ADAMS: Treyarch Should Bring Back COD Zombies' Most Underrated Perk

Entertainment Dec 23, 2025

Every few years, Call of Duty Zombies gets obsessed with reinvention. New systems. New currencies. New ways to “respect your time.” And that's fine, experimentation is how we got some of the mode's best ideas. But in the rush to modernize, Zombies has a habit of quietly abandoning mechanics that actually rewarded skill, situational awareness, and clutch decision-making.

One of those mechanics has been sitting in the grave since Black Ops II.

I'm talking about Who's Who? from Die Rise—and with Black Ops 7's perk augment system, there has never been a better time to bring it back.

Let's get one thing out of the way: Who's Who? was never bad. It was misunderstood.

Back in BO2, Treyarch was clearly experimenting with the concept of death itself. Not just “you're down, crawl around,” but what happens after failure.

Tombstone Soda perk machine glowing with the player holding the starting pistol while debris surrounds the perk machine. Photo credit: IGN

Tombstone Soda tried to turn death into a retrievable resource, but it was completely useless in solo and borderline pointless on TranZit, a map so massive that recovering your gear was more hassle than it was worth. Tombstone didn't truly make sense until Modern Warfare Zombies turned the mode into an open-world experience.

Then there was Afterlife in Mob of the Dead, which let you literally die to progress the map. It was clever, thematic, and tightly designed, but it was also a one-map gimmick.

Who's Who? was different.

Instead of cushioning failure, it challenged you to earn your recovery.

When you went down with Who's Who?, the game didn't throw you into Last Stand. Instead, you instantly took control of a doppelgänger, armed with nothing but the M1911, stuck with base health, and racing against the bleed-out timer of your original body.

No Jugger-Nog benefits. No safety net. No second chances baked in.

Just you, a pistol, and a mad dash through chaos.

If you pulled it off? You stood back up with all your weapons and perks intact—minus Who's Who? itself, which was consumed on use. If you failed? That was it. You permanently became the clone, stripped of everything you had built

And then there's the part people still don’t give enough credit for: the Quick Revive interaction.

In solo, if you had both Quick Revive and Who's Who?, the game prioritized Who's Who? first. You'd spawn as the clone, but instead of panicking, you could play it smart: kite zombies, stay alive, and let Quick Revive auto-revive your original body. You'd lose a Quick Revive charge and Who's Who? itself, but you'd keep everything else.

That interaction was Treyarch saying, “If you understand the systems, we'll reward you.”

Compare that to modern self-revives, which are basically insurance policies. Press a button, wait a few seconds, get back up. No risk. No decision-making. No tension.

Who's Who? didn't just save you. It tested you.

Now imagine this perk returning in BO7 with the perk augment system.

Promotional graphic for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Zombies showing the Wisp Tea perk-a-cola can alongside a branching augment tree with several perk upgrades. Photo credit: Treyarch, X

Suddenly, the possibilities explode.

You could have augments that:

Let the clone spawn with a random wall weapon instead of the M1911
Slightly extend the bleed-out timer for aggressive playstyles
Allow the clone to keep two perks if revival fails
Add movement bonuses while in clone form
Or even let co-op teammates interact with your clone differently

Instead of flattening the perk into something “safe,” augments could lean into its identity: high risk, high reward.

And that's exactly what Zombies needs right now.

Promotional scene from Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies showing Weaver firing the Wunderwaffe DG-2 inside the Shattered Veil mansion. Photo credit: Treyarch, X

Because Zombies has slowly drifted toward convenience over mastery. Systems are smoother, yes, but they're also less memorable. The best Zombies moments have never been about flawless runs. They're about clutch saves, desperate recoveries, and heart-pounding scrambles that make your hands shake.

Who's Who? creates those moments by design.

It asks you one simple question: Can you earn your life back?

Not with points. Not with a cooldown. Not with a UI prompt.

With skill.

Treyarch doesn't need to reinvent death mechanics again. They already nailed one over a decade ago, and left it behind because it scared people who didn't want to think under pressure.

Bring Who's Who? back for BO7. Embrace its brutality. Enhance it with augments instead of sanding it down. Let Zombies remember what it feels like to gamble everything on one last run through the horde.

Because sometimes, the most underrated ideas aren't failures.

They're just ahead of their time.