The only difference between this and the original is cgi instead of models and a larger scale which makes sense in the context of the story. Its not like the original is anything better than all the rest of Emmerichs enjoyable dumb popcorn films. So this film really shoulfnt have a hard time living up to the original. The lack of Smith' s charisma will likely be felt tho.
And this attack looks nothing like the World Builder attack in MOS. This thing isnt picking up some buses and cars and rocks and debris and slamming them back to the ground in a confined location the size of a few blocks.
This ID 2 thing is so massive that its burning the atmosphere and ripping entire cities off the ground, dragging them across the planet, and dumping parts of the cities on other cities. Visually and in terms of whats happening its different from the world engine. The only similarity is gravity plays a role in the things function, but MOS didnt invent the concept of gravity as a destructive force.