I think Ant mentioned this a few days ago in some thread, but Geneforge 4 is out for Windows now and I've been playing it. First of all, it took the much needed step of actually having a different setup from the previous three, which were all "You're an apprentice Shaper in some isolated area, try to figure out what's going on and choose your side."

The new game starts after the rebellion kicked off in the last game, and you start as a rebel, trying to survive as the rebels crumble under repeated Shaper attacks. Of course you have options, you can stay loyal to the rebels, the Shapers will try to recruit you, and there are other factions as well (including the interesting Trakovites, who think all Shaping is destructive no matter who does it.)

I'm impressed by the additions to the game, several new types of creations have been added, this was much needed since if you've played the first three you've gotten used to the current bunch. There is a choice of several new classes for the rebels, not just the usual Guardian/Agent/Shaper. I'm playing a servile, basically a heavy combat guy with some battle magic. Also, the map covers a larger area, several provinces, so there's a bit more feeling of travel than the previous versions, where you're caught on some small island. There's also auto-map notes that appear to tell you where the merchants and other points of interest are.

I've got a long way to go in the game but i'm definitely enjoying it so far.

http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/geneforge4/index.html

dola -

A couple of other changes that make this one different from the previous three:

-- Stealth is supported as an option even more, you can fairly easily sneak around some monsters, and if they haven't noticed you a ? will appear over them, plus you will see messages like "Brutal Thahd looks nervous" if he suspects you're near, and "X has calmed down" once you leave. Cool.

-- Action point system has been changed, you can now attack even if you have only 1 AP left! None of the problems from before where you got screwed after using a pod or something and lost your attack that round.