When the Valor Mortis launch revolves around a game name that translates roughly to “courage of death” or “valor of death,” it’s got to start in some metal fashion. And metal does it begin. Imagine waking up in a battlefield of the dead, knowing very well you were supposed to be one of them. You were William, a proud member of the Grande Armée, who died in the service of Napoleon, now arisen and surrounded by your fallen comrades, with no recollection of what happened except for a glowing right arm and monstrosities walking in your direction.
You pick up your cutlass and flintlock pistol, take aim, and once again fight in the name of Napoleon. The nation comes first, questions come later.
What is Valor Mortis?
Described by One Level Interactive as a first-person soulslike, Valor Mortis is an action title set in Napoleonic-era France as it is ravaged by a mysterious virus.
It’s slated for an October 13, 2026 release, with PlayStation Plus subscribers now getting a 90-minute free trial on launch date. And as a game with a USD 40 price tag on the line, you might ask whether the Valor Mortis launch may be even worth the purchase, or something to wait for at a discounted price. We gathered what everyone more or less had to say.
The basic gameplay loop
Every combat with a slight difficulty uptick is usually plastered with the “soulslike” label, but would this apply to Valor Mortis? The extent of its “soulslike”-ness will likely be judged in its release, but demo footage from those who did play seems to imply the DNA is technically there.
Stamina plays a huge role in William’s survival. He can block attacks in exchange for some health, do timed parries to unleash devastating counters, or outright parry unblockable attacks.
Depending on his weapon of choice, he can go close-range with his cutlass (his default weapon) or stagger enemies by aiming his flintlock (his default ranged weapon) at their weak points. And with his newfound gift (or curse?), William can turn the tide of battle with the occasional Transmutations from his right arm.
Platforming is a unique mechanic fresh from Ghostrunner
Where Valor Mortis surprises is its exploration, which takes a lot of cues from Metroidvania-style games but applied to a first-person action title. It’s no “open” experience like Elden Ring or hub-focused like any of the Souls games. Rather, level design itself was observed to be largely linear, as areas are implied to always be branching into sets of two. With no map as a reference point, players need to memorize what general “locale” they needed to watch out for in order to get to an area in the game they wanted to get back to. There are checkpoints in the form of bonfires in some areas, giving players a place to upgrade their kits.
And just like the mysterious virus that corrupted William in his resurrection, Valor Mortis and its “soulslike DNA” will undergo a mutation when its Ghostrunner roots come into play.
If Apex Legends were any indication (add any highlight reel from any of the Ghostrunners), it’s already hard enough to move and jump in FPS. Even more so if it’s a soulslike where skilled movement is an absolute must to avoid repeat runs. This means there’s a third dimension to Valor Mortis gameplay to master (combat, exploration, platforming), which can probably help keep players on their toes despite the rather small game world.
Is there enemy variety?
A soulslike wouldn’t be a soulslike without its fair share of enemies, and Valor Mortis is implied to deliver a healthy amount. As players get deeper into the world’s many branching paths, they will eventually face more unique enemies. It seems there’s just enough variety that the game won’t feel “same-y” by the time players get too deep into the plot and exploration. And a huge part of this might have been the art direction as well.
Say what you will about the period choice, but Valor Mortis nailed the art here. The period design is close enough to Bloodborne due to the era (makes sense), but the interlacing of the horror elements gives it its own tone. There’s something almost grotesque to it all. Not the blood and gore of Silent Hill or the “biological horror” of Resident Evil, but something raw, primal, and just wrong.
Weapons and items in Valor Mortis
For a soulslike, Valor Mortis seemed to have a rather odd list of weapons. From the Deluxe Edition poster, the weapon choices seem to be limited to six major types: the Pistol, the Blunderbuss, and the Musket for ranged, with the Rapier, Sabre, and Claymore for melee. As such, it’s implied players will use whatever slate of armaments they can find and create their builds on the fly.
But if there aren’t a lot of weapons and spells to discover early in the gameplay, then there’s not a lot of build variety in the first place. This extends to the skill tree, which seems to cover a lot of passive selections (traditional slate of more Health and Stamina, more damage of a certain type, etc.), but not a lot of “exclusive” components to set themselves apart. Being an FPS where enemies tend to pursue the players head-on, the melee build is an obvious choice – and for a soulslike, locking players into one “ideal” build, even if it’s the “easy” or “default” build, isn’t that encouraging. But the underlying challenge of using potentially an unorthodox build means it’s still worth looking into anyway.
The Valor Mortis launch happens on October 13, 2026 on the PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5. Players with PlayStation Plus members also get a 90-minute trial, which is perfect to test out the waters and see if this gritty FPS soulslike is right up your alley. Its base edition costs USD 40, while its Deluxe Edition ais vailable for USD 60.
Valor Mortis Frequently Asked Questions
What are the Valor Mortis system requirements?
If you’re shooting for 1080p/60 FPS on Medium, you need at minimum AMD Ryzen 7 3700X or Intel Core i7-11170, with 16GB RAM and AMD Radeon RX 6700 or an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super. You also need a minimum of 50 GB storage.
Read a more in-depth guide in our system requirements article.
Is there a multiplayer mode in Valor Mortis?
No, the game is strictly single-player. There won’t be any co-ops, PvPs, or any other multiplayer components that are usually present in other soulslikes.
How long is Valor Mortis?
Around 20 hours, according to the devs. Of course, the overall length of the single-player campaign largely depends on the player’s progression and how they want to approach the Metroidvania-style map.
Published: Oct 10, 2026 04:30 pm