Code Violet Review

Code Violet immediately caught my attention with its sci-fi survival horror premise mixed with dinosaurs. As a fan of dinosaurs in general and classic survival games experiences, it already sounded like something made for players who grew up enjoying older Resident Evil titles.

After finishing the game in roughly four hours, I walked away with mixed feelings.

There is genuine potential hidden inside Code Violet. The atmosphere works, some of the survival mechanics are enjoyable, and there are moments where the game successfully creates tension and suspense. Unfortunately, technical problems, repetitive encounters, and a lack of polish constantly prevent the game from becoming the experience it feels capable of being.

Into the Dinosaur Outbreak

Set in the far future, Code Violet takes place in a world where Earth has become uninhabitable and humanity faces extinction. Using experimental time-travel technology, Violet Sinclair is pulled from the past and sent into the future as part of a desperate effort to save the human race.

Things quickly go wrong.

An experimental research facility has been overrun by dinosaurs, forcing Violet to survive the outbreak while searching for her missing squad and uncovering the truth behind the experiments happening inside the facility.

You play as Violet Sinclair from a third-person perspective while dealing with dangerous dinosaur encounters, limited resources, environmental puzzles, and survival-focused gameplay mechanics. Throughout the adventure, players explore dark corridors, manage inventory space, craft useful items, and carefully decide when to fight or conserve ammunition.

Survival Horror DNA

One thing Code Violet gets right is its survival horror foundation.

The game clearly takes inspiration from classic survival horror design philosophies. Resource management matters, inventory space is limited, and players must carefully decide what weapons and items to carry. Different weapons occupy different amounts of slots inside your survival pouch, forcing you to think ahead before entering new areas.

There are also crafting mechanics where resources can be combined to create useful items, adding another layer of strategy to exploration and combat.

The game also features a UV light mechanic used to reveal hidden traps, secrets, and environmental details, creating moments that feel heavily inspired by classic survival horror experiences.

That old-school inspiration is present throughout the entire game.

The problem is that the game does not always explain its systems very well.

A promising dinosaur survival horror experience trapped behind bugs and missed opportunities.

Confusing Beginnings

Code Violet does very little to guide the player during the opening sections.

There is barely any tutorial or onboarding process, which makes the early game more confusing than immersive. Survival horror games can absolutely benefit from mystery and limited information, but here it sometimes feels like important mechanics are simply not communicated properly.

For example, I did not even realize the game had a map until about an hour into my playthrough.

That completely changed how I explored the environments.

Before the first major update, the game also failed to properly communicate when the player was bleeding. That led to multiple frustrating deaths because I had no idea my character was slowly losing health over time.

I died at least twice because of that issue alone.

To TeamKill’s credit, the developers released an update during the first week after launch that improved several issues. However, many bugs were still present during my playthrough even after the patch.

Dinosaurs That Feel More Frustrating Than Dangerous

The biggest issue with Code Violet is easily its technical state.

I normally never play games on Easy difficulty. I always prefer playing on the standard intended difficulty for the full experience. But because of the bugs, I eventually felt forced to lower the difficulty just to reduce frustration.

There were moments where dinosaurs crossed through closed doors.

Sometimes enemies refused to die correctly even while taking direct shots.

Combat encounters occasionally felt broken rather than challenging, which made it difficult to fully enjoy the survival mechanics.

That becomes especially disappointing because the game actually does a good job building tension.

The sound design is strong throughout most of the experience. You can hear creatures moving nearby, environmental sounds echo through dark hallways, and the audio constantly creates the feeling that danger could appear at any moment.

Combined with the game’s dark lighting, there are several genuinely tense moments where visibility becomes limited and you are forced to move carefully through dangerous areas.

Atmosphere is not the problem here; Execution is.

The Hunt Never Escalates

One of the strangest parts of Code Violet is how often it hints at larger-scale encounters without ever fully delivering on them.

Most combat scenarios involve fighting only two or three dinosaurs at a time. Before long, that structure begins to feel repetitive.

What made this more disappointing were the cutscenes.

There are multiple moments where the game shows groups of raptors running toward the player, creating the expectation that a massive survival sequence or difficult battle is about to happen.

Instead, once gameplay resumes, you are once again only fighting two or three enemies.

The game repeatedly builds anticipation for larger encounters that never truly happen.

It feels like a missed opportunity, especially considering how effective the atmosphere can be.

Predators Without a Real Challenge

Boss fights are another area where Code Violet feels underdeveloped.

There are not many of them throughout the game, and the encounters that do exist are surprisingly easy. Considering the game revolves around dinosaurs and survival horror, I expected more memorable large-scale fights that pushed the gameplay systems further.

Instead, most bosses end before they ever become particularly threatening.

For a short game already lasting only around four hours, the lack of major standout encounters makes the overall experience feel even smaller.

Small Details That Add Personality

Despite its flaws, there are still moments where Code Violet shows personality and attention to detail.

One feature I genuinely loved was TeamKill’s use of the PlayStation 5 DualSense lighting. The moment you launch the game, the controller light changes to a violet color matching the game’s identity.

It is a very small detail, but it immediately creates immersion and gives the game a unique touch before gameplay even begins.

Those little moments show that there is real passion behind the project.

Final Thoughts

Code Violet feels like a game with strong ideas that simply needed more time and refinement before release.

The survival horror foundation is solid. Resource management works well, the atmosphere can be genuinely tense, and the sound design helps create several memorable moments. There are flashes of a much better game hidden underneath the experience.

Unfortunately, the technical issues constantly get in the way.

Bugs, inconsistent combat, repetitive encounters, weak boss fights, and lack of player guidance hold the game back from reaching its full potential.

There is potential here. But right now, Code Violet feels more like a missed opportunity than a fully realized survival horror experience.