Call of Duty: To Elite or Not to Elite
I have a constant thirst for knowledge; I am always trying to improve my gameplay and excel in my ability to provide tactical support for my fellow players.
I am an avid Call of Duty fan—I have racked up a lot of hours between all the games, and I have really enjoyed the progression in the multiplayer matches. I’ve used the same clan tag since I started playing Modern Warfare and play with the same people logging a approximate total of 50+ days. Between all of the games, I’ve prestiged a total of 17 times. So when I discovered Call of Duty: Elite, which launched its first map pack this week, I had to see if it was worth the cost…
Call of Duty: Elite was officially released on November 8th, 2011. It is an add-on for MW3 and is backwards compatible with Call of Duty: Black Ops and will be supported by all future Call of Duty: Modern Warfare titles. I first found out about Elite through XBOX Live; you can buy Microsoft Points cards in most convenience stores and in any game stores and purchase Elite directly through XBOX Live.
Most of the features of Call of Duty: Elite are free. The free content of the game is split into sections:
The first section is Career; in this section, there are many different stats you can check. Your Career Summary includes your level in the game, experience points accumulated, hours played, and much more. Recent Matches logs what maps you’ve played, your final score, time, experience earned, and your best weapon. Custom Classes is a basic summary of the weapons you’ve chosen, lethal and tactical equipment, perks within the game, strike package, and death streak—which gives you a perk after a certain number of deaths in the game. Leaderboard Tracker allows you to view what your rank is for different game modes and gives you the option of viewing it for all time, weekly, or monthly. Last in this section is Weapon Performance, which includes a summary of your kills-to-deaths ratio, kills, deaths, accuracy, and headshots for all weapons used.
The second section is Improve. This is the section that you would spend most of your time in. Each section within Improve gives you a detailed description of maps, weapons, equipment, perks, strike packages, death streaks, and game modes. Among these descriptions, you will also find tips on how to improve your game play, use weapons more efficiently, and use perks when they get to Pro status.
The next section is Connect. In this section, you can find people you want to play with or against, get matched with people that are at the same playing level, or search for specific people to play with and compare your stats. It also holds your current clan information and allows you to search for certain clans.
The last section is Compete. This section allows for people to prove how good they really are at the game—it holds daily events and lone-wolf ops to earn badges and bragging rights.
On the other hand, owning a premium Elite membership gives you several advantages. It allows you to get deeper clan support, giving you the opportunity to level up as a group with those you play with regularly and to compete in clan ops. Another added benefit is the ability to compete for real-world prizes in the Compete section. Prizes are available each week and are not won just by getting the most kills, but by also submitting videos and screenshots from your vault that meet the event criteria. Paid Elite members also have the chance to get any upcoming downloadable content (maps, game modes, etc.) before non-premium members. The last added bonus is the Elite TV option that directs you to elite.callofduty.com, which enables you to sign in and watch videos made by top talent for Call of Duty fans.
For more information, check out the official Call of Duty: Elite website. Here, you’ll find videos, screenshots, and more information, including details on premium membership. I personally found it worth the $60 yearly fee (which I paid for by selling my Kinect) to get the downloadable content first, rather than having to wait and pay approximately $20 per month each time the content is released. And yes… for bragging rights.
