Wow, I guess people's rankings of the Geneforge games really differ a lot. For me it's always been G1>G5>G2>G4>G3. It's not like I don't like G4 or anything, I just thought it wasn't that great compared to the other games in the series. Same thing with G3.
That aside, I though G2 was really good and a worthy successor to G1. What part of the game are you at? I find that it gets better around the middle.
Also, I sort of agree about the same Geneforge atmosphere being lost in G2. Still, it was really fun, and I'd place it in the middle of my Geneforge ranking.