We all know Napoleon wasn't the type to give up easily, but unleashing the zombie apocalypse rather than face defeat? That's a bit much, even for our favorite Petit Corporal. Granted, 13 hours and four chapters into Valor Mortis, I'm not quite sure who's responsible for the Crimson Plague that has devastated the Eastern Front in the Napoleonic Wars, but since the year is 1817, and Napoleon isn't quietly enjoying exile on Saint Helena, my money is on him.
Valor Mortis, a first-person Soulslike action RPG developed by One More Level (the studio behind the Ghostrunner games), takes place in an alternate version of the Napoleonic Wars. You play as William Dowsett, a resurrected British soldier in Napoleon's Grande Armée. Yes, British, not French — but before we declare him a dirty traitor, remember that Napoleon may have won the Battle of Waterloo in Valor Mortis' version of events, perhaps uniting the Western European forces afterward.
In true Soulslike fashion, William must defeat a terrifying array of monsters (malformed zombie soldiers) to reach the next checkpoint, or rather, the next lantern. Resting at a lantern replenishes HP-recovery flasks and restores William's HP, but it also revives his enemies. Whenever William dies (which is fairly often, in my case), he's revived at the latest lantern, from whence he must return to the site of his demise to pick up the lost catalysts — the level-up materials.
Die a second time before retrieval, and the catalysts are lost forever. Unlike a typical Soulslike, Valor Mortis has been a strangely relaxing experience for me. While Soulslike gameplay can be intense to the point of frustration, Valor Mortis combines an oddly serene atmosphere with a few forgiving gameplay elements that counterbalance the brutal combat.
This game is easy to learn, hard to master, and a joy to retry. What initially attracted me to Valor Mortis was its historical setting. Not many games feature the Napoleonic Wars, and those that do tend to feature top-down, tactics-based gameplay, but Valor Mortis proves this neglect unjust.
A few minutes after William's awakening in a murky forest, I was treated to the first of many epic vistas, complete with Napoleon's voice sounding in my head: "I see you — all of you. Each and every one." The scenery, ranging from vast plains littered with fallen soldiers to snowy mountain paths, and from a ruined village to an old church, feels historically authentic without lacking variety. When I heard "Eastern Front," I must admit my imagination didn't go beyond cold plains, so it was nice to find myself traversing a misty graveyard and an abandoned quarry before long.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
