AO’s engine has been successfully overhauled, and it shows. While still lagging a bit behind their MMORPG counterparts, AO’s graphics are crisper than earlier titles, and seem to allow more options than the previous version. Audio is a mixed bag, but for the most part adds ambience and mood where appropriate. Make sure to keep the control sheet out if you’re a neophyte like myself, because there’s a lot of different commands you’ll need to have on hand before you can become fluent with the AO universe. The connections are crisp, and allow even 56k players to play the game with a minimum of lag and downtime.