by Natalie M. Wolverson

Created on: November 29, 2010

The Prestige system has been an integral part of the Call of Duty series since the first major game, ‘Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare’, but with slight changes each time around. In previous games there had been a level cap of between 55 to 70, with ten Prestige levels available. In the latest instalment of the series there are fifteen Prestige levels; however the player must reach a lower level of 50 before they can Prestige. So what exactly does ‘Prestige’ mean in regards to the Call of Duty franchise?

When a player reaches the level cap of 50, they are given a choice of whether they want to ‘Prestige’; you will have to accept multiple times because the game will give you a handful of warnings to ensure that you want to start again from level 1. If you choose to accept your rank will be reset but you will gain a different symbol (this changes each Prestige) which will not change throughout your quest to level 50.

Just like the first play through you will have to unlock your ‘Create A Class’ and weapons again by reaching the required level. Most of your challenges will be reset, with the exception of your ‘Lifetime’ challenges which track your progress throughout every play through of the game. Your Call of Duty points (COD Points) will also be reset; however you will be able to keep your created emblem and call sign. Layers, backgrounds and emblems that you have purchased will NOT be reset once you choose to Prestige.

So, what do you get from choosing to Prestige? Choosing to Prestige is definitely a way to gain bragging rights over your friends and the online community, however you will also unlock extra ‘Create A Class’ slots when you reach certain Prestige levels, such as 1, 3 and 5. At Prestige 13 you will also unlock the ability to have coloured clan tags. Entering Prestige mode will also give you the opportunity to compete on the ‘Prestige Leaderboards’ if you have 50,000 COD Points to spare and also allows you to play in ‘Prestige Game Lobbies’, where you can play a list of different game modes with other gamers who have entered Prestige.

Trying to reach 15 Prestige can be a fun and challenging thing to accomplish and prevents the game from getting stale or old quickly. You can also race your friends to see who can reach the top Prestige the fastest as the game records the amount of time that you have spent playing. If you plan on playing the game for a long while then there is no reason not to Prestige as you can easily reach level 50 within a day or two of playing.

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