Should Dead Silence be a perk in Modern Warfare?
Over the three weeks Modern Warfare has been out, there’s been one constant complaint among players. Whether it be from a casual or competitive standpoint, many feel that Modern Warfare launched without one key feature: Dead Silence. Of course, Dead Silence technically is in the game, however, it’s lacking in many ways.
For Modern Warfare, Infinity Ward decided to increase the realism across the board. This meant that some key elements from years past, like a normal mini-map, were cut from multiplayer. Included in this downsizing is the traditional Dead Silence that many know and love. Since the early days of Call of Duty, Dead Silence has been featured as a perk. Giving you the ability to stay completely quiet while moving, Dead Silence is a fan-favorite perk for a majority of fans.
Although, in Modern Warfare, it’s instead a Field Upgrade. Given the fact that the footsteps are extremely loud and the maps are a camper’s dream, should Dead Silence be made into a perk?
The argument for Dead Silence as a perk
In previous Call of Duty titles, Dead Silence not in the three perk categories wouldn’t be a huge deal. The footsteps in years past were relatively quiet and the maps didn’t promote camping.
However, in Modern Warfare, we don’t have either of those things. Though the recent updates have tuned them down a little, footsteps are still too loud. If an enemy is crouching in a corner, they will be able to hear you coming from a mile away. To go along with this, the maps encourage players to sit in corners and wait for their enemies to come stomping by them.
Having Dead Silence as a Field Upgrade isn’t a terrible mechanic. As aforementioned, with previous titles a Field Upgrade wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Although, with Modern Warfare it simply isn’t enough. Players whose style is more aggressive tend to be punished, as their footsteps are far too loud. If Dead Silence was a perk, these types of players would be able to flank and push routes more effectively.
In turn, making Dead Silence a perk would also help to extinguish Modern Warfare’s severe camping issue. Some players don’t have the confidence to venture out in the open areas of the map due to the fear of their footsteps being heard. So, they instead stay in one building and wait to hear the footsteps of the more aggressive players.
This problem not only slows down gameplay but makes one style of play nearly nonexistent. Public games aren’t reaching the score limit and competitive matches are a test to see who can hear the enemy first. Putting Dead Silence into one of the perk categories helps alleviate many of the issues Modern Warfare is experiencing.
Cons for making Dead Silence a perk
As with any argument, there is another side to the coin. Yes, the game would, in the long run, benefit from having a Dead Silence perk. However, there would also be some negatives to this introduction.
For starters, the perk category that Dead Silence ends up in would become irrelevant. A majority of the player base would use Dead Silence, making every other perk in that category not usable. Infinity Ward has strived to make sure that every aspect of Modern Warfare is playable. With Dead Silence as a perk, many other perks would not be used whatsoever.
From a competitive standpoint, implementing a Dead Silence perk means that another Field Upgrade would become the dominant choice. The most logical option is the Trophy System, as some professional players already use it instead of Dead Silence. However, in a 5v5 match, there could be as many as 10 Trophy Systems on the map at once. Having that many Trophies on the playing field means that lethal and tactical grenades become almost useless.
If every member of a team had a Trophy System, they could simply put them down in high-profile areas and not have to worry about any grenades coming their way. While this may be preferred to having Dead Silence as a Field Upgrade, it comes with many issues of its own.
When will we get an answer from Infinity Ward?
Over the course of Modern Warfare, Infinity Ward have been pretty transparent with their updates. Though, we still haven’t heard anything on their plans for Dead Silence. We’ve heard plenty on the footstep audio, but nothing about the potential for a Dead Silence perk.
Through some leaks and reports, there could be a massive overhaul coming to Modern Warfare in late November. While we don’t know the content of this overhaul, it’s safe to assume many of the community’s complaints will be solved and answered.
Though, there’s currently no word on if Infinity Ward will be making any changes to the Field Upgrade or perk system. However, if a change was to come, it would be in the huge update supposedly coming in the next two weeks.
