Black Ops Returns to PS5 — and It's Disappointing in Every Way
Back in July 2026, Activision suddenly decided to drop Call of Duty: Black Ops and Black Ops 2 on the PlayStation store for PS5 and PS4. No announcement, no marketing fanfare — they just appeared on the storefront out of nowhere. I grabbed the first one immediately, and what I found left me genuinely disappointed.
The pricing is straightforward: $39.99 per game (or £34.99
This Isn't a Port — It's Just a Copy-Paste Job
What Activision released isn't a remake or even a genuine upgrade. This is your original 2010 Black Ops, literally repackaged for PS5. The result? A visual experience that feels almost identical to the original PS3 version. No frame rate improvements, no FOV slider, nothing. Zero effort.
The only tangible improvement is display resolution: the new version runs at 1080p, versus the original 2010 release. That's literally it. When you're playing Black Ops on PS5, you feel like you're playing a game from fifteen years ago — and not in a fun, nostalgic way. In a literal, painfully obvious way.
Missing Trophies and Cut Content
Players quickly noticed something weird: two trophies from the original Black Ops vanished — "Date Night" and "In the Money." This signals that some classic content is straight-up missing from this new version. What happened to them? Honestly, nobody knows.
As for the overall content package, the game includes the campaign, online multiplayer, and Zombies mode. But zero DLC packs included. If you want all the content that was available for the original game, you're dropping extra cash on top of the base purchase.
The Price Doesn't Match the Quality or Value
Forty dollars for an old version with zero real improvements? That feels bloated to me. And I'm going to be straight about it: this isn't a fair price. The company didn't redevelop the game, didn't meaningfully improve it, didn't add new content — they just repackaged it. If you're on PlayStation Plus and can grab it for $20, the deal becomes less terrible. But the full price is just unreasonable.
Here's another kicker: there's no bundle package for both games together. Want Black Ops and Black Ops 2? That's $80 (or $40 with the Plus discount). No bundles, no extra discounts — just the same price multiplied by however many games you want.
Who Should Actually Buy This?
Real talk: I can't recommend these versions for most people. If you're hunting for a modern experience or upgraded graphics, you'll be let down immediately. This isn't for 2026 gamers who are used to current-gen quality.
Now, if you're someone who lived through the original Black Ops days and want to revisit those memories — literally relive them, same graphics and all — then maybe it's worth it. But only at the PlayStation Plus discount price. Twenty bucks for a nostalgia trip? That's borderline acceptable. Forty? Absolutely not.
I'd only recommend it if you're a PlayStation Plus subscriber and want a classic game at a reduced price for a limited time. After that offer ends, the full price makes it a genuinely bad choice compared to everything else available right now.
