Every year a new Call of Duty comes out and sometimes it’s small details that determine whether one considers it good or bad. However, some veterans and pros only look at one perk and know for themselves: Top or Flop.
With such a large community as that of Call of Duty, it is quite difficult for the developers to make every fan and player happy. Some prefer colorful skins and crazy stunts like in Black Ops 4, while others prefer sober graphics and realism like in Modern Warfare.
However, many veterans and even some pros are sure of one thing – they want a strong version of the perk “Ninja” or “Dead Silence” in their current Call of Duty. Without this perk, a new CoD immediately falls into the “We’ll see” category.
The CoD streamer Davis “Hitch” Edwards recently started a discussion on Twitter about this topic and criticized the new CoD for the decision to forego a strong version of “Ninja” and received prominent support.
When Dead Silence was introduced with CoD 4, the perk reduced the volume of one’s own footsteps by 60%. This helped to hear enemy footsteps better when moving.
The perk reached its peak in Black Ops II. Here, it allowed for completely noiseless movement.
Ninja also often provided a noise-reducing effect but gave bonuses such as protection against heartbeat sensors.
In the current Modern Warfare and Warzone, Dead Silence is a field upgrade that does not offer a permanent passive bonus but can be actively used to run faster and quieter for a short time.
Why do pros want the perk so much? When you are audible while running, there is always a risk that someone will notice you. This affects the game in various ways, and some pros believe it is not for the better. Hitch, for example, says that it slows down the games:
Tweet Translation – “One thing worries me about Cold War: The absence of a perk for silent footsteps. Ninja [the perk that is now in the game] seems to be more like Dead Silence from MW Remastered… which made the game extremely slow. I don’t understand why CoD is moving away from that… the best games had complete Dead Silence.”
The professional player Austin “SlasheR” Liddicoat joins in. He says that without complete “Dead Silence,” players have fewer options for advanced tactics:
I say it every year man.. complete dead silence allows for more plays to be made in SND and higher game knowledge in respawn.. footstep volume is for scrubs
— Austin Liddicoat (@SlasheR_AL) October 6, 2020
Tweet Translation – “I say it every year… complete Dead Silence allows more tactics in Search & Destroy and you need more knowledge about the respawns. Footstep noise is for noobs.”
Even the famous YouTube streamer Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm joined the discussion and agreed with Hitch. Furthermore, he explained which CoD had the best sound for him:
Agreed. Blops 1 sound design was the best IMO. Settle sound design indications for specific actions. Example: climbing a ladder and getting to the top, belt buckle would make a quick faint sound.
— #Doctober (@drdisrespect) October 6, 2020
Tweet Translation – “Agreed. The sound design in Black Ops 1 was the best in my opinion. The sound design should be set in a way that it indicates specific actions. For example: When you climb a ladder and reach the top, the belt buckle makes a quick faint sound.”
The three well-known CoD players are therefore not at all satisfied with the latest version of the Ninja perk and even evaluate the overall quality of the CoD title based on this one perk.
How does it look with Cold War? Currently, the beta of Black Ops Cold War is running and this year there is again a Ninja perk for quieter footsteps in the game:
Perk Description – You sprint quieter. You are resistant to directional microphones while sprinting. Speak only when necessary.
So far, the perk only affects sprint speed but leaves normal walking unaffected. Whether there will be any changes before release or possibly another perk that alters footstep volume is still open for now.
The beta already offers a lot of mechanics from the complete game, but not all of them. Here are more details about the beta test.
What do you think about Dead Silence/Ninja? Does the perk also influence how you perceive a CoD title, or are you perhaps even glad if there is no or only a weak version of the perk in the game?
