The first major PlayStation 5 exclusive of 2026 has landed with a deafening thud of disappointment. Code Violet, released on 10th January 2026 by developer TeamKill Media, has swiftly earned the dubious honour of being the year's worst game so far, scoring a pitiful 1/10 in our review. Priced at a staggering £39.99, this unofficial attempt to resurrect the spirit of Dino Crisis is an embarrassing, broken experience that fails on almost every level.
A Trail of Misleading Hype and Desperate Hopes
Somewhat inexplicably, Code Violet became the most pre-ordered title on the PlayStation Store in the lead-up to its release. This can likely be attributed to its trailers, which presented a slick, Resident Evil remake-style third-person action horror. With no other major new releases in early January, the footage offered a tempting glimpse of dinosaur-fueled chaos.
Another theory for its brief commercial success is a latent, desperate hunger for a new Dino Crisis game. It has been over two decades since Capcom's last entry in the series, which originally blended Resident Evil's survival horror with Jurassic Park dinosaurs. Sadly, Code Violet does not fill that void; it exploits it with a shallow, poorly constructed imitation.
An Amateurish and Offensive Core Experience
Players control the one-dimensional protagonist, Regina Violet, through a nonsensical plot cobbled together from random sources including Dino Crisis, Jurassic Park, Turok, and even Alien. The game's treatment of its lead character is immediately problematic, with the camera frequently leering at her "implausibly perfect body" as she wears impractical outfits. This is particularly ironic given TeamKill Media's stated reason for making the game a PS5 exclusive: to prevent PC gamers from creating "sexual mods."
The core gameplay is fundamentally broken. The camera is terrible, jittering uncontrollably in tight spaces, which is a constant issue as you navigate endless linear corridors and labs. Enemy variety is minimal, with most dinosaurs either charging mindlessly or spitting acid. The much-hyped T-Rex encounters and humanoid dino-men from the trailers are barely present, and boss battles are ineptly designed, requiring no strategy beyond pumping bullets into massive health pools.
A Glitch-Ridden, Unfinished Product
Code Violet is riddled with technical failures that make it nearly unplayable. The illusion of good graphics shatters upon closer inspection, revealing ugly, messy textures. Bugs are constant, from broken lighting and assets failing to load to glitchy sound and AI that simply stops functioning. Weapons and controls can suddenly cease to work entirely.
Attempts at stealth are laughable, with dinosaurs switching between omniscient awareness and complete oblivion based on an unreliable invisibility suit. The gunplay feels weightless and imprecise, and there are no proper puzzles or reasons to explore the bland environments.
In summary, Code Violet is a vapid, broken, and entirely un-entertaining experience. Its only positive is serving as a stark reminder of how much the gaming community truly deserves a competent, official Dino Crisis revival. For now, this £40 disaster is a cautionary tale about pre-order hype and the chasm between cinematic trailers and shoddy reality.
