After nearly half a decade of development mostly done alongside day jobs, Head On Studios just launched the Kickstarter for Ad Mortem, and the melee slasher community has finally gotten something that feels like a real spiritual successor to Chivalry. This isn’t some indie approximation or nostalgia cash grab—this is a technical, ambitious project built by people who actually live in the genre, former players of Chivalry 1 and Mordhau who decided to build the game they always wanted to play.
Ad Mortem is a dark, medieval melee slasher set in the corrupted world of Contrara. You play as a Vessel, a hollow soul trapped between life and death, condemned to endless conflict in the ravaged battlefields of two warring factions. It’s brutal, it’s skill-based, and it refuses to hold your hand. The Kickstarter just went live, and this game deserves your attention if you’ve been waiting for someone to finally prove that melee slashers aren’t dead.
What Makes This Combat System Special
Ad Mortem defines itself as a next-generation melee slasher with one core distinction: movement and weapon control are completely independent. You don’t swing where you’re facing. You aim your attacks independently from your movement direction. This creates a skill floor that feels genuinely earned and a skill ceiling that rewards years of practice.
More importantly, damage is calculated on actual physical collisions, not invisible hitboxes. When your sword connects with an enemy, you actually see the blade hitting them. This visual honesty makes the combat feel responsive and grounded in a way most games never achieve. Every victory or defeat feels earned because you can see exactly what happened.
Defense Is As Skill-Based As Offense
Here’s where Ad Mortem separates itself from competitors. Defense isn’t just a passive block button. Counters require perfect timing. Evasion demands positioning. Parrying requires understanding your opponent’s weapon reach and attack patterns. You’re not just learning how to attack—you’re learning how to think defensively against skilled opponents.
This creates genuine rivalry moments. Landing a perfectly timed counter against someone trying to overpower you feels incredible because both players know exactly how much skill that took. Every exchange matters. Every mistake has visible consequences.
Competitive 5v5 Assault Mode
Ad Mortem’s competitive backbone is 5v5 Assault, a focused objective-based mode with carefully crafted level design. It’s not just deathmatch—objectives force teams to coordinate, strategize, and make tactical decisions. The matchmaking uses an MMR system that isn’t just cosmetic background noise. Your rank directly impacts the quality of opposition you face.
The team is explicitly aiming toward ranked play, scrimmages, and eventually seasonal competition. This is being built as a competitive esports-adjacent game from day one, not as an afterthought. The developers understand that competitive depth requires intention during development, not bolted on later.
Casual 10v10 and Community Servers
For players who don’t want ranked pressure, Ad Mortem offers 10v10 casual Assault on official servers. Community servers open up classic modes including Team Deathmatch, Free For All, and 1v1 Duelyard duels. Basically, if you want to play it, the infrastructure exists.
Co-Op Dungeons That Aren’t Just Filler
Ad Mortem’s biggest departure from traditional melee slashers is the co-op dungeon mode. Up to four friends (or solo if you’re feeling brave) can venture into procedurally generated dungeons filled with traps, AI enemies, and evolving modifiers. This isn’t PvP with extra steps—it’s a genuinely different game mode with its own mechanics and atmosphere.
The sanity system adds constant pressure. The longer you’re in dungeons, the more your character loses mental stability, applying additional challenges that compound over time. Dungeons are meant to feel tense and deliberate, not like a power fantasy. You’re surviving, not conquering. The AI is reactive. Encounters scale based on party size. The whole experience leans into survival horror tone rather than just being “melee combat against monsters.”
Progression That Matters
Weapons and equipment you discover in dungeons directly feed back into your overall progression. Rewards aren’t just cosmetic—they’re functional upgrades that make you stronger for future runs. This creates a progression loop that feels genuinely rewarding.
Technical Ambition Built on Unreal Engine 5
Ad Mortem is built in Unreal Engine 5 with Nanite for dense environment rendering and Lumen for real-time global illumination. This isn’t some rushed indie project slapped together with placeholder assets. The team invested in modern development tools because they wanted the game to look and run as good as it plays.
PC Steam is the launch platform with Linux and Mac support planned for post-launch. The developers are thinking long-term about accessibility and platform support rather than just chasing one audience.
A Team That Actually Lives This Genre
What makes Ad Mortem credible is the team’s pedigree. These aren’t game designers theorizing about melee combat—they’re longtime players of Chivalry 1 and Mordhau who spent years in those communities before deciding to build something themselves. They understand not just what makes melee slashers fun, but what makes them frustrating and how to fix those problems.
The developers have been working on this alongside day jobs for years because they believe in the project. The Kickstarter is to secure funding that allows them to go full-time and finish the game properly. That’s a genuine indie story—people choosing passion over security to make the game their community deserves.
What’s Next
The Kickstarter is live right now. Wishlisting on Steam supports the project. Joining the Discord connects you to the community and keeps you updated on development progress. The goal is to deliver a competitive, skill-based melee slasher that can hold up to ranked play while also offering approachable co-op content for players who want that experience.
FAQs
When is Ad Mortem releasing?
No official release date has been announced yet. The Kickstarter is currently live, and the team is working on securing funding to accelerate development. Updates will be shared through the official channels as they’re confirmed.
How can I support Ad Mortem?
Wishlist the game on Steam, back the Kickstarter, join the Discord community, and follow development progress on social media. The Kickstarter is the primary funding mechanism at this point.
What platforms will Ad Mortem be on?
PC Steam is the launch platform. Linux and Mac support are planned for post-launch. Console versions have not been announced.
Is this game competitive or casual?
Both. The ranked 5v5 Assault mode is built for competitive play. Casual 10v10 and community servers offer relaxed experiences. Co-op dungeons provide a completely different cooperative experience. Players choose what they want.
What inspired Ad Mortem?
The team’s shared passion for Chivalry 1 and Mordhau. They wanted to create what they felt the next evolution of those games should be, combining the best elements of melee slashers with new ideas like co-op dungeon gameplay and improved matchmaking.
Who is developing Ad Mortem?
Head On Studios, a small indie team passionate about melee slasher games. The team connected through their shared love of the genre and decided to build the game they wanted to play.
Is there a demo available?
Not yet. Pre-alpha gameplay has been shown in trailers. The team is focused on finishing development before public testing begins.
Does this game have cosmetics or pay-to-win mechanics?
That hasn’t been formally announced yet. The focus is on skill-based competitive play, which typically means cosmetics exist but gameplay advantages do not.
Conclusion
Ad Mortem represents exactly what indie gaming should be at its best—passionate developers who understand their genre making exactly what their community has been waiting for. Head On Studios didn’t try to reinvent melee slashers from scratch. They took the formula that worked, removed what didn’t, added innovative features like co-op dungeons, and built it all on modern technology with the explicit goal of supporting competitive play. The Kickstarter is live right now, and this game deserves the support of everyone who’s been waiting for someone to prove that melee slashers aren’t dead. This is the next-gen melee slasher you’ve been waiting for—a game built by people who actually live in this genre for people who understand why melee combat systems matter. Support the Kickstarter, wishlist on Steam, and prepare for some genuinely brutal medieval combat.