Best FPS of the past three years, including MW2, which I had owned for many months before finally purchasing this.
The audio is certainly better. There is an ambiance and the soldiers can be heard screaming curses, alerting of enemy presence, and this is all done in even the multiplayer. The guns have a certain pop to them which is not present in MW2, they feel more like real guns that have a ton of damage potential. Shots ring out across the map and you can actually tell where shots are coming from without even looking at the arrows that pop up when you get shot.
Visually is another story, obviously its great visuals but simply not as good as MW2. Definitely comes as a result of the fact that the map design is so much larger that things may sometimes just appear clearer. And BF has a much grittier feel to it, intentionally so.
The gameplay itself is better as well, no people with dual shotguns, no Chopper Gunners from a Care Package, less lag issues by a lot. Everything in this game is far more balanced than in MW2. Certain guns in that game are simply unusable, while in this game even the M9 pistol packs a punch to it that feels realistic.
Game modes for multiplayer are also just better. Squad Deathmatch mixes things up with 4 teams instead of 2. Conquest is a much better version of Domination, and Rush is similar to Demolition, except it involves planting charges to make forward progress, with defenders trying to defuse and kill the enemy players.
Overall, just buy this game. It's honestly the best 1st person shooter to come out in years, probably best one since BF2 came out nearly six years ago. It's better than CoD 4 was and much better than MW2 is now. To give a more fair example than the one I started with, MW2 can be compared to Backyard Baseball while this Battlefield game can be compared to MLB: The Show. One is more simple, with the other being intricate, strategy driven and much, much better overall.