Understanding Call of Duty Elite

Earlier on in the year, Activision unveiled Call of Duty Elite with a simple logo. While some thought this was DLC, there were those who considered it to be a new Call of Duty game. And then, when Activision announced it officially, we learnt it was a paid subscription to their Call of Duty series. The world raged at the thought of Activision charging gamers to play multiplayer. A subscription-based Call of Duty game sent even the most hardened Call of Duty fanboys into a tizzy. Had Activision finally adopted the MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) route?

All the paranoia was kind of put to rest when people learnt that Call of Duty Elite would be a paid service for future Call of Duty games, but it wouldn’t be shoved down your throat. Even without this service, you could continue to play your favourite CoD game online free of cost. So, what exactly does this service bring to the table? Simply put, Call of Duty Elite is a detailed stat tracking system that allows highly competitive CoD players to sit and analyse every minute detail about their multiplayer experience. How accurate are you with your favourite weapon? How many kills did you rack up with that weapon? Out of those kills, how many were headshots? Of course, these are just the basics with Elite offering some intense detail capable of satiating even the most hardened CoD veterans.

Show off your mad CoD skills

Of course, analyzing your performance is just the tip of the iceberg as Elite will allow players to form a clan with their friends, take on other clans and even upload some of their best gameplay videos to share with the world. You don’t have to be glued behind your PC or console to keep up with what’s going on in Elite. Activision will be releasing free of cost Elite apps for Facebook, the Apple Store, as well as Android users, so you can keep a track of your stats on the go.

Another important aspect of Elite is the ability to train newcomers. The multiplayer in most Call of Duty games may look relatively simple at first glance with a bunch of dudes running and gunning all over the map but when you actually get down to it, you’ll get your ass handed to you – bad. To help newcomers out, CoD Elite will offer players something called an ‘Improve’ section where Activision along with some of the best CoD players in the world will offer newcomers a helping hand with detailed breakdown of maps, weapons and tons of gameplay tips. And finally you come to the gameplay calendar of sorts, where you can track pretty much everything going on in the world of Call of Duty.

Connect with like minded individuals... or not

Now all this sounds nice and all but for $50 a year, you get a little more. For starters, all the Modern Warfare 3 DLC released for an entire year will be yours free of cost. This includes over 20 pieces of content that comes to nearly $60. This itself is worth the price of admission alone. Beyond that you’ll get access to reality show themed videos worked on by Ridley and Tony Scott, as well as some funny smack talk videos courtesy of comedians Will Arnett and Jason Bateman (Arrested Development). Activision is also offering paid members the ability to level up their clans and so far this is the only aspect of this service that worries me as levelled up players and clans will obviously have some sort of advantage online. Hopefully Activision finds some sort of middle ground to keep things fair on the battlefield. In addition to this, premium members will also be able to participate in real world CoD events where they can win tons of swag depending on their skill level.

Improve your game

So obviously, the big question over here is if you should go in for this service or not. Well if you’re a hardcore CoD player who plans on getting all the DLC anyway, then hell yeah! Go for it as you’ll be killing two birds with one stone, getting more bang for your buck. If you’re a weekend player, who’s not too keen on competition then no, save your money as the free aspect of this service will be just fine for you. Either way you’ll be able to test this service out real soon as it launches this November with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Alternatively, if you can’t wait that long, head right here to enrol for the beta.