{"id":15321,"date":"2026-10-12T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/?p=15321"},"modified":"2026-10-12T18:28:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T14:58:17","slug":"valor-mortis-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/2026\/10\/12\/valor-mortis-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Valor Mortis Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">I\u2019ve gotta hand it to the people at developer One More Level: after well over a decade of countless variations on the soulslike formula, I\u2019ll admit that going first-person with BioShock-like magical abilities shooting out of your hand in an alternate history of the Napoleonic era is\u2026 a pretty darn original idea, actually. Valor Mortis is a punishing action game that tries a whole lot of compelling stuff, from combat that mixes sword fighting, spell slinging, and firearms, to the platforming sections that have you wall-running around like you\u2019re in Titanfall, to the bizarre 19th-century setting that kept me guessing. These experiments work out for the most part, and I have many fond memories of dying again and again as I fought my way through this bleak world full of zombified French soldiers. But there are also plenty of moments when this hodgepodge of ideas doesn\u2019t quite come together, not to mention numerous bugs and crashes that turned an otherwise good time into my own personal Waterloo. So while the 20-hour campaign can be a bit uneven, there are still enough interesting things going on in Valor Mortis to make it well worth playing.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">If you\u2019ve ever played a BioShock game, you\u2019ll probably feel unexpectedly at home here. Valor Mortis shamelessly cribs the channeling-magic-powers-in-your-corrupted-left-hand concept, and also has the whole alternate history thing going for it as well. But instead of blasting your way through enemies with guns, you\u2019ll mostly be getting up close and personal with a sword, parrying, dodging, and getting killed a whole bunch in the time-honored tradition of the soulslike. It\u2019s an odd combination of things that works out better than I expected, as using your dominant hand for swashbuckling and your off-hand for guns and magical abilities makes for exciting encounters. For example, you might use your mutated arm to light an exploding barrel on fire from afar to take out a group of baddies, block an enemy that\u2019s aggressively rushing you, then back away to finish them off with a pistol. Having so many options for how to deal with deadly enemies helped to hold my interest longer than Valor Mortis otherwise would have, especially given its overall lack of enemy variety.<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">Valor Mortis Screenshots<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\" class=\"progressive-image jsx-2277167929 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/valor-mortis-review.gif\" data-cy=\"progressive-image\"><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">You play as William, a soldier in Napoleon\u2019s army in an alternate reality where the legendary emperor defeated his enemies at Waterloo, which\u2026 well, caused the world to look like a disturbing piece of abstract art, I guess. As an undead warrior with supernatural powers and the ability to come back from death as many times as you need, you fight your way through a series of depressing, war-ravaged areas, meeting a few mostly forgettable characters along the way. Valor Mortis might give off BioShock vibes, but when it comes to story, it falls quite short. It delivers a fairly generic \u201cwar is hell\u201d message that\u2019s undermined completely by the silly stuff happening around you, like that time you\u2019re walking in a cave and suddenly find yourself in Egypt fighting off some kind of Spinx thing? I dunno, man. In any case, I\u2019d still say this tries much harder than the average soulslike, but ends up being mostly disappointing.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Valor Mortis\u2019 biggest shortcoming is that, possibly because it tries so many things at once, it can be quite a rocky ride, and that includes its combat. Some of it is minor, weird stuff, like how if you\u2019re fighting big enemies, it feels like you\u2019re hitting them with a pool noodle from several feet away due to some really strange invisible borders. But there are also more concerning issues, like the fact that sometimes enemies will just aim their aggression in a completely different direction, attacking the air or even just standing there while you kill them. And like lots of its peers, Valor Mortis also has that issue where each of the enemies only has a few attacks, so you\u2019ll often just be waiting for them to repeat the same series of strikes for the third time in a row before you can finish them off with an execution. While fighting these gross monsters usually feels just fine, these shortcomings crop up with regularity.<\/p>\n<div class=\"display-title jsx-684634384 jsx-2659527929 quote-container\" data-cy=\"quoteBox\">Enemies only have a few attacks, but your arsenal helps break up that monotony.<span class=\"stack jsx-2959124702 jsx-326843967\"><span>\u201c<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">However, a decently sized arsenal of weapons and powers helps to break up that monotony. You have three different melee options, three guns for toting, and three powers to turn your poor hand into a monstrous weapon of war \u2013 each with their own upgrade tree to customize how that ability works. For example, you can upgrade your flame ability so that enemies explode if you shoot them with a gun after lighting them on fire, or you can upgrade your saber so that it restores your stamina when you attack after successfully executing a dodge. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Beyond that, you\u2019ve also got a whole skill tree full of perks to choose from and modifiers to equip that help you customize your build a little. Perks offer ways to help William survive a bit better by upping his health or making his parries more effective, but the mods (called Ambers) are more interesting, since they can actually alter the way your character works to suit your playstyle. In my case, I equipped a bunch of mods that made it easier to top off my health, like one that healed me whenever I performed an execution on an enemy whose posture I\u2019d broken \u2013 I then equipped another called Perfectionism, which made me do substantially more damage when I was at full health. This allowed me to be a deadly perfectionist, who was rewarded with speedier skirmishes when I successfully managed to avoid taking hits.<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"playlist-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<section class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401 user-list-embed\" data-cy=\"user-list-embed\">\n<div class=\"card jsx-2310533475 jsx-1355461925 box\">\n<section class=\"stack jsx-806034919 carousel-section jsx-282394234\" data-cy=\"carousel\"><span class=\"stack jsx-3647836811 jsx-1304765713\"><\/p>\n<h3 data-cy=\"title3\" class=\"title3 jsx-12333944 jsx-2321054750\">TieGuyTravis&#8217; Favorite Soulslikes<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"stack jsx-3647836811 jsx-2980091846\">See All<button class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--secondary jsx-3027214138 action-button contained centered large\" data-cy=\"more-actions-btn\" type=\"button\" title=\"More Actions\"><span class=\"ign-icon icon-ellipsis jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"icon-ellipsis\"><\/span><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Most soulslikes are defined by their memorable boss fights, and this is one area where Valor Mortis feels strangely out of the loop. First off, there are shockingly few of them, to the point where you can make several hours of forward progress without running into one. Secondly, when you eventually do, they are often underwhelming, especially the ones that are just beefier versions of existing enemies or repeated foes you\u2019ve already fought. But even when they are original encounters, they all have the same issue: you\u2019ll mostly just stand around waiting for the boss to pepper you with a ridiculously telegraphed attack so that you can parry it and counter once you\u2019ve broken their posture. I died way more fighting random enemies and falling off of ledges than I did against these wimpy, disappointing bosses. Frankly, it\u2019s probably a good thing there are so few since most aren\u2019t very memorable, and battling through each of the levels against regular minions is much more consistently enjoyable.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">One of the best parts about Valor Mortis\u2019 weird-as-heck setting is that it makes for levels that are fairly unique, like the torn-up 19th-century battlefields filled with scattered horse corpses and discarded bayonets, or a harbor of destroyed naval ships that have been raised up into the air unnaturally. You still have plenty of soulslike cliches, like one part where you navigate a flooded village overcome by toxic waters (effectively your poison swamp level if it were created by war crimes), but I was pleasantly surprised by how many areas had personality or some kind of compelling component to pique my interest. For example, one level had me creeping around a ruined town where the only survivors were children who had learned to use their small size to their advantage. Working my way through the destruction while doing my best to gain the favor of these creepy kids was a neat and memorable section that has definitely stuck with me.<\/p>\n<div class=\"display-title jsx-684634384 jsx-2659527929 quote-container\" data-cy=\"quoteBox\">Valor Mortis\u2019 weird-as-heck setting makes for levels that are fairly unique.<span class=\"stack jsx-2959124702 jsx-326843967\"><span>\u201c<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Valor Mortis also tries its hand at a bit of platforming, and while I expected it to be pretty top-notch considering the studio\u2019s track record with the Ghostrunner series, most of this sadly feels unpolished. I got caught on ledges, fell through the environment, passed through objects I shouldn\u2019t have, and more, all of which really took the wind out of my sails. To its credit, these parts certainly try some interesting stuff, like one bit where you gain the ability to make platforms appear from afar using one of your nifty hand powers, and grappling through the air and wall running around is quite awesome when it works. But this feels like something that was a little tacked on, given how inconsistently it feels good.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">I\u2019ve mentioned a few times that Valor Mortis sometimes feels a bit janky. Some of that is due to specific game design choices and experimentation that doesn\u2019t quite work out, but a much bigger share of that unpolished feel is due to the large amount of technical issues Valor Mortis has. I saw hard crashes, a recurring issue that straight up turned off my PC when I tried to launch from Steam, entire pieces of the environment completely missing, and tons of other wonkiness \u2013 the package just has a fairly duct-taped feel to it, which distracted from my journey through this compelling ruined world at times.<\/p>\n<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/valor-mortis-review.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/valor-mortis-review.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/valor-mortis-review.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/valor-mortis-review.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[59,58,50],"class_list":["post-15321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-49","tag-soulslike","tag-valor-mortis","tag-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15323,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15321\/revisions\/15323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}