Though my relationship with soulslikes wasn’t quite love at first sight, it’s since become a genre that I cherish above all else. Consistent and rewarding progression, brutal but fair combat, creative enemy designs, interconnected level structure, and arguably my favorite of the bunch, a satisfying parry mechanic, are all gameplay elements that I hold dear. And when all of these elements come together, they’ve frequently formed some of my favorite video games of all time. Valor Mortis has all of these elements.
Being developed by One More Level — the same studio behind the Ghostrunner duology — Valor Mortis is a first-person soulslike set in an alternate history version of the Napoleonic Wars. As a big fan of Ghostrunner, an admirer of history, and an unabashed lover of soulslikes, I’ve had my eye on Valor Mortis since its announcement last year. I finally got my hands on Valor Mortis at Gamescom 2026, and I can wholeheartedly say that it was worth the wait.
A Truly Sharp(e) Soulslike Experience
My hands-on preview of Valor Mortis began with player-character William waking up on a desecrated battlefield. He’s not quite sure how, but he thinks he’s just been resurrected from the dead, and now he can hear Emperor Napoleon’s voice in his head. He doesn’t have long to figure it out, however, as he’s quickly ambushed by a fellow soldier of the British Grand Armée, though this resurrected soul appears much more zombie-like in nature.
The undead soldier rushes at William with his cutlass held high, and players get their first taste of combat, the meat and potatoes of the Valor Mortis experience. A first-person soulslike, Valor Mortis‘ combat features the usual mechanics fans of the genre would expect to see, only from a rarely-explored perspective. Tapping the right trigger will swing William’s sword, R1 activates a side-step dodge, and L1 blocks and parries oncoming attacks when timed right. This first encounter lasted mere seconds as I delivered a three-hit combo that cut the undead soldier down with a flurry of graceful but brutal animations.
In the next handful of tutorial fights, I focused on mastering Valor Mortis‘ parry mechanic and found it to be delightfully intuitive and exceptionally satisfying. Parrying just one very well-telegraphed attack from a weaker enemy will allow players to deliver a gloriously bloody finisher, while stronger enemies often require several consecutive parries to stagger. While the responsiveness of inputs, the surprisingly accurate camera lock-on, the feedback of enemy models, and the gore effects all come together to make the core fundamentals of Valor Mortis‘ combat feel incredibly satisfying, it’s the game’s audio design that left a lasting impression on me, with each successive parry and sword strike producing a progressively higher-pitched metal twang.
I continued my journey through the blood-soaked battlefield and took in all of the grotesque sights that laid before me, noticing just how strong Valor Mortis‘ art direction is, and how immersively ominous its atmosphere feels. I eventually stumbled upon a corpse with a flaming heart embedded in his chest, consumed it, and was granted a new BioShock-like ability where a cone of fire would spray from my left hand when holding down the left trigger. While this ability obviously has its uses in combat, I was personally happier to see that it opened up shortcuts in the level, delivering a hint of the interconnected level design often found in the best soulslikes.
This newly opened shortcut also led me to my first lantern, checkpoints that essentially act as Valor Mortis‘ bonfires. Here, players can regain health and level up. Killing enemies rewards points that can be used to increase the player’s health, mana, or stamina, and eventually, more specific skills like increased parry impact can be obtained.
After facing off against several legions of undead riflemen, I found my way to Valor Mortis‘ second area, which swapped the gut-strewn battlefield for a surprisingly beautiful canyon in the countryside. Here I got my hands on the pistol, and an already great soulslike experience became something truly special. Replacing the flame ability (the two can be swapped with a tap of the Y/Triangle button), the pistol allows players to aim down sights and take a quick shot. Most enemies have a glowing pustule on their body or head that can be shot to inflict major damage, encouraging fluid use of both gun and sword during combat.
This second section of the demo saw me climbing the side of a mountain, parrying sword strikes, delivering brutal finishers, blasting away at weakpoints, blowing up environmental hazards, and even doing some very light Ghostrunner-esque platforming. I was so engrossed in my play session that I didn’t realize my hour-long appointment had come to an end. I didn’t have another appointment lined up for another hour though, so I sheepishly asked the developers if I could keep playing. They happily obliged, and I gleefully returned to the demo, spending another half an hour taking in the beautifully eerie sights and engaging in Valor Mortis‘ gratifying combat.
Valor Mortis Hands-On Final Thoughts
After around an hour and a half of playtime, the overwhelming impression I have of Valor Mortis is that it feels like a game tailor-made for me. It’s focusing on the aspects of soulslikes I love the most (parrying and interconnected level design), it’s exploring a historical setting I’ve found a new passion for in recent months, and it all feels shockingly well-polished. Aside from one secret thing I can’t talk about just yet, Valor Mortis was undoubtedly the best thing I saw at Gamescom 2026, and I’m counting down the days until I can play it again in October.
- Released
-
October 13, 2026
- ESRB
-
Mature 17+ / Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
-
One More Level
- Publisher(s)
-
One More Level, Lyrical Games
