The acclaimed studio behind the Ghostrunner series, One More Level, has unveiled its latest ambitious project: Valor Mortis, a first-person soulslike experience that reimagines the Napoleonic Wars through a dark fantasy lens. The game was officially announced during the prestigious Gamescom 2025 opening ceremony, immediately capturing attention with its unique historical horror premise.

This captivating screenshot from the initial reveal showcases the game's atmospheric visual style, blending historical military elements with supernatural corruption. The Polish development team has built considerable credibility through their work on the Ghostrunner franchise, which concluded its main storyline in late 2023 after earning widespread critical acclaim with an average OpenCritic score of 80. These cyberpunk action platformers established One More Level as masters of challenging, precision-based gameplay.

During Gamescom 2025's Opening Night Live event on August 19, the studio premiered an extensive two-and-a-half-minute trailer that established Valor Mortis' distinctive setting: early 19th-century Eastern Europe amid Napoleon's brutal campaign across the continent. Players assume the role of William, an ordinary foot soldier in the French Imperial Army who meets his demise on the battlefield during the game's opening sequence, only to be mysteriously resurrected with supernatural abilities.

The resurrected protagonist awakens to discover a Europe ravaged by plague and overrun by monstrous entities. Infected by a mysterious substance called Nephtoglobin, William must learn to harness its supernatural properties to combat both internal corruption and the external horrors that now dominate the landscape. The game's title itself reflects this core premise, with "valor mortis" translating from Latin as "the bravery of death" or "death's courage" - perfectly capturing the game's themes of resurrection and supernatural warfare.

Szymon Bryla, CEO of One More Level, explained their creative direction: "After completing the Ghostrunner project, we recognized that we had established the technical foundation necessary to develop a first-person perspective title, but this time venturing into the soulslike genre." This transition represents a natural evolution for the studio, which has consistently delivered mechanically challenging experiences since its formation in 2014, including titles like God's Trigger, Deadlings, and Warlocks vs Shadows.

Valor Mortis promises to deliver what the developers describe as a "brand-new take on the soulslike experience," incorporating established genre elements while drawing from One More Level's own development philosophy. Unlike the lightning-fast pace of their previous Ghostrunner titles, this new project will feature deliberately slower, more methodical gameplay that emphasizes precision movement and tactical decision-making over pure momentum and speed.

The development team's experience with creating responsive combat systems and challenging gameplay mechanics in their previous titles suggests they are well-positioned to deliver a satisfying soulslike experience. Valor Mortis is currently targeting a 2026 release window for PC and current-generation consoles (excluding Nintendo platforms), with publishing handled by Lyrical Games, a subsidiary of Lyrical Media.

This ambitious project represents a significant departure from their cyberpunk roots while maintaining the studio's commitment to challenging, skill-based gameplay. By combining historical setting with supernatural elements and soulslike mechanics, One More Level appears poised to deliver another unique gaming experience that could potentially redefine expectations for what the soulslike genre can encompass.