Last updated on October 28, 2026
Valor Mortis comes from One More Level, the studio behind Ghostrunner and Ghostrunner 2, and it’s published by Lyrical Games after the split from 505 Games. With that track record, I went in expecting a lot more polish than I got.
Different, but not quite itself
The game mixes a first-person shooter with melee combat, souls-like structure and metroidvania exploration. On paper, that’s a combination you don’t see every day.
And yes, it does feel unique. The problem is that it never fully lands, and you can often feel the pieces pulling in different directions.
Gameplay that stays just okay
Combat feels cheap and nowhere near as fluid as Ghostrunner 2. After what this team delivered before, that was the biggest letdown for me.
Your abilities and weapons all drain a mana-style resource. In practice, I finished the game without really using most of them in fights, which says a lot about how much the system pushes you to experiment.
Enemy variety is weak, and the bosses didn’t impress me either, especially the last ones. Traversal, on the other hand, is the real highlight and the part where you can tell who made this game.
Graphics that hold up, mostly
Valor Mortis doesn’t look like a demanding Unreal Engine 5 title. It’s decent, but it won’t be the game you use to show off your setup.
The art direction also leans heavily on Lies of P at times. Inspiration is fine, but here it sometimes goes a bit too far.
The bullet just missed my head
The soundtrack is monotonous and rarely does anything to lift a scene. It’s there, but you won’t remember it.
The voice acting is a different story. It’s genuinely strong, and Harry, the protagonist, is well written and has real personality.
Final verdict
Overall, Valor Mortis left me disappointed. I appreciate that it tries to be something different, and the voice acting deserves credit, but the combat, the enemy variety, the art direction, the soundtrack and the bugs hold it back.
If you have Game Pass or a similar subscription, give it a try there. I wouldn’t pay around $40 for it right now, at least not until the bugs are fixed.
Final score: 6/10
I’m passionate about books and video games. These two great passions represent, for me, a boundless universe where I can “escape” from reality whenever I need or want to. There are so many stories, worlds, and landscapes where I can instantly teleport that I don’t think a whole lifetime would be enough to explore them all (though it would be my greatest dream to be able to).
