Infinity Ward boldly proclaimed that Call of Duty Modern Warfare II won’t have the much-maligned Last Stand perk, but that’s only technically correct. A presenter at the Call of Duty Next showcase announced to great fanfare from the crowd that the upcoming game will nix the perk, which in prior CoD games allows players to drop on their back upon death and attempt to fire back at an enemy. Many players dislike this because they feel that getting killed by someone in this dying state is frustrating. However, a different perk in the beta called Survivor effectively does what Last Stand does, making the developer’s statement apparently deceptive.
How the Survivor perk replaces Last Stand in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
A decade later and they still haven't learned lol https://t.co/6ahhrJ3oKg pic.twitter.com/O4H3DZYphb
— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) September 15, 2022
As noted by CharlieIntel, a Tier 4 perk in the Modern Warfare II beta called Survivor states the following: “On death, enter Last Stand with the ability to self-revive once per life. Teammates can revive downed players faster.” The fact that it explicitly mentions “Last Stand” is all you really need to make the case.
It’s unclear why Infinity Ward would make a statement that seems misleading like this, despite the presenter exclaiming “Yeah, f*** Last Stand!” at the event. At any rate, most fans including insider Tom Henderson have reacted negatively to this switcheroo on Twitter.
To play devil’s advocate, though, the Survivor perk is only available in the beta, so it may not make the final cut. Even if it does remain, the perk is in the Tier 4 group which, in the new system, unlocks at about the midway point of a match. So, you won’t have to contend with it about half of the time. The presenter could also have just forgotten that the Survivor perk exists. Otherwise, he does also mention other balance tweaks that seem to be present in the beta, like no One Man Army perk, no Commando perk, no game-ending nuke, and no shotguns as secondaries. So at least there’s that.
In other news, the Call of Duty DMZ mode has received a release date and will be free-to-play, and The Sims 5 reveal will reportedly be arriving in October according to an insider.