I am not sure how I can effectively say the point I am trying to get across with this question. I have played my fair share of the past two Call of Duty games and both are done quite well. The biggest addition in COD4 as we all know was the ability to create custom classes, but I feel the “Perk System” is a bit unbalanced, and at times I wonder why the system is even in place.
From my hundreds of hours playing both Call of Duty 4 and World at War I have been rather annoyed at one aspect, and that is the strong use of one particular perk. I am sure many of players can agree that they have seen, and even mainly used the “Stopping Power” perk over and over. Why not use it? It gives your weapon extra power for the battle, so whats the problem? Well, the problem I see is that this particular perk bascially renders the second perk slot useless becuase everyone uses “Stopping Power”. Sure, occasionally you see someone using “Juggernaut” or being a bit more creative and using “Radar Jammer” but atleast 90% of the time you or your enemy are using “Stopping Power”. The reason I say this perk makes the whole second slot useless is because it disallows any creativity in the custom classes. People generally won’t care about any other perk in the second slot becuase they only want the one with more power. So you will rarely see anyone show any sign of creativity in the class system whether its using “Sleight of Hand” or “Sonic Boom” or even “Shades” for that matter. In a way, it makes the whole game broken at times.
Even though many weapons in the game are powerful, a strong weapon still may not have a full chance at a moderate weapon with “Stopping Power”. This perk is a clutch everybody relies on. At times when I tried to make a class without it, I constantly felt I was at a huge disadvantage to every other player with it, and this is why I feel the system is broken. I even tried using double tap on a relatively strong weapon and still fell short to “Stopping Power”. This leads to one of the few things I felt that Killzone 2 did right with its multiplayer, and that’s giving everybody the use of the same perk (or badge) at the same time. For example, at a certain XP rate or kill rate every player can use the badge that allows more ammo count or grenade count during the game, leaving nobody falling short. This makes more sense than the whole tower of available perks in COD but everybody only using one.
What I feel Infinity Ward and Treyarch should do is take out “Stopping Power” and even “Juggernaut” from the perk system in the next installments and focus more on the creative perks. It is a shame that rarely anyone uses any other perk to create some really interesting weapon classes. I also strongly believe the multiplayer will be significantly more balanced due to the fact that nobody can have a stonger weapon due to a perk. I hope I made my argument as clear as possible, because this was one of those things where it made sense in my head but I couldn’t write it properly. And to make it perfectly clear, I still love both games and I am eagerly waiting for Modern Warfare 2 this fall.
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I am pretty much a shooter player, whether it is FPS or TPS. I play a lot of other genres here and there like fighting and adventure, but I feel shooters are my thing. 
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i whole heartedly disagree with just about everything you said
KZ2 mp badge system is horribly balanced, where as in COD low elvel players are not at a disadvantage
all power/health modifying perks are available from the early levels of the COD games, where as seriously game changing badges are only available to high level players in KZ2
go play KZ2 on a new account and see exactly how much fun you have…you won’t have much
thats y theres a filter for KZ2… it only allows people of ur rank to play against u.. and this filter is alrdy on, because its on default. and even if u joined a game with higher ranked players. and u complain about it, it just means ur not very good. no matter how huge the advantage or disadvantage. i always get 1st. i didnt even have ne badges and im still killing everyone.
Well, you certainly make an interesting point. I think the problem isn’t the fact that “Stopping Power” is unnecessarily effective but rather, the other “Red” perks aren’t that generalised. Some have very niche uses so you’ll tend to see them come into play in specific maps or with specific game-play styles only. I feel that “Juggernaut” is great for people just getting into the game; it gives them a fighting chance and the time to learn without dying as often. Personally, I use “Stopping Power” only with a silenced G3—fantastic combo this. Otherwise all my classes use “UAV Jammer” since the stealth aspect is pretty epic.
chuz, thanks for the feedback. but rob, my point isnt that these perks arent available early on b/c i know they are, im saying how they are overused and make it so that the other perks have no meaning to them b/c they are overshadowed by stopping power.
hundreds of hours and you’re still playing standard deathmatch? Time to graduate amigo up to hardcore. Then you can be rid of your fearful stopping power. UAV jammer is the NEW
yeah i d have to agree somewhat…i only play hardcore s&d but even though i did use juggernaut in the beginning…i never did use stopping power and now all my weapons have sleight of hand and telescopic scopes to bring down death…and i personally think that red factions perk system has the better than killzone or cod because everyone starts off the same and you find backpacks as perks…and every single backpack has a stronger and weaker one…so the invisible one…that ones weak to the “vision” backpack that gives you xray vision…its well balanced
Stoping power not that bad don’y give some shit story about that use creative perks shades, fire jacket etc…. are all perks that DO NOTHING
so why put on shades for example it be so pointless.
The only thing that should be removed is a the noob tube becasue it is cheap, no skill there
I agree with you about the creative perks thingy, but killzone 2’s class system isnt perfect too, both games need improvement, but killzone 2’s system is just slightly better in my opinion.
An interesting point.
ryan tells it like it is – get into hardcore and you’ll free yourself from the irritation of stopping power. Last Stand frustrates me somewhat, would be great to see that perk taken out of hardcore – i mean, what are you doing playing in hardcore if one of your perks is focused around you losing a firefight?
well,i dont know about you,but i’m changing perks constantly during the matches,thank god there are slots for different weapons in cod! I usually start with M4 deep impact and stopping power,but that doesnt mean that i’ll stick to it all the time,that’s the beauly of COD4. (btw, cod5 suck big time,i sold it) I still play COD4 on my 360 and PS3 equally
who still plays soft core mode in COD?!! ahaa step ya game up bro, play some hardcore and you dont need stopping power
How about you start off with all the perks, and as your XP rises your perks become locked.
Noobs get the added bonus of being more powerful.
And good players who have everything locked can really show how good they are.
Thats a complete flip on how every game is done now…. But thats how I would do it.
If they removed juggernaut, I’d stop using stopping power. If you’re sniping without stopping power, you can expect to have to hit 2 or even 3 times to kill.
No, the real cancer that is killing CoD4 is martyrdom. I. Hate. It.
Good topic. I agree that stopping power and juggernaut are both widely used and are there to cancel each other out. I do not really have a problem with any of the perks since every has to go through the same things to unlock them perks, and have the ability to use whatever they like. I would prefer to see the two removed in favor of a body armor system. Unlocking different levels of body armor that while providing you more protection, they could inhibit your mobility and accuracy due to added weight.
@ patrick:
Are you thinking of a system similar to the Rainbow 6? They have an upgradable body armor system that does just what your talking about. I’d love to see this in the new Modern Warfare, especially since soldiers in the army can “customize” their armor(from what I understand). By customize I mean they can spend the money to buy bigger and better armor for themselves. I think they would also have to incorporate a visual customization as well however, which might be too big of an overhaul for the next game.
i got an idea TAKE ALL THE PERKS OUT. call of duty 1 and 2 were great and there was no bs when it came to online.
You have to be joking, perks make the game.
The people want customization!!!
great feedback guys. and yes, the vegas 1 and 2 body armor system was great
NOOB TUBES MUST GO! FROM ANY GAME!!! ESPECIALLY HARDCORE!!! nothing else ruins the game but some idiot with no skill,that blindfire noob tubes from other side of the map,without even seeing the enemy! how i hate that!!!That’s the only reason why i sold COD5, it was unbearable.other perks are ok, you have enough slots to change weapons&perks, usually i change it cause it’s not the same when you attack or defend objectives in COD4 hardcore S&D.
Martyrdom is one of the cheesiest perks. For an average skilled run-and-gun player, it adds an easy 5 – 10 kills per game. The only flip side is that it may accidentally kill one of your own team mates.
And true stopping power is a little over bearing, so I believe it will be more balanced in MW2.
well I think that we need to consider that there isnt much else in the second perk. for example, the perk that decreases the effectiveness of flares is useless because nobody throws flares
perks like shades and gas mask are also effective for objective game modes. i use those perks so i can effefctively hold down an area. if i throw a gas nade and only i have a mask and the enemies dont, thats a plus for me. why do people only think the perks are only used if someone else throws a flare or gas?
If you feel that stopping power is such an advantage why don’t you go and play hardcore?
In hardcore very few guns actually benefit from stooping power because a players health is so low it will usually only take one or two rounds.
I always play hardcore because of the more realistic feel and the opportunity to use perks such as camouflage without being at a huge disadvantage.
But i will say, stopping power definitely has a role in core or non-hardcore game modes in the way that stopping power in conjunction with a sniper rifle is usually a one round kill.
BTW cant wait for mwf2
For one thing, Juggernaut is stronger than Stopping Power in W@W. At the same time, there are more important problems with MW and especially W@W than the perks. Don’t whine about the system because everything has a balance and it’s how people choose to play that affects how well they do. You want to kill? Use stopping power. You want to live? Use juggernaut. Many have their equal opposites – martyrdom counters last stand/second chance, bomb squad counters betties/C4, etc. If I chose to use Gas Mask w/ gas and used it effectively, would I be wasting a 2nd perk? Absolutely not. It’s not our fault everyone goes with a perk like stopping power, but what happens to stopping power when they come up against shades/flares or double tap? Countered correctly, it’s just as useless as any other. Don’t pick out one perk in the game when it has an obvious counter. It’s like saying “They should take out C4/Betties” when there is a clear alternative you happened not to be using (i.e. BOMB SQUAD). And if everyone uses something like you say they do? USE IT or COUNTER IT
http://denkirson.xanga.com/632800688/call-of-duty-4/
read this, you’ll understand how this game is balanced.
The perk system is perfectly fine, and i don;t know how you haven’t gotten used to seeing stopping power.