The Ghostrunner series consists of two games that feature futuristic, lethal first-person combat and are about a cybernetic ninja slicing up goons in a dystopian world. This is what developer One More Level is best known for. And yet their latest upcoming title, Valor Mortis, is a drastic departure from what we know about the studio. We are talking about a hard pivot from lethal first-person combat to defensive parry-focused combat. The two series can’t be any more different; maybe that is the point.
Valor Mortis is a first-person ARPG that features reactive combat with the support of supernatural powers. The game is set in the waning moments of the Napoleonic era, where a mysterious plague has taken hold, transforming the continent into literal Hell on Earth. Players take control of William, a resurrected soldier who once served in Napoleon’s army. He is on a quest to discover the source of the plague and destroy it for humanity’s sake.
The Valor Mortis demo contains two levels: Chapter I – Revival and Chapter VII – Witch Hunt. The best way I can describe it is that Chapter 1 introduces the setting and the various gameplay mechanics, while Chapter VII gives a specialized kit and tosses you straight into the deep end. You will learn very quickly whether or not you actually like this game.
Valor Mortis is a first-person ARPG with various Napoleonic era-accurate weapons and a greater emphasis on parries and dashes. The demo features a saber and a rapier, but there should be room for heavier weapons. While it is fine to stand your ground and slash at your enemies the entire time, you will learn that dealing with tougher enemies requires a fair bit of parrying, even if the game doesn’t tell you that right away.
A major highlight of the game is its visceral finishers that change depending on the weapon you have equipped and the power you actively wield on the other hand. Or at least that’s what the trailers show with the fire ability. I personally have not triggered the fire hand finisher yet, but maybe that’s on me for not knowing how to.
Another huge selling point for the game is a story where the world seemingly has been lost to a mysterious plague. Players have to navigate a 19th-century alternate world setting where all is bleak and hopeless. The demo levels seem to emphasize this as much. Both levels have this oppressive atmosphere to them, and it’s entirely by design. There is a single moment where I was a bit invested, and it was during the second level while interacting with the lost children. I hope that the game has more flashes of hope and humanity to it because what’s presented in the demo was utterly bleak.
At a couple of points in the demo, the voice of Napoleon Bonaparte can be heard offering words and encouragement and appearing to drive William forward for reasons we don’t know yet. That’s nice and all, but I can’t be the only one who thinks that having Napoleon himself as a guiding fairy to be a bit too strange, right? Anyway, the game is said to feature other historical figures, but he’s the only one so far that’s readily recognizable.
In total, I have played around 3 hours of the demo, and I find the combat against regular small fry enemies to be the most satisfying aspect by far. It reminds me of first-person Skyrim in a way, with a slightly lesser amount of the jank. Every move consumes a fair bit of stamina, so you can’t really expect to slash and hack to your heart’s content. You actually need to actively look for gaps to exploit, whether from missed attacks after a dodge or parrying an attack at the last possible moment. And then the coup de grace at the end are the finishers to end enemies in the most brutal way possible.
The demo also allows us to use a few of the powers William will be using in his journey. Based on the power wheel, we will have access to a good number of powers. In the demo itself, we primarily have use of a flame thrower power and a power that absorbs kinetic energy and reflects it back to the attacker. The powers themselves are fine on their own, albeit it’s something you’ve already seen in dozens of dark fantasy games. The flame thrower allows you to uncover hidden passages, and other powers allow you to traverse the level like a cybernetic ninja would.
From what I’m seeing right now, Valor Mortis is going to find it hard to distinguish itself from other souls-like. It is leaning heavily on its dark story, world-building, and gorgeous visuals as selling points. That’s all well and good, but you can’t expect players to go deep into your game without great combat at the core of the experience. I really hope that the game offers the complete package when it releases later this year.
There are two bosses you can fight in the demo, both requiring you to parry to be effective. It is extremely difficult to win through frontal combat. This is a departure from most Souls-like games that at least encourage you to switch up playstyles. There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting a parry-focused experience, but that sort of thing should be front and center in all of the marketing, lest players expect a straight edge first-person Souls-like experience, leave disappointed.
The demo may grant additional weapons, powers, and upgrades in the second level, but it offers little comfort in maze-like streets with enemies that are tough as nails. This is a problem I have with the second level in the demo. I don’t know if I was just directionally challenged or what, but it felt like going through Bloodborne’s Yharnam if Yharnam was designed by the architects of Dark Souls’s Anor Londo.
The game’s visuals are absolutely gorgeous in the moments when you actually see the light pass through the treetops and smoke emanating from the battlefields. This aspect of the game is very much polished, but there’s nothing wrong with more optimization, especially when the game is already delayed to October to avoid the September meat grinder. The audio for the game gets the job done. I particularly like the voice acting and the writing in this vertical slice. I wouldn’t be surprised if the best part of the game is the story.
In terms of performance and options, the game gives you plenty to work with. Even before the game is launched, you already have an array of graphics options at your disposal, so you can get started on fine-tuning your experience very early on. On the topic of accessibility, I vastly prefer Controller in this game. Mouse and keyboard seem okay-ish, but I found myself pressing every button beneath CAPS LOCK to be functional. Because of this, I opted to play on the good old controller. Maybe the developers can streamline the controls for PC, but I don’t see that as a priority.
I am split on my opinion of Valor Mortis. On the one hand, I love the combat, the setting, and the story they are trying to tell. But on the other hand, I don’t look forward to being forced to parry every boss and mini-boss to succeed. Hopefully, I am wrong, and we can deal with bosses by staying mobile and hacking away at their blind spots. That’s just me. If you are content with parrying bosses, by all means, buy this game when it releases on October 13, 2026.
