Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War flak jacket perk is too powerful according to players

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War multiplayer review
(Image credit: Activision)

The Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War community is fed up with one perk in particular.

Recently, players have discovered that the Flak Jacket perk is extremely overpowered in combat with many expressing their concerns as to how it's affecting gameplay. Multiple videos posted to the official Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War subreddit demonstrate the capabilities of the Flak Jacket perk in combat when up against heavy damage weaponry.

One video shows the player firing multiple RPG rounds at an enemy who is equipped with the Flak Jacket perk and they don't seem to be affected, expect by a small loss of health after each shot. After four rounds have been fired, the enemy player finally dies and drops to the floor. You'd expect an RPG with such fire power to be able to kill an enemy in one blow, but that's not the case with this armour perk.

The fact that Flak Jacket can make it take up to 4 RPG shots on core to kill someone and 3arc hasn’t even acknowledged how OP it is blows my mind. from r/blackopscoldwar

The Flak Jacket perk allows you to take less damage from enemy explosives and Molotov fire. It's appeared in previous game's in the franchise before, but never has it been this powerful.

Another Black Ops Cold War player uploaded a video to the same subbredit, this time showing footage during a Multiplayer match. In this video, it shows the player directing hitting an enemy in their body with an explosive weapon twice, yet only manages to damage the enemy's armour, thanks to the Flak Jacket perk.

“FlAk JaCkEt Is BaLaNcEd” from r/blackopscoldwar

It's clear the Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War community are getting tired of the way the perk influences gameplay, with one reddit user commenting, "So frustrating when you've almost got a double kill but the second guy has Flak Jacket." 

Another said, "I've hit a guy with five shots from a tank and nothing. It needs to be fixed."

This isn't the first weapon that has caused Black Ops Cold War players problems. Last month, the game's MP5 SMG was reported to be so overpowered, players were practically begging for a fix. Hopefully, Treyarch will address this new Flak Jacket perk issue soon.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War launched November 13 on all available platforms including the Xbox Series XXbox Series S, and the PS5. Check out our Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War multiplayer review if you haven't already.

For more, here’s our list of the best Call of Duty games.

Freelance Writer

Demi is a freelance video games journalist with a particular love for Final Fantasy. She's written for GamesRadar, NME, TheGamer, and Gamespot in recent years.