Black Ops 6 Zombies’ Death Perception is a Letdown, But That Can Change

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies’ latest map has been divisive to say the least. Some fans have been appreciating the simplicity of this gorgeous play space, as it essentially feels like a more difficult Liberty Falls where there are a handful of side quests to do quickly, but simply surviving is the main attraction. Detractors have pointed to The Tomb’s messy final cinematic, plentiful bugs, and reused assets as map-ruining flaws, viewing the Tomb as a letdown and the worst map in Black Ops 6. Regardless of where fans fall on The Tomb itself, the perk that released alongside it has been almost universally panned.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s latest perk being a disappointment is not the first time Zombies has released a lackluster perk. The original Tombstone from Black Ops 2, as well as Who’s Who, were relentlessly made fun of for how bad they were, while half of Black Ops 4’s new perks were quickly deemed useless by fans. Fortunately for Death Perception, it has been released in a live-service game that is regularly updated, with Treyarch having already adjusted elements of Black Ops 6 based on community feedback. As such, just like it did with its Mangler nerfs and walking back the Directed mode changes, Treyarch could fix Death Perception to make it a perk worth chasing.

Why is Black Ops 6’s Death Perception Such a Flop?

Perhaps the biggest thing working against Death Perception is that it’s simply out of place. It thrived within Black Ops Cold War’s Outbreak mode and Modern Warfare Zombies because of their open-world nature, as the perk became a great way to quickly identify loot crates scattered throughout the maps. In a small round-based map like The Tomb, though, this benefit is entirely lost. Even worse is the fact that the perk has had its best upgrade abilities from Black Ops Cold War removed, as there are no Augments that increase salvage drop rate or armor penetration damage.

Death Perception is mainly bad because it only has a few worthwhile augments, those being the major upgrades which see body shots having a chance to deal critical damage, elemental weakness damage gaining a chance to kill low health enemies, and players being able to collect extra loot from containers. The minor augments do very little, as increasing the power of the perk’s main ability seems rather meaningless since the red outlines for enemies are not all that helpful to begin with. Similarly, boosting the mini-map’s scan distance does nothing for all the old school Zombies fans who use the classic HUD and remove the mini-map. Even the “Extra Change” augment, which adds more loose change spots beyond the perk machines, is less useful than it should be. Death Perception can only be purchased from its machine on The Tomb, with it being in Der Wunderfizz on the other maps. By the time that machine shows up on Round 25, players will have no need for loose change.

How Can Black Ops 6’s Death Perception Be Improved?

While Death Perception may be a bit of a dud in its current form, there are ways Treyarch can improve it. These include:

• Marking special enemies and mini-bosses in red as soon as they spawn, regardless of how far away players are from them.
• Highlighting all dig piles on Terminus and The Tomb.
• Allowing players to “perceive” extra weakpoints on durable mini-bosses like Amalgams and Abominations.
• Placing the actual Death Perception machine on older maps so that players can get the benefits of the loose change augment.
• Bringing back a stronger version of the increased armor damage from the Black Ops Cold War version of Death Perception. Perhaps users can deal extra damage to mini-bosses, or all enemies that have been highlighted red through a wall could be weakened, encouraging new strategies.

Hopefully, Treyarch hears the complaints about Death Perception, as it feels like the first truly useless perk to be added to Black Ops 6. Perhaps Treyarch has a plan in place to give Death Perception increased importance in a future map, much like how the elemental swords from Citadelle Des Morts retroactively made Melee Macchiato less niche. As of now, though, the perk is something players dread getting from an On the House Gobblegum or a free perk Easter egg, and that’s truly a shame. While the Black Ops 6 version may never shine like it does in an open-world Zombies experiences, changes like the ones suggested above could make Death Perception a perk worth drinking.

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Released

October 25, 2024

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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Suggestive Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs

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