The "Gold Rush" mode in the original Bad Company is referred to simply as "Rush" in Bad Company 2. The format is similar in that an attacking team must detonate explosives on a defending team's crates. The attacking team succeeds by eliminating all the crates on the map, and the defending team succeeds if the attackers are not able to eliminate the crates in the active area before their tickets are depleted. Making use of the Destruction 2.0 system, it is also possible to eliminate some of the crates by collapsing the building they are in on top of them. A smaller scale mode called "Squad Rush" was confirmed that has only two opposing teams of four players battle against each other with one existing crate stash.
Multiplayer will allow players to choose from a set of weapon kits before each spawn, the number of which has been further reduced from Bad Company's five down to four: Assault, Engineer, Recon, and Medic (with the Specialist kit being the one removed). In addition to the hand grenades and sidearms standard for all classes, each class also has an initial primary weapon and a pair of gadgets unique to that class. A customizable weapon selection menu is also new to the Bad Company series (similar to unlocks in Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 2142). Gaining experience points allows a player to unlock and use different weapons and gadgets, some only usable by a given class and some available to any class that player uses. There are also unlockable items that can modify the game's firearms, such as ACOGs, reflex sights, and short or long barrel grenade launchers.
The experience points used to unlock the above items will be awarded for performing actions conducive to the goals of the player's team, such as eliminating enemy players, healing teammates, or capturing or defending points of interest. Bonuses to the base number of points can be awarded under certain circumstances (such as achieving a headshot in the process of eliminating an enemy player). A dog tag system as seen in Battlefield 2142 and Battlefield: Bad Company returns, awarding players trophies of sorts in the form of opponents' dog tags when they defeat the opponent with a melee attack.
On October 19, 2009, game developer DICE posted a Twitter announcement stating the game will have dedicated server support. This was in response to Infinity Ward's announcement on October 17 that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 would not support dedicated servers. Players will also be able to use party chat for each game mode.
