Valor Mortis review round-up: a parry-first Souls-like that fights its own camera

A first-person take on Souls-like combat

TechRadar's James Pickard reviewed Valor Mortis on PC. The game comes from One More Level, the studio behind Ghostrunner, and is listed for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC with a release date of October 13, 2026.

The hook is deflection-based melee. Pickard singles out the timing-based parry and the finishing moves that follow it as the strongest part of the experience, and notes that he kept returning to the game after repeated deaths — evidence, in his telling, that the core combat works. Opponents include risen soldiers from the Napoleonic era and other grotesque creatures.

Setting and structure: the player wakes on a battlefield among the dead, with Vincent Cassel voicing Napoleon and urging them onward. A plague has transformed people into monsters and given the protagonist supernatural abilities. Lanterns act as checkpoints, where players save, spend blood harvested from defeated enemies to level up, adjust their build with gems, and respawn.

Progression unfolds gradually — a sabre first, then a pistol, then fire-casting and stasis powers — all switchable at will. Different enemies reward different tools: an axe-carrying officer is best kept at distance and ignited so a keg on its back explodes, while a deformed grenadier can be punished mid-throw by a shot that detonates what it is carrying. Stamina is limited, and a handful of hits can end a run.

Where the design pushes back

Pickard's main complaint is combat choreography built on feints and long wind-ups before a strike lands. What reads as amusing early becomes irritating on repetition, he writes. Level design leans on ambushes: enemies emerging from foliage or doorways, items positioned as bait, falling rocks and floors that give way. Individually these are meant to keep players alert; stacked together, the reviewer finds them cheap rather than demanding.

The first-person view complicates group fights. Facing two enemies at once already puts the player at a serious disadvantage, which pushes the reviewer toward stealth, backstabs and thinning out packs before engaging. The game mixes linear gauntlets with more open areas that allow different approaches.

High points include set pieces that combine combat, puzzle-solving and platforming, plus a sequence set across wrecked ships held suspended above the sea, where the player leaps between decks and picks off snipers. A mine section lands badly by comparison: narrow, dark corridors paired with minecarts that can kill in nearly one hit, which Pickard says pushed him toward brute force and luck instead of skill.

Who it is for

The review positions Valor Mortis as a solid pick for players who prefer parry-led Souls-likes such as Sekiro and Lies of P, for Ghostrunner veterans who want more involved combat, and for horror fans drawn to bleak worlds and unsettling side stories. It is not aimed at players who dislike repeating encounters, and those wanting wide build variety will find three swords, three guns and a small set of magical skills.

Accessibility options are limited to subtitle sizing (small, medium, large), keyboard and mouse input with full rebinding, several controller schemes, field-of-view adjustment, camera-shake reduction or disabling, and toggles for blood splatter and dismemberment. No broader assist features are described.

On a mid-range PC (Ryzen 5 9600X, Radeon RX 9060XT, 48GB RAM), Pickard reports running the game above 100 fps at 1440p on the High preset with frame generation enabled after adjusting settings.

Interpretation, not fact: the strengths and shortcomings above are one reviewer's assessment of a PC build, and the review covers no other platform.