People who say "don't buy this, buy JA2" aren't right. Yes this is short on its own, but there are fantastic mods, like Rubicon (my favorite JA2 mod ever) that extends the original campaign, or Vietnam SOG, and others. I had at least as much fun with this as with regular JA2.. at least.
My best buy on GOG by far. It's been a big surprise, because I didn't know the series nor the developer. I went through Geneforge 1 and going through 2, right now. The gameplay is similar to Baldur's Gate, graphics and interface are a bit rough but I don't care (they get better in the 4th and 5th title, though). The stories are very good, and it's set in an original world, not some D&D setting (you won't feel like playing the same thing over and over, that is). The game flows in real time but combat is turn-based. The best thing is that you are totally free to be good or bad as you like, there are factions you can join (you can join more than one, but it is a bit more tricky) that correspond to different moral principles and choices, and that lead to different endings. Or you can ignore them (not recommended since many of them bring advantages) or double-cross them for more profit (something I do in my games). You can even decide to butcher every living being in the games and still be able to complete it (Geneforge 1 & 2 since I played/I'm playing those, I don't know the other titles). You play as a Shaper, member of a people who has mastered the art of shaping creatures (magic is considered something different, but is also present). Some creatures are meant for battle, some others (the serviles) for work. But once the Shapers decided to leave in all haste a settled island, leaving there some serviles to their destiny. They developed their intelligence to survive, and different point of views. Some of them were 'awakened', strove for independence and wanted to be treated as equals. Some remained loyal. And some were mad for revenge, and would look for the destruction of your kind (but they will not kill you if they think you can be useful to them). As you can see, since the beginning you don't start as the 'good guy', being a member of a people of enslavers. Not that you start as a bad guy, either. You'll choose your side, if you want, or none, or more than one. The only minor complaint is that I had to tweak the programs (with MS Compatibility Toolkit and BES for CPU limiting) to have them run smoothly on my system, but once done there's nothing more to complain about it.. just great games. Just consider that these are old school RPGs, not Bethesda or Gothic-like. Also, I feel like recommned them because I'm sure that in this case (differently from many other titles on GOG, as far as I can understand) I can be rather sure that a good part of the money will go to the actual developer (since Spiderweb Software is an indipendent developer, mainly consisting of Jeff Vogel alone!). Thanks for bringing these games and making me knowing them.
The game is a masterpiece, but you can find it cheaper elsewhere
