From this game onward, the player chooses a playable character general, and plays through a number of levels representing particular conflicts in the time of the three kingdoms, eventually defeating both of the other kingdoms and becoming the ruler of a unified China. However, this game isn't a one-on-one fighting game like the original Dynasty Warriors, but a beat 'em up hack and slash fighting game in full 3D, similar in genre to Fighting Force. Unlike previous games in the beat 'em up genre, Dynasty Warriors 2 allowed players the freedom to roam to any point within the limits of the current stage being played.
This game was the first to introduce Free Mode and Musou Mode to the series. The Free Mode allowed the player to replay any missions that they have already completed in Musou Mode. The Musou Mode is the character's main story, where you play as the officer until the kingdom you are fighting for has unified China. However, due to the small scale of the game at the time, many important battles were missing. This was fixed in Dynasty Warriors 3, as many of the missing battles were added there.