"You're the only one left! Finish the mission, comrade!"
— The Spetsnaz announcer, when a player is the last one left alive.
Search and Destroy, often abbreviated as S&D or SnD, and referred to as YOLO as an April's Fool joke [1], is an elimination-based game mode that has been featured throughout the Call of Duty series. A one-sided game mode, the goal is for an attacking side to either eliminate the defending team or detonate either one of two bomb sites. Players only get one life per round, with most versions of the mode going to a best-of-seven rounds (first to four rounds wins). There is an intermission/half when two or three rounds are completed.
The mode is popular mainly due to its high XP potential; kills in Search and Destroy are typically worth five times that of in Team Deathmatch (50 points in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and 500 in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops(1000 points for a headshot). Only 100 points are awarded in Call of Duty: Black Ops II, due to the Scorestreak system, but 500 XP is awarded as a Medal called Elimination. No points are rewarded for a kill except by the way of a medal in any gametype in Call of Duty: Black Ops II, and the player can view these medals at the end of a game through the screen that pops up at the end of a match. On another note, the fact that players do not respawn until the next round could lead to long waits to play again, especially should the player die early into the round.
A Hardcore version has also been featured in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and all other games onwards. Modern Warfare 3 Hardcore mode also features the "Ricochet" setting, where if someone tries to shoot or team kill a friendly player, all damage caused to that player will be inflicted onto the person who caused the damage. So essentially by trying to kill a friendly teammate the player will only kill themselves.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, World at War, Modern Warfare 2, Black Ops, and Modern Warfare 3
5 seconds arm time bomb
45 seconds fuse
5 seconds defuse time
First team to win 4 rounds wins the match
150 seconds (2:30) time limit
Respawning is disabled
Halftime/overtime commences after every third round
These settings can all be changed in private matches.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
5 seconds arm time bomb
45 seconds fuse
5 seconds defuse time
First team to win 4 rounds wins the match
120 seconds (2:00) time limit
Respawning is disabled
Halftime/overtime commences after every third round
These settings can all be changed in private matches.
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
7.5 seconds arm time bomb
45 seconds fuse
7.5 seconds defuse time
First team to win 6 rounds wins the match (best of 11)
90 seconds (1:30) time limit
Respawning is disabled
Teams switch sides after every round, halftime/overtime is after every fifth round
These settings can be all changed in private matches.
Objective
At the beginning of a round one team is assigned as the attacking team while the other is assigned as the defending team. There is a bomb located close to where the attacking team spawns, which can only be carried by one player at a time. The bomb is dropped on the ground when the player carrying it is killed. The timer starts ticking as soon the round begins. The team that wins four rounds (seven rounds in Call of Duty and United Offensive, six in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare) first win the game.
After the first three rounds the two teams switch roles for another two rounds. If subsequent round(s) become(s) necessary the two teams alternate roles for each round.
In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare through Call of Duty: Ghosts, after the first three rounds, the two teams switch roles, and is termed as "Halftime". If both teams are tied at 3 wins each (meaning, the second three rounds have passed), an "Overtime" will be called, the tie-breaker round. Teams may or may not switch roles during Overtime, depending on which team has more kills. The team with the most kills will defend.
In Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, teams switch every round, similar to eSports rules.
Attacking team
Eliminate all enemies, or destroy an objective. Plant the bomb on one of two objectives, indicated by an A or B, then defend it until there is not enough time to defuse it. Note that the bomb can kill any nearby enemies, and the person who planted it. In the Hardcore Ricochet mode if a teammate is within the kill-radius of the explosion, and the player who planted is still living, if the bomb explodes it will kill the planter. If a player is able to plant the bomb during the last seconds of the given time limit, time is extended depending on the fuse time of the bomb (since the defending team has to defuse the bomb).
Defending team
Eliminate all enemies, let time run out, or defuse a planted bomb. Remember that it takes 5 seconds to defuse the bomb on stock settings (7.5 seconds in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare). Even if all enemies are eliminated after the bomb is armed, the attackers can still win the round if the bomb explodes. Victory is achieved as soon as the bomb is defused regardless of how many attackers are still alive. Defusing the bomb is very loud, and can be heard from quite a distance. If no bomb sites are destroyed, the defending team wins if the time limit is reached regardless of how many defenders and attackers are left alive. The defending team can also win if neither site is bomb-planted within the time limit, and at least one defender is still alive. A player should also note that when a bomb is planted the time limit is temporarily stopped until the bomb is defused or explodes.
Note: Last man standing quotes in Modern Warfare 2 follow the same script, and the only difference being dialogue between the multiplayer announcers and different voices.
The bomb does 1000 - 2000 damage over a range of 500 inches.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
The crates that the bomb needs to be planted on seem to contain FIM-92 Stingers.
Call of Duty: World at War
When spectating after the explosion, the bomb remains intact. This also happens in Sabotage.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Defusing and planting the bomb shows the player repeatedly hitting the 2 and 3 keys. After planting the bomb, the player tosses it on the ground. Also after defusing the bomb, the player taps the case twice and keeps it.
According to the sound files, players were originally going to be informed that there's just one enemy left. However this was removed as the playercard in top right corner indicates about the last survivor.
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Rather than solely conventional explosives featured in other games, the briefcase contains two chemical agents which combine, causing a violent chemical reaction (the explosion). The briefcase also contains a radio which is tuned to 92.9 kHz or 93.0 kHz.
When planting or defusing the bomb in Call of Duty: Black Ops, the player presses repeatedly "115" in the number dial. This is a reference to Element 115 in Zombies mode.[2]
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
The Shadow Company logo is written on the sides and inside the bomb.
Unlike Demolition and Sabotage, the bomb must be defused where it is planted.
On April 1st, 2013, this gamemode was renamed to "YOLO" as an April Fool's joke. This is a reference to how respawning is disabled in the game mode.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
In the upper right hand of the bomb, there is a sticky note saying: "CUT THE RED WIRE"
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Before January 28, it was possible to be in a Party Chat in Search and Destory, Search and Rescue, and Infected. This was changed to address the cheating people were doing by having a person's friends go on the other team and telling the location of their teammates
On April 1st, 2014 the playlist was named "YOLO" as an April Fool's joke, much like in Modern Warfare 3.
Miscellaneous
If the player with the bomb dies by falling into an inaccessible area, such as the well on Seatown, the bomb will reappear at where it first spawns.
In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Call of Duty: Ghosts, if the player starts defusing the bomb right when it was planted, successfully defuses, and the planter did not die at any time during the defuse, the player will see a text in the top middle of their screen say "Ninja Defuse" & under it will say "Sneaky sneaky...".
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
In hardcore, if any player kills 3 or more teammates in one game, they will be kicked for team killing
Unlike previous Call of Duty games, the bomb is shaped as a circle.
Unlike Ghosts, It is possible to talk in party chat while playing Search and Destroy, Search and Rescue, and Infected.