Valor Mortis review: sharp combat but clunky first‑person view may slow you down

Valor Mortis is a first-person action title inspired by Souls-like design. It centers on timing parries, exploiting enemy weaknesses, and balancing stamina across fast and slow engagements. You’ll unlock and swap between melee weapons, pistols, and a handful of powers that give you options in how you approach each encounter. The setting is a moody, gothic battlefield where every corridor or hillside might hide a foe created from war and decay.

Combat hinges on precise parries and well-timed strikes. When you deflect an attack at the right moment, you trigger a powerful follow-up. The payoff for landing a perfect parry is immediate and satisfying, with audible feedback that reinforces timing. You’ll often mix close-quarters sword work with occasional ranged counterplay, switching to pistols or a projective ability to break through tougher enemies or disrupt bosses’ patterns.

The game offers inventive set pieces that blend combat with light puzzle elements, giving you moments that feel fresh within the familiar Souls-like framework. Environments span narrow ship corridors to broader battlegrounds, with some boss encounters delivering memorable, explosive moments when you chain together parries, dodges, and a well-placed ability.

Despite the strong combat loop, the first-person perspective can make some encounters feel cramped or awkward, especially in tight quarters or during rapid monster ambushes. The level design leans heavily on traps and “gotcha” moments, which can feel cheap if they come too often in quick succession. A few sections rely on trial-and-error rather than pure skill, which might frustrate players who craved a smoother, more fluid run.

If you’re drawn to parry-first combat and moody, atmospheric worlds, Valor Mortis offers a tight core that should satisfy fans of games like Ghostrunner’s quick reflex battles and classic Souls-likes’ deliberate pacing. The reliance on traps and ambushes, however, means you’ll sometimes reset battles not because you misread a foe, but because you walked into a hidden hazard. It’s a fair warning for players who prefer a cleaner path to enemies and rewards.

Valor Mortis is out now on PC and consoles. If you’re curious how tight the parry timing feels on your setup, the best test is to jump into a boss encounter and see whether your timing improves with practice or if visibility in the first-person view strains your experience. Expect patch notes and balance tweaks as players push through the later stages and bosses that push the system’s limits.