Sabotage (Game Mode)

Sabotage is a bomb-based game type in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: World at War, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 that is somewhat similar to Search and Destroy. Unlike S&amp;D though, the bomb is neutral, there is only one round, players can respawn (except in Sudden Death), and both teams are simultaneously trying to destroy the opposing team's base. Whichever player is carrying the bomb is given a marker (green with the word "Defend (Escort in Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3)" for friendlies, red with the word "Kill" for enemies) that updates every 2 seconds. When a player is killed during regulation, he must wait 7 seconds to respawn. A team needs only one score to win the game, though this can take a lot if not all the 20+ minutes of regulation (clock starts at 20 minutes, though at any time the bomb is armed at one of the two attack points the main clock will be frozen). If no winner is declared by the end of regulation, the game goes into Sudden Death. At the beginning of Sudden Death, all dead players are respawned, and the mini-map will permanently show all enemy targets, with the exception of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 . There are no respawns, effectively turning the game into a neutral Search and Destroy. The game then ends when an entire team is eliminated, the target is bombed, or the 90-second sudden death timer runs out (thus ending in a draw).

This tends to be one of the more unpopular game modes, especially with players looking to level up. Given that only one score is needed, games can end in under two minutes, or last the entire 20 minutes with no winner. Either result is often unfavorable for gaining XP, especially compared to modes like Headquarters. Additionally, teams may be reluctant to plant the bomb on the enemy base so that they can prolong the game as long as possible so that the players will get more kills and more EXP. Whenever a talented team wins the game in the first few minutes, games become short, kills are few, and tirades of abuse are common from players more interested in EXP than winning the game. On the flip-side, the game could turn into a 20 minute Team Deathmatch. This gives the player the opportunity to rack up a large number of kills. Parties will often play Sabotage due to the fact it can be played like Team Deathmatch, but with no limit. As the spawns do not change, a well organized team can spawn trap the enemy team resulting in incredibly one sided games. However, the opposition team will often "counter attack" and will often win as the other team are trying to rack up kills, and are often out of position, or just cant be bothered, to stop the bomb planter.

Also, since no team is actually winning until the game is over, a Host Ended Game scenario can be very ruinous to a team should their victory be imminent.

Because of the short respawn and bomb plant times in this game mode, a team with a few quality aggressive players can often overcome a good defensive team. Even if a bomb carrier trips a claymore or is killed by C4, his teammates will often be close behind to continue the attack. If they should fall as well, the first player will by then have respawned and sprinted back to the attack area to take his revenge.

Tips

 * AC-130s and Chopper Gunners are not as effective in this game mode as the long spawning wastes the time of them being in use.
 * In these types of matches it becomes important to "push the bomb" as far towards the enemy plant site (and as far away from yours) as possible.
 * A defensive class for this gametype should have a sniper rifle and either C4 to put under the target or Claymores to block the entrance to the room. With C4, go prone facing the target and toss some C4. If you do it right, the C4 will go under the boxes and be unable to be seen unless the player with the bomb goes prone. Then go away but keep it in your scope. When someone tries to arm the bomb, detonate the C4.
 * Claymores can be used to prevent the bomb holder from getting to the target. On the Broadcast map, if you are guarding the base in the building, put claymores at the entrances to the rooms and keep someone in the room to finish them off if the claymores don't kill them.
 * Bomb Squad/Sitrep/Hacker is a good perk to have because it lets the user disarm the C4 or claymores before they can kill you. The Bomb holder should not have this perk. An escort should because if they die, the bomb is still possessed by a team and not just sitting there.
 * Tactical Insertion can be very useful when pushing a bomb as it reduces the time taken getting towards the enemy bomb site, failing this classes using Marathon and/or Lightweight can also be used to reduce travel time.
 * In Call of Duty: Black Ops, throwing Nova Gas at the bomb or the objective could stop the enemy for a while.

Trivia

 * The Sudden Death overtime starts immediately after the clock runs out in all of the games except for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 , which has the player returned to their spawns and play reset for an "Overtime" round with the same sudden death rules, making the game a lot like Search & Destroy.
 * As with Search and Destroy, the crates where the bomb needs to be planted on seem to contain FIM-92 Stinger missile launchers.
 * In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the bomb will reset to the starting location if not picked up or moved for a fixed period of time.
 * This is sometimes one of the non-Team Deathmatch modes where it is only played for kills but it is risky since the other team can plant the bomb and end the match as opposed to Domination.
 * As in Search and Destroy, the blast from the bomb can kill you, but it isn't accounted for team killing.
 * In Modern Warfare 2, the total amount of matches needed to finish the challenge amounts to 50, as opposed to the normal of 15 or 30.
 * There is a game mode similar to Sabotage in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized called Team Sabotage. Two teams search for a randomly placed target in the level. One team defends while the other team attacks.
 * In Call of Duty Black Ops the announcer will act as though they just scored a point and the match is going to continue, though once a point is scored by any team, it is impossible for the losing team to win.
 * Originally, in Modern Warfare 2, the way to win in Overtime was to move the bomb closer to the opponents' base.
 * When planting the bomb in Call of Duty: Black Ops the number being typed into the keypad is 115, a reference to the Zombies game mode.
 * Unlike in Demolition and Search and Destroy, the plant time is shorter than the defuse time.