Mini Review: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (PS5) - Overcharged for a Multiplayer Classic

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Version Reviewed: PS5 Pro / European

If you haven’t already read my Call of Duty: Black Ops PS5 review, here’s the TL;DR: it’s a rip-off.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 on PS5 is also a rip-off, carrying the exact same issues and drawbacks. It’s completely overpriced, the DLC is a separate purchase, and it’s a straight port of a 14-year-old game — you don’t get any technical enhancements.

I don’t recommend you buy this, but if you have to get one of them, make it Black Ops 2. The sequel has some of the best classic multiplayer action going.

It’s an all-encompassing effort that represents the franchise at its online peak for so many. Some of the best multiplayer maps were born here, strong balancing saw matches play out fairly (most of the time), and it debuted the “pick 10” class system.

Just like its ported predecessor, this is the kind of multiplayer anyone sick of live service and Battle Passes would love. I think you’re being charged far too much for it, but Black Ops 2 is the better of the two for online fights.

The campaign and Zombies support the main attraction, though they’re not quite the sub-series at its best.

Treyarch went up a gear with complex ideas and mechanics in Zombies, leaning into its hardcore playerbase over casual players, who struggled to work out what to do next.

The single player spans two timelines: one follows on from the events of Black Ops during the Cold War, while the second is set in 2025 in the midst of a second Cold War.

Jumping into the future allows the campaign access to wingsuits and grappling gloves for a more varied offering that’s still fairly gripping to this day. It’s good; it just isn’t quite on the same level as the first Black Ops.

All that Black Ops 2 has to offer is of a high quality; it’s just showing its age — especially in the visuals department. The PS5 version is a basic port of a 2012 PS3 game without any graphical improvements that’s sold at a comically high price. It isn’t worth anywhere near the $40 asking price in 2026.