing your own body takes adjustment, and the game’s hitboxes are its most debated issue. Performance can also stutter at key moments, and the developers warn that handheld PCs like the Steam Deck and ROG Ally may run it worse than expected.
👁️ First-Person Changes Everything, for Better and Worse
One More Level’s reason for making a first-person Soulslike is simple: it makes every fight personal. Steel clashes inches from your face, finishers happen right in front of you, and the result is some of the most visceral melee combat in the genre. Players are comparing the parrying to Sekiro and Lies of P.
But that same perspective causes the game’s biggest controversy. The most helpful review on Steam argues that enemy attacks often land even when the weapon looks like it’s stopped short of you, which is a real problem in a game built around parrying. Others say they can’t see the issue at all, and one player put it more simply: it takes time to learn the right parry distance in first person.
That split explains the scores. It sits at Mostly Positive on Steam and a “Strong” 80 on OpenCritic. When it clicks, it’s brilliant. When it doesn’t, it’s infuriating.
Napoleon won. Europe lost. Now it’s your turn to die.
It’s 1820, five years after Napoleon’s triumph at Waterloo. You’re William Dowsett, a young British officer stripped of his memories, who joins the Foreign Legion of the Imperial Guard and is brought back from a battlefield grave in war-torn Eastern Europe. A mysterious plague is sweeping the continent, Napoleon’s Eternal Guard has become an army of horrifying abominations, and a ruthless resistance leader known as The Shrike leaves impaled French soldiers in their wake.
Valor Mortis comes from One More Level, the Polish studio behind Ghostrunner and Ghostrunner 2, and is co-published with Lyrical Games. It launched on October 13, 2026 for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, including Game Pass. Our verdict: From the creators of Ghostrunner comes a supernatural soulslike that proves One More Level knows how to nail visceral first-person combat.
Sword, Pistol and Sorcery
🗡️ Parry
Time your blocks to break an enemy’s posture, then finish them with a brutal weapon-specific execution.
💨 Perfect Dodge
Dodge at the last moment to slow time and earn a damage boost.
🔫 Shoot
Your off-hand firearm hits enemies at range and blasts away obstacles.
🔥 Transmute
Supernatural powers like fire set enemies ablaze and burn open new paths.
The combat follows the classic Soulslike rules (stamina management, timing, positioning and learning your enemies), but the loadouts make it feel fresh. You’ll mix melee weapons, firearms, grenades and magical Transmutations. Great swords work well, but one player’s favourite combination was a quick rapier with an off-hand pistol, chaining slashes, gunshots and spells into something they called ridiculously smooth.
💀 The Finishers Steal the Show
Land a parry or break an enemy’s guard and you’ll trigger a gruesome finisher that changes with whatever’s in your other hand: scorching an enemy with fire, a stab to the neck, a point-blank pistol shot, or a simple kick to the chest. One player admitted to reacting out loud almost every time. It’s brutal, it’s bloody, and it never gets old.
The enemies themselves are a highlight too: musketeers, cuirassiers and grenadiers of the Grande Armée twisted into mutated monsters, each needing its own approach.
A World Worth Exploring
The world design is one of Valor Mortis’s best features. Maps are packed with verticality, shortcuts, hidden loot and secret areas, and there’s a light Metroidvania streak: as you gain new mobility abilities, previously closed paths open up to elite enemies, hidden treasures and new discoveries. Shooting strange growths can reveal new routes, and burning away walls of glowing goo often opens a shortcut back to your last checkpoint.
It’s also a stunning game. The art direction is grotesque and beautiful in equal measure, with superb lighting, fire and foliage, and players have praised both the voice acting and the sound design. Short first-person platforming sections add variety, though missing a jump can feel unforgiving.
🏮 Dying, Lanterns and Ambers
Valor Mortis uses familiar Soulslike rules. Lanterns are your checkpoints: die and you’ll return to the last one you lit, dropping all your Catalysts (the game’s currency) where you fell. Get back to them before dying again or they’re gone for good. Regular enemies respawn, but bosses stay dead. You spend Catalysts at Lanterns to level up, and every five levels you can slot in a new Amber, a hidden upgrade that can dramatically change your build.
It’s also friendlier than many Soulslikes. Players highlight frequent checkpoints, no long boss runbacks, clearly explained mechanics, a field-of-view slider, full key rebinding and, yes, a pause button. One player who’s never been a Soulslike fan called it the best one they’ve played.
Where It Stumbles
⚠️ Battle Scars
1. Hitboxes and readability. The biggest complaint by far. Several players say attacks that appear to stop short still connect, and enemies with delayed, held wind-ups that suddenly snap forward make parry timing hard to read. Some players never notice it; for others, it’s a dealbreaker. The developers have responded to the most prominent reviews.
2. Performance. Some players report smooth play, but others see frame-rate drops and stutters, sometimes in the middle of key fights, where a dropped frame can cost you a parry. One player reported a crash that stopped once they turned off frame generation. The developers also warn of weaker performance on Steam Deck, ROG Ally and some laptops.
3. A tight stamina system. Blocking instead of parrying costs a lot of stamina, the bar is small, and early damage feels low, which pushes you toward defensive play.
4. Bosses can be easier than the fights before them. One player found some major bosses easier than the regular encounters leading up to them.
5. Light on RPG depth. There’s no armour and only limited customisation, and one reviewer found it closer to a Soulslike action game than a full RPG.
6. Keyboard and mouse feel secondary. One player found the default bindings and hold-to-sprint awkward on KBM. A controller is the way to go.
Things to Know
📋 Before You Buy
• $39.99 on Steam, with a $20 Deluxe Upgrade; also on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, including Game Pass
• About 15–20 hours long, single-player only
• Full controller support (PlayStation controllers over USB only on PC), and a controller is recommended
• 5 accessibility features, an FOV slider, HDR, key rebinding and 14 languages (full English voice)
• Steam Deck: not yet rated by Valve, and the developers warn of reduced performance on handhelds
• Minimum: Ryzen 5 3600 / i5-10600K, 16 GB RAM, RX 5600 XT / GTX 1660 Ti, SSD required (60 GB), aiming for 30 fps at 1080p Low with upscaling
• Recommended: Ryzen 7 5800X / i5-13400, RX 6800 / RTX 3070, aiming for 60 fps at 1440p Medium with upscaling
• Requires agreement to a third-party EULA
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
| The Good |
The Bad |
The Ugly |
| Visceral First-Person CombatParries, perfect dodges and brutal weapon-specific finishers. |
Tight StaminaBlocking drains you fast, which pushes you to parry. |
Hitbox ReadabilityAttacks that look like misses can still land. |
| A Brilliant SettingNapoleonic alternate-history horror, unlike any other Soulslike. |
Uneven BossesSome are easier than the fights before them. |
Stutters at the Worst MomentsFrame drops during key fights. |
| Great World DesignShortcuts, secrets, verticality and Metroidvania backtracking. |
Light RPG DepthNo armour and limited customisation. |
Handheld PerformanceSteam Deck and ROG Ally may struggle. |
| Flexible LoadoutsBlades, pistols, grenades and Transmutations. |
KBM Feels SecondaryPlay on a controller. |
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| Superb PresentationGrotesque art direction, voice acting and sound design, for $39.99. |
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The Verdict
Valor Mortis is one of the most distinctive Soulslikes in years. Its Napoleonic horror setting is a breath of fresh air in a genre full of crumbling kingdoms, its first-person combat is genuinely thrilling, and its world rewards curiosity at every turn. It looks fantastic and sounds great, and at $39.99 it’s excellent value.
It isn’t flawless. The hitbox and readability issues will make or break the game for some players, performance needs work, and stamina and boss balance could use tuning. Whether the hitboxes bother you seems to come down to how quickly you adjust to judging distance in first person.
The honest read: if you love Soulslikes, or Ghostrunner, and you’re up for a challenge, march in. If you’re sensitive to hit readability or playing on a handheld, wait for a patch or two.
For more game reviews, check out our full reviews section.
Score Breakdown
Art Direction & Atmosphere9.0/10
World Design & Exploration8.5/10
Sound & Voice Acting8.5/10
Performance & Stability6.0/10
Hitboxes & Readability5.5/10
Final Score
7.8/10
Valor Mortis — One More Level
Brutal, beautiful, and worth dying for
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