First of all, thank you to the Call of Duty team for bringing Black Ops 1 and Black Ops 2 back. For many of us, this isn’t just nostalgia—it’s a chance to experience two of the greatest Call of Duty games ever made again.
I also think this is a great opportunity for the developers. Whether someone played these games back in the PS3 era or is experiencing them for the first time, the amount of player feedback you’re gathering right now can help improve Call of Duty as a whole going forward.
The reason I’m making this post is simple:
If you agree with what I’m about to say, please consider upvoting it so the developers have a better chance of seeing it.
A lot of people have been saying things like:
“I’ve lost my aim.”
“The old games don’t feel the same anymore.”
Some people blame age, muscle memory, or simply being out of practice.
But after comparing the current versions with the original PS3 versions, I genuinely believe there’s another factor that isn’t being talked about enough:
The aiming deadzone and stick acceleration don’t feel like they originally did.
Small stick movements seem to accelerate more aggressively than I remember, making aiming feel less smooth and less predictable.
The best example is with SMGs.
Weapons like the PDW-57 and MSMC used to feel incredibly smooth to track targets with, even at medium range. Today, they feel much harder to control, almost as if the aim is fighting you instead of moving naturally.
It’s not that the recoil is different—it feels like the controller input itself behaves differently.
I’ve seen people dismiss this by saying:
“You’re older now.”
“You’ve lost your touch.”
“You’re just used to modern shooters.”
So I went back and played the original PS3 versions myself.
The difference in aiming immediately stood out to me. It felt smoother, more consistent, and much closer to what I remembered.
I’m not claiming this is objectively proven, but I do think it’s worth investigating.
One more thing:
Changing the PS5 controller settings won’t fix this. If the deadzone and stick acceleration are handled differently by the game itself, adding PlayStation adjustments on top only makes the issue worse, not better. The fix needs to come from the game.
I also understand why the developers may be hesitant to change anything. Since these are classic games, people often expect them to remain untouched, and any gameplay adjustment could be misunderstood as turning a port into a remaster.
However, the team has already shown they’re willing to improve the experience by fixing hackers, exploits, and cross-generation issues while still preserving the original games.
That’s why I hope one of these happens:
1-Revisit the current aiming implementation, including
deadzone and stick acceleration, and compare it with the original PS3 behavior.
2-Even better, add controller options that allow players to adjust deadzone and stick acceleration themselves.
This wouldn’t force anyone to change how they play—it would simply let everyone choose the aiming feel they prefer.
Call of Duty has one of the biggest communities in gaming, which also means individual feedback is easy to overlook.
If you’ve noticed the same thing, or if you have your own thoughts, please leave a comment below.
Even if you disagree, I’d genuinely like to hear your experience.
Sometimes a single discussion can lead to meaningful improvements.
Thanks for reading.