Black Ops Designer Regrets “Second Chance” Perk

Treyarch’s David Vonderhaar says he “f*cked up” by including the Second Chance perk in Call of Duty: Black Ops.

For those of you who, like me, have no idea what Black Ops‘ “Second Chance” perk is, here’s the lowdown from StickTwiddlers: it’s “a tier 3 multiplayer perk that allows players to survive lethal damage and use a pistol for ten seconds while downed before dying.” You only have one hit point after you go down, so literally anything that does damage can finish you off; a pro version of the perk boosts the survival time to 30 seconds and allows teammates to revive you.

The opportunity for a great Kiefer Sutherland moment must’ve seemed like a good idea to somebody at some point, but Vonderhaar, the online design director on Black Ops, says that in hindsight, it was a mistake. “See that gun to my head in my pic?” he tweeted, referring to his Twitter avatar. “That’s how I feel about 2nd Chance. We meant well. I fucked up.”

And that’s not the only thing he feels bad about. “By the way, I’m really sorry about that challenge to cap flags for Pro perks. That was another bad idea. Long story. Filled with regret,” he wrote in a separate tweet, adding later, “I wanted them to be a Challenge. I didn’t want them to force people to play something they dislike and encourage boosting.”

Vonderhaar’s outburst of regret appears to have been triggered by a Black Ops fan who threatened to murder him [quite literally – “I’m going to murder you” were his exact words] if he made players “capture 15 flags in CTF to get marathon pro” in the next game. “We already buried that dead horse,” he replied. “It’s a long story and one I regret.”