Call of Duty's original Black Ops games are back on modern PlayStation hardware, but Activision's pricing strategy will make players think twice before diving in.
Both Black Ops 1 and 2 launched digitally on PS4 and PS5 this week at $40 apiece. Adding their respective season passes, priced at $29.99 each, pushes the total for the complete package to $140. That's a steep ask for titles that first hit shelves over a decade ago.
PlayStation Plus subscribers get relief. The subscription discount cuts each game to $20 and season passes to $9, bringing the full bundle down to roughly $60. That pricing window closes August 6, giving fans a limited window to lock in the deal.
The ports themselves are straightforward rereleases with no new features or crossplay functionality. Multiplayer remains separate from other platforms, which developers likely considered a necessity. The original servers plagued by hackers made isolation the safer bet for maintaining playable online matches.
Not everything made the jump to PS5. Wager matches and theater mode have been cut from both games. The campaign, multiplayer, and Zombies modes remain fully intact. Notably, the infamous emblem editor survived the transition, for better or worse.
A free cosmetic pack for Black Ops 2 grants access to customization options from the original version, adding some minor value to the rereleases without additional cost.
Author Emily Chen: "Charging $140 for decade-old games without adding anything new is exactly what we should expect from Activision at this point, but the PlayStation Plus discount actually makes this worthwhile for subscribers."
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