Sorry to have jumped in on the thread derailment. To help get it back on course:
More planes, more vehicles
You no longer die when running into the tinyest of white explodo rocks.
The mountain vistas, particularily on some maps from a vehicle. Water, smoke, fire and terrain in general.
To be sure there's things I don't like as much as before but overall it's been a slow progression forward. I'd say like two steps forward, 1.5-1.75 steps back.