The cost ended up the same--four--but the toughness was dropped from 5 to 4, and the tapping of creatures was changed to a cost (it was moved before the colon.) Also, the ability was changed to allow the returning of any permanent, not just creatures
All told the removal aspect is more useful to this archetype than the sac outlet which is so poor it barely merits attention
The plane Astral Arena, for example, wont let players attack or block with more than one creature, and that effect is active regardless of the planar die roll
Griselbrand Griselbrand is one of the scariest reanimator targets, and being a huge, flying lifelinker means that the 7 life you pay to draw seven cards isnt an outlandish price
Volrath is definitely on the lower end of the Commander power scale because of this, like a jank version of Lazav, the Multifarious