Call of Duty Elite promises stability, Friday Night Fights to debut this Friday

By Ryan Fleming Published November 23, 2011

Now that Elite has hopefully worked out most of the kinks (fingers crossed), we can finally begin to see everything that the premium service has to offer. If you have been following anything at all about the game, then you have probably already heard that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is a hit, with over $775 million sold in just five days. But the launch was not without its problems, especially when it came to the Call of Duty Elite service.

Elite offers both a free and premium service, and Activision has confirmed that over one million users have signed up for the premium version. Included with the annual $49.99 fee are all the planned DLCs, year round competitions for huge real-life prizes, additional online functionality, and much more. It is an appealing offer for fans, and the cost of the DLCs alone justify the purchase, but the service has the potential to be much more. When it works.

Recommended Videos

Since the launch of Modern Warfare 3, the Elite service has been intermittent at best. The log-in has been problematic, the stats have appeared and disappeared, and the additional content has been inaccessible. To its credit, the developer Beachhead Studios has owned up to the problems and issued several statements explaining the nature of the problems. On top of that they have also added a complimentary month of premium service to those that are already signed up.

It now appears that Beachhead is mostly on top of things, and it has claimed that the service will reach its full potential on December 1. But leading up to that, users can expect to see more and more functionality added each day.

One of the features that is exclusive to the premium subscribers is Elite TV, which will provide new and original content based on Call of Duty. The first program to debut will be “Friday Night Lights,” a program that will pit rival groups (or people) against each other via Modern Warfare 3. Each side will have a professional gaming coach to help them prepare, and the prize purse will be donated to charity.

The series is being executive produced by Tony and Ridley Scott’s RSA films in conjunction with Activision. The first episode was scheduled to debut on November 11, but technical difficulties forced it to be pushed back.

“From the beginning, our goal with Call of Duty ELITE has been to bring the Call of Duty community together in new ways. Fans of Call of Duty spend as much time playing the game, as sports fans spend following their favorite teams-if not more. So we figured, if sports fans get all kinds of shows outside of the games to feed their passion, why not do the same thing for Call of Duty fans?” Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision said in a statement.

“When you’re working with the likes of executive producers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott, the production values don’t get any higher. And the Call of Duty community deserves nothing less. We want to give people new ways to connect with the game they love. That’s what Call of Duty ELITE is about, and Friday Night Fights is just the beginning.”

The first episode will pit two teams of players against each other, highlighting one of the oldest rivalries in America: Army vs. Navy. The episode will air live this Friday, November 25 at noon, then be streamed for replay. New episodes will air each Friday throughout the show’s first season, and more original content is on the way in the coming weeks.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…

Gaming

The best Perk-A-Colas in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

A screenshot from Call of Duty: Black Ops 6's zombies mode.

There's nothing more refreshing than taking a nice big swig of a Perk-A-Cola during an intense Zombies match with your pals in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Besides tasting great (we assume), these colas empower you with buffs that will keep you alive until the later rounds. These bonuses are just as important as the Pack-A-Punch, but come in a wider range of flavors. It is possible to stack them all, but that gets expensive very fast so you need to be thrifty about choosing which ones are most valuable early on. These colas come in eight different types that may or may not be worth your Essence to chug. If you want to know which ones are the best in Black Ops 6, check out our ranking.
Best Perk-A-Colas in Black Ops 6

We're ranking these Perk-A-Colas based on their base bonuses, not any additional effects you can get if you Augment them, from best to worst.
Jugger-Nog
You can never go wrong with the classic Jugger-Nog. Increasing your health by 100 is useful for the entire duration of a Zombies mode, but especially in the early rounds. Going down is at best a major setback and at worst a cascade into defeat. This extra health allows you to get out of a bad situation that would otherwise end your run.
Quick Revive
This Perk has two components, with the less useful one being the ability to revive teammates 50% faster. Ideally, that shouldn't be needed but is nice. However, what makes it rank so high is the 50% shorter delay on health regen. Your health will come back over time in Zombies but at a dreadful pace. Starting to heal faster means less time running and kiting zombies around and more time in the action helping the team.
Speed Cola
The best early guns for Zombies mode have a large magazine, fast reload, or both. Running out of ammo at the wrong time and not being able to get more rounds in the chamber fast enough has ended many a run, but Speed Cola is the solution. It will speed up your reloads and armor plating by 30%. That's not a massive number, but fast enough to make the difference.
Stamin-Up
These zombies aren't the shambling types. They will chase you down like sprinters, and some of the monstrous ones can outpace you even at full tilt. Stamin-Up sounds like it would let you run for longer, but actually just lets you run faster since you have no limit on sprint in Black Ops 6. Positioning is everything in Zombies so being able to get where you need to be faster is never a bad thing, especially if it's a downed teammate bleeding out.
Deadshot Daiquiri
Every zombie has a weak spot, which is most often the head. Deadshot Daiquiri makes a critical hit hurt even more than normal, plus increases your auto-aim on those weak points when you aim down sights (ADS). That second part shouldn't factor much if you've got good aim, which is why this is only a decent Perk-A-Cola.
PhD Flopper
Not being able to hurt yourself is situationally useful, and the ability to cause an explosion by diving is a risky move. Yes, it's cool, but you don't want to be lying prone surrounded by zombies. This is a cool gimmick, but save yourself the Essence and skip it.
Elemental Pop
When Elemental Pop works, it's great. The problem with it is that you can't rely on it. It gives a small chance on every shot you take to add a random ammo mod effect, which is cool but impractical. If you have spare Essence on you, sure, it won't hurt you to have, but it isn't something that will turn the tide for you or your team.
Melee Macchiato
Finally, Melee Macchiato bottoms out the list. It is fine in the early game when the hordes are small and you're better off meleeing enemies since it will smack enemies away with each hit, but quickly drops off in usefulness. When the zombies get too strong and too numerous, you will need a lot more than a strong punch to deal with them and end up forgetting you even have it.

Gaming

How to get Double XP tokens in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Soldiers near a train in Black Ops 6.

Even with all the best tips and tricks, grinding your way through all the levels in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will take you a long time. Each level will take more and more XP to reach and can eventually feel like a chore, even if you swap over to Zombies mode. As has been the case for many entries now, Double XP tokens exist as a way to speed up the grind by doubling the amount of experience you earn for a set duration of time. Naturally, these are some of the most sought-after items in the game, but they're not so easy to come by. If you need a helpful XP boost while running games with your squad, here's every way you can get more Double XP tokens in Black Ops 6.
How to get Double XP tokens in Black Ops 6

There are a few ways to get Double XP tokens, but not all of them are free. We'll start with the ways you can earn them in-game before talking about the more costly options.
Prestige
Who deserves a Double XP token more than someone who has grinded all the way to level 55? Once you hit max level and opt to Prestige, you will get a one-hour Double XP token, which is the longest length they come in.
Follow Call of Duty's socials
The official Call of Duty X (formerly Twitter) account regularly posts opportunities to earn several Double XP tokens if you engage with the post. This is a quick and easy way to snag some free tokens.
Purchase the C.O.D.E. Endeavor Tracer Pack
Our first paid option is the extra DLC Endeavor Tracer Pack. Besides some cosmetics, you also get two Double XP tokens (one player and one weapon) that last an hour each.
Drinks and pizza
The two main brand promotions with Black Ops 6 this year are tied to Monster Energy and Little Caesars. Buying a marked can or purchasing a qualifying item will get you a small handful of rewards that include Double XP tokens.
Battle Pass
The Black Ops 6 battle pass isn't out at the time of this writing, but we do know that it will include Double XP tokens among its rewards. There will be both a free and paid version of the pass, but details about what can be unlocked in each version are not yet available. To be safe, we're assuming you will need to buy the pass to get these tokens.

Gaming

War is hell, but Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 makes it a carnival game

Zombies shambling in Black Ops 6.

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who play Call of Duty and those who don’t. For three glorious hours, I was finally part of the former. Then it all came crashing down in a hail of gunfire.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is out now and it's being hailed as a return to greatness for the struggling series. Critics have praised features like its game-changing Omnimovement and welcomed the return of round-based Zombies mode. The star attraction, though, is this installment’s campaign. After years of experimental failures, Black Ops 6 delivers a straightforward political thriller full of eclectic missions. It’s a great premise, one that allows developer Raven to goof around with a “gone rogue” story featuring characters like Russel Adler.