Fans finally have a pretty complete picture of whatCall of Duty: Black Ops 6will have to offer when it launches on October 25, with some high expectations already being placed on the upcoming game’s campaign, Zombies, and core multiplayer offerings. With how similarCoDmultiplayer experiences have been in recent years, especially with the franchise’s focus on theModern Warfareseries, many players are looking forward to the sense of variety and change thatBlack Ops 6is aiming to instill throughout its multiplayer experience.
While there are many new multiplayer features inCall of Duty: Black Ops 6that fans can look forward to, Treyarch has also stressed how the title is placing a lot of focus on the franchise’s roots and history. This has seen the return of many iconicBlack Opscharacters, perks, equipment, killstreaks, and more, but one controversial perk that is more associated with theModern Warfarefranchise is already causing waves as a field upgrade forBlack Ops 6. Treyarch recently detailed the Morphine Injector field upgrade forBlack Ops 6, which acts very similarly to the contentious Last Stand perk of pastCoDtitles. While some fans are already worried about what implications this might have forBlack Ops 6’s multiplayer, there is still room for the field upgrade to be re-balanced in a way that makes it much more balanced and viable.
Black Ops 6’s Morphine Injection Can Redeem Last Stand’s Reputation
In the run-up to the release ofCall of Duty: Black Ops 6, Treyarch has released a full list of content that players will have access to within the game’s multiplayer. These include fresh elements like Wild Cards and new killstreaks, but the game’s involved perks and field upgrades are always a point of more attention and debate for many fans.The increasingly competitive nature ofCall of Dutymultiplayerhas made field upgrades and certain perks more important than ever, with choices like Ghost being must-have picks for any loadout in a high-skill lobby.
The inclusion of one field upgrade in particular forBlack Ops 6is already threatening to make rifts through the early-game meta of the release, with Morphine Injection seeming like a sure-fire way to boost kills and even cheat death. When Morphine Injector is active, players will go into a downed state instead of dying when taking fatal damage, with players still having access to their weapons in this state. Players can then be potentially revived by teammates before bleeding out, or get a kill while downed to instantly recover into standard full movement.
This is very reminiscent of Last Stand, a perkfirst introduced in 2007’sModern Warfarethat has gone on to appear in a variety of forms throughout the franchise ever since. Many players felt that Last Stand was a cheap way to avoid death and rack up kills that would otherwise be impossible, andCall of Dutyhas tried various ways to balance this over the years. Last Stand appeared as the Final Stand deathstreak in the originalMW2, for example, decreasing how often it is used by players.
Black Ops 6’s Morphine Injector is the Result of 18 Years of Last Stand Tweaking
The fact that Morphine Injector is a field upgrade, as opposed to a perk, is already good news forBlack Ops 6, meaning that players will only be able to activate it a handful of times per match. Players will have to time the activation of Morphine Injection wisely, with an early activation without taking fatal damage being a wasted use. These downsides are partially balanced by the fact that teammates can fully revive Morphine Injector users, and the implications of this could be massive forone-life game modes like Search and Destroy.
Despite thecontroversial legacy that Last Stand-adjacent content has had throughoutCall of Dutyover the years, its re-appearance as Morphine Injector inBlack Ops 6could finally be a turning point for the concept. Morphine Injector already has a lot of limitations compared to the original iterations of Last Stand with its status as a limited-use Field Upgrade, and Treyarch could tweak the duration and power of Morphine Injector post-launch to make a truly balanced version of the concept.
