As an epic campaign weaves the narrative, Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising will give players the freedom to handle military crisis situations on their initiative. Unscripted missions will task players with real objectives, such as laying down suppressing fire, covering a friendly unit's retreat or conducting short-range recon patrol.

Players will fight as infantry soldiers in battle, drive tanks in armoured assaults, pilot helicopters in air strikes and infiltrate the enemy in covert special operations utilizing a wide variety of realistic military weapons from knives and rifles to machine guns, grenade launchers and laser designators for air strikes. Whatever the situation, players will need to balance brute force with intelligent use of tactics in their engagement against the full force of the PLA.