Valor Mortis has been described as what you would get if BioShock and Dark Souls had a baby, and once you dig into the story and the combat, that comparison makes a lot of sense. This is a first-person soulslike set in an alternate history version of Napoleonic Europe, built by One More Level, the studio behind Ghostrunner. Here in this blog, we have covered a full breakdown of the story and the gameplay systems that make it stand out.
The Story of Valor Mortis
In Valor Mortis, you play as William, a British soldier serving in Napoleon’s Grande Armée, already an unusual detail worth noting. William dies on the battlefield and is resurrected, waking up surrounded by the corpses of French soldiers with Napoleon’s voice inside his head, guttural and commanding, telling him to get moving. From the very first moments, something is clearly wrong. A discoloured rash flashes across William’s hand and fades away, a small hint of the corrupting power now running through him.
The Europe William wakes up to is not the one he died fighting for. A mysterious plague has spread across the continent, and it has turned soldiers, including men who were once his allies, into horrifying monsters. He is forced to fight his way through former comrades who no longer recognise him, all while trying to piece together why he was brought back, what Napoleon’s real role in the plague is, and who among the few remaining survivors can actually be trusted.
Napoleon himself is a constant presence throughout the story, speaking directly into William’s mind. He is voiced by Vincent Cassel, known for his work on Black Swan and The White Lotus, and his tone is described as unsettling rather than reassuring, which adds a real layer of tension to every objective he pushes William toward. The developers have kept much of the plot deliberately vague in early previews, but the framework is clear: this is a conspiracy story about a corrupted war, a resurrection nobody asked for, and the question of who is really pulling the strings.
Core Gameplay and Combat
Valor Mortis plays out entirely in first-person, which is rare for the soulslike genre and changes how combat feels compared to something like Dark Souls or Elden Ring. William’s primary weapon is a cutlass, used for both light and heavy attacks that consume stamina, following the classic soulslike rhythm of managing your stamina bar carefully rather than swinging wildly.
Defense in Valor Mortis comes down to three real options:
- Blocking, which reduces incoming damage but costs a small amount of health
- Dodging, which is required against unblockable attacks
- Parrying, which deals devastating damage to enemies when timed correctly
This gives combat a genuine skill ceiling. Button mashing will get you killed quickly, while reading enemy attacks and reacting with the right defensive option is what actually keeps William alive.
Guns, Transmutations and Supernatural Powers
Alongside the cutlass, William carries a flintlock pistol that can target enemy weak points and stagger them, though ammunition is deliberately scarce, so it functions as a tactical tool rather than a primary weapon. As the story progresses, William also gains access to magical abilities called transmutations, letting him unleash bursts of flame and other supernatural effects on enemies. This is where the BioShock comparison really lands, since these abilities behave a lot like plasmids, giving William a genuinely different toolkit compared to most soulslikes that stick purely to swords and shields.
Progression, Checkpoints and Death
Progression in Valor Mortis runs on a currency called Catalysts, earned by defeating enemies throughout the game. Catalysts are used to upgrade William’s stats, stamina, and health, following the familiar soulslike loop of gradual, earned growth. Checkpoints take the form of Lanterns scattered across the world, which work like bonfires, letting you rest and respawn nearby enemies in the process.
Dying sends William back to his last Lantern, and just like Dark Souls, any unused Catalysts are dropped at the exact spot where you died. If you can fight your way back to that location without dying again, you get another chance to recover them. This single mechanic captures the tension the genre is known for, turning every risky push forward into a real gamble.
Movement With a Ghostrunner Influence
One More Level’s background clearly shows in how William moves. Valor Mortis includes dashes and light parkour elements that give you more mobility than most soulslikes offer, letting you reposition quickly in fights or navigate the war-torn environments with more freedom. This traversal layer is a direct callback to Ghostrunner and gives combat a bit more speed and flow than the genre’s usual pace.
A Genuinely Different Setting
Most soulslikes lean on dark fantasy kingdoms or gothic ruins. Valor Mortis instead uses a corrupted, war-torn 19th-century Europe, blending real historical texture with body horror and Lovecraftian dread. Piles of corpses, scattered ammunition, and mud-soaked battlefields create a bleak, hopeless atmosphere that previewers have consistently pointed to as one of the game’s biggest strengths.
Should You Play Valor Mortis?
If you enjoy soulslike combat but want a setting and perspective genuinely different from anything else in the genre, Valor Mortis is shaping up to be a strong pick. The mix of first-person swordplay, limited gunplay, supernatural transmutations, and a conspiracy-driven story gives it a real identity of its own, rather than feeling like another Dark Souls clone with a new coat of paint.
Head over to Driffle to buy Valor Mortis at the best price, with fast digital delivery so you can wake up as William and start uncovering the truth behind the plague for yourself.
