The first two Call of Duty: Black Ops games have launched on PS5 and PS4, but they’re not exactly the remasters that fans were expecting. Both games feature a high price considering their age–$40 each–while their respective DLC packs are being sold as optional extras, an odd move considering how most remasters include that content to sweeten the deal. To make things worse, it looks like the technical presentation isn’t much to write home about either, as the PlayStation ports feature barely any noticeable improvements at all.
According to Digital Foundry, Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 have been updated to run at 1080p on PS5 and PS4, and that’s it. No option for a 4K resolution on PS5 or the opportunity to push the framerate to 120Hz, no improved shadows or lighting, and no quality-of-life updates like you’d find in modern Call of Duty games at all. In comparison, the original Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2 games get the resolution bump for free on Xbox Series X|S through the console’s backwards compatibility program, while PC gamers have been creating custom mods for years now.
As mentioned above, each remaster is being sold for $40, and their map packs cost $30 each. That’s $70 per game, but it is worth mentioning that Activision is offering a discount to PlayStation Plus subscribers, dropping the price to $20 per game and $10 per map pack. Still, paying $60 per complete edition of a game is expensive, especially when they aren’t that much of an improvement compared to the original titles.
“For a native PS5 title and a somewhat high-profile port, this is a deeply odd state of affairs. Even the game’s obvious visual blemishes are preserved: shadow quality was necessarily poor back in the day, but why preserve that problem in the present day when so much more graphics horsepower is available?” Digital Foundry wrote.
Meanwhile, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 was recently revealed and will be out later this year. Unlike the 2024 and 2025 games, Black Ops 6 and Black Ops 7, Modern Warfare 4 will not be available on Game Pass at launch, and Activision is busy reminding players in ads for the game. Modern Warfare 4 will launch for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch 2 on October 23.