I spent 15 hours reaching Prestige in Black Ops 7 using only Multiplayer and hoo boy I am EXHAUSTED

I've reached my first (self-imposed) milestone on Call of Duty: Black Ops 7; reaching Prestige purely from multiplayer as quickly as possible. I am not a streamer, I am absolutely what you would call an average (at best) skill level player.

I'm lucky enough that covering a game like Call of Duty falls under my scope of work, but nonetheless, spending 15 hours of in game time between 11am GMT on November 13 and around midnight today, November 15, when I reached Prestige, it's been tough.

I've enjoyed it, I like Black Ops 7, and I don't care what the rowdy folks on the Internet say. I enjoy the grind, and there's a ton to grind for in this year's game. But I am exhausted. Choosing to play early and 'race' to Prestige has been one of the sweatiest and most exhausting gaming experiences I've ever had.

Getting into the open playlists with the Black Ops 7 demons

The only people who started playing at 11am GMT on November 13 either a) actually lived in New Zealand, or b) are the absolute sweatiest of the sweatiest players. But I think the first also merges into the second, because if you're playing a game at midnight on release, you're not a casual player, are you?

Black Ops 7, to much hurrah, has defaulted to the open playlists tried during the beta. These reduce significantly the impact of Skill Based Matchmaking (SBMM), meaning, in theory, you could be against both a pro player and a complete beginner in the same lobby.

The trouble is, everyone playing off the rip are the most dedicated. The streamers, the pro players, those who are neither but play more Call of Duty than any sane person ever should. So a lot of the lobbies feel like you're playing in the Call of Duty League finals.

I'm not sure it's necessarily been a bad experience. Every so often I'll come up against someone utterly ridiculous, but a lot of my lobbies have been genuinely competitive, and fun to play.

You can tell when a less experienced player is on the opposing side, and I apologize especially to that one person I killed 7 times in a row on Blackheart. I'm sorry, don't give up, keep getting better.

The trouble with sweaty, competitive lobbies is that they're exhausting. In past years, I haven't challenged myself at all. I've started in Multiplayer, kicked around and tried a few maps, gone off to Zombies and had a look, then started the campaign.

I'm much older than most Call of Duty players, it takes its toll. My eyes hurt, my fingers are sore, and since I also have a full-time job and two kids with a busy after school life, 15 hours in less than two full days I hope sounds as much as it feels.

15 hours, but it really should have been a lot longer

I also need to own up to the fact that hitting Prestige in 15 hours took some outside help. All those 2XP tokens I racked up in Black Ops 6 and never used, well, now I'm using them.

I've mostly been cashing in the 15 minute and 30 minute tokens. I didn't want to waste my longer ones because I've been jumping in and out, and of an evening, I genuinely didn't know how long I'd be able to keep at it.

Had I remembered to keep tabs, I'd have probably been able to knock at least an hour, maybe more off the time, because I'd estimate I've played for at least 90 minutes without any tokens applied.

That's what they're there for, though. I didn't need to use them in Black Ops 6, but the game kept giving them to me. I was never reaching Prestige Master 1,000, so why waste them. Not when there's a new game to level up in.

I've still got 44 1 hour tokens left, and a bunch more 30 minute and 45 minute ones, too. In total, at least 100 hours worth of XP gains, and I'm using them all to get to Prestige Master. I recommend you do the same.

What have I actually got to show for it?

So what have I actually got to show for my 15 hours of Multiplayer game time? Actually, quite a bit, and I was apparently in the first 2% of players to Prestige. So I guess that's something? I'm also only passively engaging in the Mastery Camo grind, because I know it's going to take a long time, and it's actually tougher than it looks on paper.

But I have a solitary Shattered Gold unlocked, I'm onto the last step to get a second, I've got two weapons to Prestige 2, and I've completed a good few Calling Card challenges without really targeting any. I got a couple of Dark Ops challenges done, too, albeit I'm positive that one of them is bugged since everyone seems to be getting it.

I'm positive I didn't do three minutes of consecutive full point capture in Domination.

I've also knocked out 12 Xbox achievements, all for Multiplayer, the most valuable of which was for entering Prestige, followed by entering Weapon Prestige.

I think I'm done with Multiplayer for a bit though, after all, there are two other modes in Black Ops 7, and Warzone (sigh) still to come. Not to mention the Blackout-inspired mode I am actually looking forward to.

So what do I do next in Black Ops 7?

I've never really been a big Zombies player, but I am determined to give it more attention this year. But first, I think I'm going to start the Campaign and get into its Endgame extraction mode.

I do so with mild trepidation, after all, the Black Ops 7 Campaign has not been met with much praise. I'm not a fan of the always online requirement even if you're playing solo, and I'm definitely not a fan of not being able to pause.

But Campaign has its own grind this year, albeit mostly through Endgame, but I do tend to enjoy PvE content. It's something I've wanted Call of Duty to place a better focus on outside of Zombies, and Spec Ops and DMZ in recent years haven't really grabbed my attention.

This really is the biggest Black Ops ever, though. There was a lot to grind for in Black Ops 6, but this year's game has cranked that up to 11. In a year's time, when we're getting ready for (we all assume) Modern Warfare 4, It'll be fun to see how much I've been able to do.

If you've been joining the rest of us degenerates in the early Black Ops 7 grind, hit the comments below and let me know what you think, and how far you've got yourself!

FAQ

Follow Windows Central on Google News to keep our latest news, insights, and features at the top of your feeds!