Prestige Mode

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Prestige Mode is an option that a player can choose after they progress to Level 55 (Commander), and it can be accessed in the Barracks menu. Prestige Mode effectively restarts a player at Level 1. All weapons and other challenges will be reset. The player must progress through the ranks to unlock challenges and weapons again. Despite being reverted back to Level 1, the player gains a special symbol next to their name indicating they are in Prestige Mode. A player can progress through the ranks a total of ten times and enter a new level of Prestige Mode with a new symbol placed by the player's name. The last Prestige medal, the "Gold Cross", lets players know that they have played through to the last Prestige rank.

Prestige Mode is not available on the PC version of this game.

Process
Prestige mode is unlocked after Level 55. Or you can stop at rank 55 Non-Prestige.

Pros
The Prestige Mode allows players to show skill level beyond Level 55. Those players progress through numerous Prestige Modes, which will have unique symbols by their name. These symbols are usually an indicator of the player's skill since much more play time has been contributed by the player to achieve the Prestige rank. It is also sometimes considered fun leveling and completing challenges again.

Cons
Prestige Mode causes a player to lose all unlocked weapons and perks. If a player's goal is to gain more Prestige ranks, the only real incentive to completing numerous weapons' and other challenges is to get more experience to level up faster, since they will be reset upon getting through that mode's Level 55. There are no Xbox Live achievements or PSN trophies connected to online play or specifically getting into Prestige Mode.

Military Medals
Every Prestige symbol corresponds with a real U.S. Military medal:


 * 1st Prestige: Army Commendation Medal
 * 2nd Prestige: Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
 * 3rd Prestige: Republic of Vietnam Staff Service Medal
 * 4th Prestige: Legion of Merit Medal
 * 5th Prestige: Saudi Arabian Medal for the Liberation of Kuwait
 * 6th Prestige: Republic of Vietnam Special Service Medal (?)
 * 7th Prestige: Distinguished Flying Cross Medal
 * 8th Prestige: Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Medal
 * 9th Prestige: Republic of Vietnam Wound Medal
 * 10th Prestige: Navy Cross Medal

Call of Duty: World at War


In Call of Duty: World at War, Prestige Mode is unlocked at Level 65, the highest rank, unlike in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, where the highest rank is 55. Prestige Mode is also available for all systems, including the PC, which did not have it available in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Process
Prestige Mode for Call of Duty: World at War is nearly the same as that in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, except that the player needs to reach Level 65, not 55. It is, however, like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in the sense that the Prestige option is grayed out until the player reaches the required Level.

Pros
Once the player enters Prestige Mode for the first time, they earn a new permanent Custom Class slot. The same effect goes on for the second, fourth, seventh and tenth. This allows the player to make more classes for a larger variety and to tackle down every worst case scenario. It also helps to show how much time the player used in order to get the icon since it takes longer to get to Prestige (as listed above, the Level cap is 65, not 55). There are also two achievements/trophies associated with getting Prestige.

Cons
All of the player's challenges will be reset. This will be tedious if their only intent is to gain Prestige icons. Also, the player will lose all perks and weapons unlocked.

It has been said by many players that it is harder to Prestige in Call of Duty: World at War because most of the better weapons are locked until the higher levels. In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the weapons are more evenly spaced out.

If the player preordered the game with Gamestop and Prestiges, they will lose the ability to use the M1A1 Carbine at Level 1.

In the Wii version there is a glitch that lets the player transport perks to different profiles, making Prestige a bit easier since they can transfer perks to another profile, go to Prestige and then transfer the perks back.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Prestige Mode is unlocked at Level 70, the highest rank, unlike in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: World at War, where the highest ranks are 55 and 65, respectively. Prestige Mode is also available for all systems, including the PC, which did not have it available in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The experience required from 1-70 (and to the point of being able to go into the Prestige mode) is 2,516,000

Pros
Once the player enters Prestige Mode for the first time in Modern Warfare 2, they will be rewarded with a sixth custom class slot. The same occurs at every odd prestige level, so a total of five additional custom cla slots can be unlocked by Prestige Level 9. In addition, the in-game Intel hint system states that any earned titles and emblems obtained before entering Prestige Mode are not lost.

Cons
If a player enters Prestige Mode in Modern Warfare 2, all unlocked weapons, killstreaks, perks and challenges will be reset. The challenges unlocked through Prestige for each gun, however, persist to the next Prestige level (the kills and headshots for each gun's Mastery and Veteran challenges do not reset). This exception also applies to the challenges in the Prestige category that deal with killstreaks (getting a certain number of kills with a specific killstreak reward). Titles, emblems, and accolades are also unaffected.

Unlocks

 * Prestige 1: Extra Custom Class Slot (6 Total), New Emblem, New Title, "Prestige" Tier of Challenges, including Veteran and Mastery challenges for each weapon
 * Prestige 2: New Emblem, New Title
 * Prestige 3: Extra Custom Class Slot (7 Total), New Emblem, New Title
 * Prestige 4: New Emblem, New Title
 * Prestige 5: Extra Custom Class Slot (8 Total), New Emblem, New Title
 * Prestige 6: New Emblem, New Title
 * Prestige 7: Extra Custom Class Slot (9 Total), New Emblem, New Title
 * Prestige 8: New Emblem, New Title
 * Prestige 9: Extra Custom Class Slot (10 Total), New Emblem, New Title
 * Prestige 10: New Emblem, New Title

Note that contrary to popular belief, Prestige 10 does not unlock the ability to equip four killstreaks instead of three.

Prestige Mode
When the "Prestige Mode" button is clicked, a message comes up saying:

"Trade all your accomplishments for a bit of prestige. Other players will see your new prestige rank in the lobby, leader boards and game."

After this message the player can select "Learn More" or cancel and return to the menus. After clicking "Learn More", a second warning pops up saying:

"Prestige has a price: Everything you've unlocked including weapons, experience and challenges will be reset; you'll have to rank up again to reacquire them. Only your leader board rankings, clan tag, and play lists will be unaffected."

Should the player still be determined to go to Prestige Mode, one final warning pops up saying:

"There's no going back..."

Should the player then hit "Enter Prestige", the decision is final and Prestige Mode is activated. In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, a Desert Eagle shot is heard to confirm it. In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, if the player decides to press Cancel, they will hear a chicken clucking.

Additional information, along with a personal account can be found here. A follow-up article can be found here, which gives more depth into titles and benefits.

Trivia

 * The Prestige symbol of your nemesis will not be present in the After Battle Report of Call of Duty: World at War. Instead, their standard rank symbol is shown in its place.
 * The Collectors Edition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is entitled the "Prestige Edition".
 * On the official Call of Duty website, Call of Duty: World at War's Prestige symbols show up differently on some pages (an image of these newer symbols can be found above).
 * On the Wii version of Call of Duty: World at War, the fifth Prestige icon is different from the other consoles.
 * Sometimes, players with the Level 70, 10th Prestige Symbol, cheat to get it, rather than acquiring it legitimately, since when the game was first released, it was seen that people had the Symbol.