The terrain is smoother, the character models are less blocky, the textures more detailed, and the skies border on stunning. A completely new engine powers the game, and although it can't match the likes of Quake 3 when it comes eye candy, as far as outdoors areas go Tribes 2 is virtually unsurpassed. It's not all about graphics though, and a lot of the new features of the engine have been designed to add to the gameplay as well as to look pretty. The new weather effects, for example, can have a big effect on the way the game is played. There are now three layers of cloud cover in the skies above you, and these can dip to smother the tops of mountains, obscuring your view of the battlefield.
Heavy snow can also reduce visibility and make life harder for snipers.
The addition of pools of water, lava and quicksand adds more tactical possibilities to the game, while voice communications will be supported out of the box to allow easier co-ordination between team mates. There were even rumours at ECTS that the game may come bundled with a headset. Meanwhile a new 3D map has been added for commanders, replacing the old 2D interface. Unfortunately this looks rather clumsy at the moment, and is prone to crashing. Hopefully with some more tweaking though it will give players a better gods-eye view of the battlefield, and allow team commanders to keep track of the action and pass on orders more easily.