The bigger takeaway isn’t just that Dispatch got censored — it’s that players, developers, and platform holders still don’t have a shared language about choice versus control in gaming experiences.

Environmental design is strong. Locations feel grounded in Middle-earth’s darker corners, not its heroic landmarks. The tone is grimy, narrow, and oppressive—exactly where Gollum belongs.

This isn’t an argument that the Black Ops 7 co-op campaign is flawless. It isn’t. But the idea that it’s pointless, lazy, or a failure completely misses what it’s trying to be—and why it actually works for the right audience.

A clean, focused extension of the PS5 that respects your time, your library, and your comfort. If you judge it for what it is—not what the internet wanted it to be—the PlayStation Portal is one of Sony’s smartest hardware moves in years. And the haters? They got this one wrong.