Okay, maybe everything really is a Soulslike now. Ghostrunner developer One More Level announced first-person Soulslike Valor Mortis at today's Gamescom Opening Night Live showcase, bringing its first-person parkour talents to a Metroidvania-infused war set in a fictional, horror-battered version of the 19th century's Napoleonic Wars.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has seen the biggest boost in French appreciation since the invention of the croissant, and here's Valor Mortis resurrecting a dead French soldier, William, just to chuck him into a war with monsters and pump him full of mutant powers. Our hero wakes up to a world ruined by battle and plague, with a corrupted substance called the Nephtoglobin turning folks into bulbous, many-armed abominations.
"Brutal, methodical combat, Metroidvania-inspired levels and a compelling narrative shrouded in horror, corruption, temptation and conspiracy," is the pitch from One More Level and new publisher Lyrical Games. Based on the reveal trailer, if I had to distill this down to a few words, I'd say BioShock meets Bloodborne. We've got first-person shooting and action, Plasmid-adjacent special abilities (called Transmutations), shambling grotesqueries, and a Soulslike push steeped in the nasty and macabre.
When I first read the description for this thing, 19th century Europe was the farthest thing from my mind. One More Level CEO Szymon Bryla says "we knew we had the foundation to create an FPP title, but this time in a soulslike genre. At the same time, we wanted to stay true to what we do best - making demanding games for hardcore players, set in an engaging, expansive world, while showing that the studio has grown since our previous projects."
The Ghostrunner games have been great, and I'm nothing if not a Soulslike glutton, so this weird mishmash of ideas is going straight to my Steam wishlist.
Valor Mortis is coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X in 2026. A demo will be playable at Gamescom 2025.
