You’ll have already seen a trailer for Valor Mortis, the upcoming first-person soulslike set in a twisted model of the Napoleonic Wars.
Developed by Ghostrunner developer One Extra Degree, and after a number of trailers and a free demo launched on Steam, the sport is ready to launch in October only a month shy of the launch of Grand Theft Auto VI.
Effectively, it seems the sport can be fairly superior, as I just lately found in my unique hands-on session at Gamescom 2026.
In Valor Mortis, you play as William, a soldier of Napoleon’s military who has been revived from his battlefield grave by an unknown pressure. It seems that following your dying, a mysterious plague has began to comb throughout Europe, infecting anybody it comes into contact with.
This supernatural plague turns its hosts into undead creatures, with William’s former comrades now turning on him. The sport follows William as he navigates this space of Jap Europe whereas attempting to outlive the horrors that infect it, all whereas attempting to unravel the query of his mysterious resurrection.
Learn Extra: Weapons of Eschaton rethinks the soulslike in an fascinating method
For those who like Shadow Warrior, you may most likely like Valor Mortis
The fight in Valor Mortis primarily makes use of a cutlass during which it’s worthwhile to block enemy assaults and construct up a posture meter just like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, the place staggering them can can help you deal devastating quantities of injury to their well being.
Just like many different soulslikes and motion RPGs, the sport’s fight is hitbox-based, so slashing away at a big group of enemies will deal various quantities of injury to every of them. What actually permits this to show itself lies within the animation division, although.
Lyrical Video games
In video games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, enemies don’t react to your assaults within the methods you’d anticipate them to, which may make fight really feel floaty and unresponsive. However for Valor Mortis, enemies react to your assaults with an enormous diploma of fluidity, which makes fight really feel all of the extra satisfying. It is form of like a mixture of Shadow Warrior and Darkish Messiah of Would possibly and Magic.
Some enemies have ranged assaults too, utilizing muskets to fireplace at you from afar. You’re given loads of warning after they’re about to assault, however what was notably enjoyable to do is try to put one other enemy between the 2 of you, inflicting them to shoot their comrade within the again. It’s these small particulars which actually assist to promote the fantasy that Valor Mortis goes for.
The preliminary opening space I performed by way of was fairly closed off, however as I pressed on, I might sense every playable space regularly opening up slightly extra. New areas with secret shortcuts or hidden collectables began to disclose themselves, and I get the sense that over the course of the sport’s lengthy playtime, that is finally going to show into extra of a metroidvania, with new powers and skills unlocking new routes to traverse by way of.
Regardless of the large open areas, I by no means felt like I used to be being crowded by enemies. At most, you come up in opposition to three or 4 attackers at a time, and the large radius of your assaults and power of your block assist in coping with these foes.
With what number of soulslikes it appears like we’re getting these days, I used to be slightly afraid that Valor Mortis would possibly get misplaced within the shuffle. However with a novel theme and a satisfying fight loop, there’s no motive to be uncertain of this sport being in GOTY conversations on the finish of the yr.
That’s if One Extra Degree can sustain that momentum for the remainder of the sport.
If you wish to try Valor Mortis for your self, a free demo can be out there on Steam so that you can try. The complete sport will launch for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Sequence X/S on October 13, 2026.
