Code Violet Review – When Good Ideas Aren’t Enough

Good marketing is the backbone of every good business, and when someone wants to sell a product, they will do everything to make it as attractive as possible. This is at least how the business should be working, right? Since the video game industry is a serious business nowadays, those business models can be completely mimicked by it.

It is not an isolated case that the video game developers try to throw as much as possible at us at the opening moments of the game to showcase everything their game can do, trying to hook the players this way, and this is completely normal; however, Code Violet doesn't seem to fall under those rules.

Either TeamKill Media suck at marketing, or they know something we mere mortals don't, but the opening hour or so of Code Violet will surely raise your eyebrows, to put it mildly. As soon as you start playing the game, you'll be like (I know I was), "What the hell is this?"

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At its very start, Code Violet will throw at you all its garbage

From the opening scenes and voice acting and mo-cap in general to all the flaws in the gameplay, combat system, and visuals, every single bad thing you can possibly imagine will be thrown at you. Like the developers thought: "Well, here is everything that is rotten with our game; take it or leave it, your choice."

What's even more interesting, Code Violet is not a teribble game at all; at some instances, it even impressed me, but how many gamers will have the patience to wait for that sweet fruit to enjoy? I'm not sure many will.

Story

The story in Code Violet can be divided into two different segments, one of which is solid, while the other is a pure disaster, in the absence of any stronger word. The impressive part is the plot, and here is how it goes.

You're put in the shoes of Violet Sinclair, a young and attractive woman who wakes up inside the abandoned facility, ravaged by none other than dinosaurs (yes, this game's main enemies are dinosaurs), and the first survivor instincts kick in instantly; she will do whatever she knows to keep her pretty head up on her shoulders.

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Code Violet: Violet Sinclair is very beautiful and very mysterious woman

Soon, she gets contacted by her friend and some sort of handler, who will help her survive the dino outburst, and after a bit of talk with him and some documents you can find throughout the world in the true Resident Evil fashion, you'll find out that our beloved mother Earth is no more and the people are trying to find the safe haven among the other planets, and the place our Violet is right now is a space colony.

In the story as old as time itself, Violet lost her memory and remembers nothing from her past, so her journey, apart from the ultimate survival, turns into a self-discovery and a constant battle with her inner emotions. What is Violet's true purpose? Why is she here in this mysterious place? Where do the dinosaurs fit in the story, and what's their purpose? The answers to those questions are dosed to you in just the right amounts.

You'll never get bored with the story; in fact, the story will probably be the strongest force that propels you towards the end of the game, and for me, it definitely was. If not for the story and, of course, for my reviewer obligations, I doubt I would have enough patience to see this game to its end.

Now, about the other disastrous segment of the story, which is the interpretation itself. I simply cannot find the proper words to describe how bad the cutscenes, voice acting, and motion capture are in this game. Since Code Violet is labelled as a horror game, it tries very hard to convince you that it actually is from the opening moments, and those attempts are just pathetic.

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As much as the story of Code Violet is good, it falls short due to a very poor execution

You can see Violet, for example, being totally calm and then bursting into tears because of a certain event. The game will try very hard to make a sad and strong scene, but due to a very poor execution, it will look so bad, even hilarious at times, leaving a huge WTF sign hanging above your head. On several occasions, I even asked myself if the developers were really serious when making those scenes because there's no way they can be that bad, at least not in 2026, but unfortunately, it isn't a joke; they are real.

The characters, along with Violet, are very forgettable and somehow soulless; you definitely won't give a damn what the game will do with them. If they die, they die; who the hell cares? 

I say again, this story is not half bad; hell, it can even be considered above average. The plot is strong, and the sense of mystery and discovery is there; it has all the conditions to be grand, but the execution is just awful. I'd say it's not worthy of such an ambitious, story-dependent game as Code Violet definitely is.

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Code Violet has a very good story

Gameplay

Gameplay is where the real fun truly begins. Here, some segments are very well executed and deserve mild praise, while some moments are totally illogical and don't deserve to be in any game, let alone the game that is supposed to be a strong competitor to Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and the like.

Let's start with the good things. What really impressed me in Code Violet was the sense of discovery and the freedom the game gives you. When I say freedom, I don't mean you'll meet the open-level structure where you can explore as you please, no. The levels in Code Violet are very linear and designed in the old-school way – you'll move through the hallways and follow the map to discover stuff inside the levels, and once you decide to finish the level, you won't be able to return.

The best thing about this game is that it won't hold your hand, not even once. Every single thing you'll discover and solve on your own, including very well-designed puzzles by the way. Some puzzles, like the ones including four-letter codes for the lockers, I couldn't figure out, which actually never happened before, because I really love good puzzles in games and love solving them. In this case, I had to give up.

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Code Violet: Some puzzles made me give up

Speaking of discoveries, in Code Violet, you'll be finding several collectables, like in many games of this genre, but the problem is you'll never know what you've discovered and what more there is to discover because the game doesn't keep any records of anything you find. Some collectables are related to trophies, and you'll know you have enough when the trophy pops up, and that's pretty much it. The only types of collectables that can be tracked are outfits and earrings, which change some of Violet's stats.

Being labelled as a horror shooter, sadly, you won't find a lot in either of those labels in Code Violet. First, shooting and combat systems in general are very bad (again, I refuse to use any stronger word). You'll have seven weapons at your disposal, ranging from handguns and a couple of automatic rifles to a shotgun and a weapon prototype you'll use only at the end of the game.

Guns pack a real punch, and it is a real joy shooting them. The feedback is good, but the problem lies in other things related to shooting. First, aiming over the shoulder is clumsy, and auto aim would be a huge help in this situation. Even though it is present in the game options, it simply doesn't work. I don't know if the upcoming patches will see to this problem; I hope they will, but the situation now is far from ideal.

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Code Violet: Guns pack a real punch

The weapon recoil is also too strong. Every weapon can be upgraded, and the recoil can be significantly reduced, but still not enough, it seems – the weapons will just shoot all over the place. 

Also, the enemy's behaviour is very unpredictable. Their movements are just unnatural. They often slide to the side, and if they corner you, they can go through you, blocking your field of view completely. Those situations usually lead to death and tonnes of frustrations.

Speaking of death, the game's difficulty is poorly balanced, too. Medium difficulty (the recommended one) seems too hard, while the easy one is just too easy. I ended up playing on easy for the sake of not losing sanity and following the story, but I believe this could use some adjustments.

Another important segment of a horror game is, well, a horror, right? In Code Violet, horror doesn't exist, end of story. Even though the game tries very hard to set a creepy atmosphere by putting mutilated human bodies all over the place, the hallways look and feel like they jumped directly from Dead Space games; still, it's all not enough because you won't feel helpless or threatened throughout the entire game, not even for a moment.

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Even though Code Violet is trying make a creepy atmosphere, you won't be intimidated by it

I got scared a couple of times by some cheap jump scares when some dinosaurs appeared out of nowhere in front of me, but that's pretty much it. The first level gives you only a pistol and a knife, but if you explore a bit, you can find a shotgun almost at the beginning of the level and get overpowered immediately.

Code Violet, apart from the already mentioned Dead Space, evidently draws inspiration from Resident Evil games. The slow-moving character, the similar setting, and, of course, most importantly, the inventory management. Like in Resident Evil games, you'll have a limited inventory, whose capacity can be upgraded, and inside it, you'll be able to craft items by combining materials – a concept introduced by the Resident Evil games.

However, even though it had a chance to learn from the best, and truth be told, none will see it as a bad thing if Code Violet completely cat-copies the entire Resident Evil concept; in many segments, it managed to be deeply below its standards with gameplay that can be satisfying, but yet again, as was the case with the story, can disappoint you to the point where you'll seriously consider dropping the game before finishing it.

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Code Violet: RE-like inventory

Visuals, Sounds, and Performance

It really looks like Code Violet is trying very hard to be loved and hated at the same time when it comes to all its segments, because this role can be applied to visuals as well. Being a PlayStation 5 exclusive, you probably expect some breathtaking visuals because we all saw what this console is capable of. Well, do not hold your hopes up high because Code Violet is no more than an average-looking game, and that's the harsh truth.

Violet looks good, even great at some points, but the other characters are somehow not up to standard. You can change many outfits and hairstyles for Violet, and this feature will become a fan-favourite, I know it. Every outfit and every detail on Violet is designed with care and precision, and those segments are something the game designers should be proud of.

However, the use of two graphical choices doesn’t add up with me at all, and I must highlight them here. First, the game overuses the film grain effect to the point that everything looks very glimmering and even blunted. Because of the film grain overuse, the draw distance looks very poor, and all the objects seem unrecognisable, even though they are like ten metres away from you.

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Code Violet: Film grain effect overuse makes the game look quite bad

The second poor graphical choice is the ultrawide aspect ratio. It would make sense if this game weren’t a PS5 exclusive, but considering the PlayStation 5 doesn’t support the ultrawide aspect ratio at all, implementing it here is total nonsense. Some scenes, especially towards the end of the game, are very detailed and very pretty, but unfortunately, due to two big black bars up and down on your screen, and also bizarre PoV settings, where half of the screen is reserved for Violet’s beautiful attributes, you’ll miss a lot of it.

Some graphic effects, like fog, rain, and water effects, look very good, and that needs to be mentioned, but my biggest criticism goes to the lack of any adjustable visual options. Sadly, you cannot change anything within the graphic options apart from brightness.

Speaking of which, you cannot choose different graphic modes and will be forced to play the game in the default resolution, with FPS varying between 30 and 50 (it’s my rough estimation), and luckily without any crashes or any other technical issues.

When it comes to the audio presentation, some music tracks, especially the ones that play in the last level of the game, are amazing. Every track can be played from the main menu of the game, which is also very commendable. Those tracks are really of high quality.

Regarding all other sounds, I’d say they are quite decent, apart from poor voice acting, of course. The weapon sounds are very good, the monster sounds as well, and the only criticism can go to some sounds that keep repeating to build atmosphere. For example, in some levels, you’ll keep hearing the roar of dinosaurs, even though you already killed them all. A small immersion break, but nothing significant.

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Code Violet: Some graphic effect look quite nice, though

Conclusion

Code Violet is a game with some interesting ideas that fell very short due to bad voice acting and mo-cap, poor shooting mechanics, and poor visuals.If those simple things were given more care, we could have a game that challenges even the great Resident Evil or Dead Space, from which it definitely draws huge inspiration. 

In this case, we got a mediocre horror shooter that I cannot recommend at any price.