Classics Black Ops arrive on PS5 without technical improvements

The in-depth technical analysis conducted by the Digital Foundry channel clearly showed that the time and budget invested by the distributor in these conversions were practically zero. Although the first chapter of the sub-series originally debuted in 2010, none of these editions take advantage of the contemporary hardware of the PlayStation 5. Both titles run locked at a native resolution of 1080p at 60 Hz, completely ignoring features that should be mandatory in current re-releases, such as native 4K support, fluidity modes at 120 frames per second, or a field of view (FOV) adjustment control. The complete absence of anti-aliasing filters and the retention of blown-out textures and shadows from the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 era highlight a total lack of care and respect for preserving these works.

The PS4 and PS5 editions of the campaigns and zombie modes of Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 are now available for purchase on the digital store. However, the much-anticipated return of the two most iconic chapters of the shooting franchise has ended up being a letdown for the community. Instead of delivering a worthy remaster aligned with current technologies, Activision opted for the path of least resistance, charging a hefty tag of 39.99 euros for each basic port, without even including the map expansions in the main package. It's disheartening to see how major companies prefer to capitalize on enthusiasts' nostalgia by charging exorbitant prices for old files with no visual treatment or technical refinement.

Hardware specialists are considering two hypotheses for this technical negligence on the Japanese manufacturer's consoles.

The engineers at Digital Foundry suspect that the mediocre performance could be a reflection of a severely limited production budget imposed by the management, or worse, a deliberate strategic maneuver by Microsoft to prevent the games from running with superior visual quality on Sony's rival platform compared to what is currently delivered in the ecosystem of the Windows owner. On the competitor’s side, access to the games on the Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One systems is done through the traditional backward compatibility catalog, which limits reproduction to the archaic resolution of 608p directly inherited from the Xbox 360, resulting in a blurred, dark display with pixelated shadows.

To try and ease the weight of the negative reception due to the high launch price, a temporary promotion was activated for members subscribing to the PlayStation Plus service. Until August 6th, the individual cost of each game drops to 19.99 euros, while the season pass with additional content can be purchased for 9.89 euros, enabling the acquisition of the complete combo for an estimated value of around 60 euros. This momentary price reduction serves merely as a palliative to mask a greedy commercial stance, which shoves poorly optimized, dry ports down the throats of a community that deserves top-level restoration work.