They say this game is outright unplayable. I want mw4 to run on my pc so bad, but it doesn't seem compatible win Win XP X64..... Yeah this as much of a trainwreck as the reviews say?

Short answer: No. It's not a train wreck at all.

Long answer:

When exactly did those "reviews" come out?

The game is not even out yet technically. It only went from closed beta to open beta some time ago. And it is in fact a beta, there are major updates and patches about every 2 weeks, new features get constantly added, some get removed and put back on the drawing board for fixing and reworking.

The game has also come a long way from what it was at the start of the closed beta and even start of open beta to what it is today. Game modes have been added, maps added, new mechs added, new gameplay systems added, match interface added, ELO implemented, training grounds (offline practice), joystick support, more and more new mechs, latency calculations modified, etc... There is still a lot of time before games full release, and a lot of new content features planned before that happens, like completely reworking the front end interface (which i heavily criticized half a year ago and still do). MWO still has some problems and a ways to go (i personally gave it a lot of flack when NDA lifted http://www.giantbomb.com/mechwarrior-online/3030-27284/forums/closed-beta-ndas-been-lifted-562928/#39), but the developer has been very active in responding to what people want and progressing the game.

That said the game ran perfectly fine (i could get into matches and play) even in the days of closed beta.

If you want to check out how it plays today this channel has shows 4 times a week: http://www.twitch.tv/igp. I'm not playing the game myself currently and haven't for a while, but it's fun watching the mechs duke it out, and will probably start playing again once my PC gets repaired.

It's also F2P (and not a pay to win type either), so you loose nothing but a tiny bit of time to try it out for yourself, to see if you like it.

Bear in mind I haven't played this game since a few weeks after it went open beta, but I found it really enjoyable. It might be because I'm randomly rather good at it, for no reason at all but I thought it was really cool.
Mechs felt great, and it looked alright for F2P too. Unless they destroyed the game since I was playing it in beta (and I can only imagine it has improved rather than gotten worse) those reviews are complete garbage.

I just got to play it, and I'm a bit dissapointed. I can see why it could be considered bad, but yeah this game needs more tweaks is all. And since hero mechs have been implemented for IRL money it seems that it WILL become pay to win.

So I'll stick with it for a while, it prolly won't ever be MW4: Mercs good. But it has potential to be okay if some more work is put into it.

@sexualbubblegumx said:

Are you assuming the hero mechs are superior to the standard variants?

I have not played much since the latest update, but I found that the movement and close combat felt fine. The biggest issue, as most multiplayer games go, has been human foolishness.

Also, are people still getting stuck in buildings?

@lead_farmer: Weirdly Movement seems different for me, turning a mech right or left with A or D doesn't feel as fluid as MW:4 but that could just be me. As for hero mechs being better, one is being advertised at the moment that gives a bonus to the amount of C-bills earned. That is clearly an advantage for paying irl cash.

If you're okay with playing a game that is clearly trying to ring money out of you at all times, then you have the capacity to like it. If you love Mechwarrior but hate F2P, well, I've got some bad news for you about MWO.

Hero mechs are not P2W, haven't been from the start, and the developer has been adamant in their stance that they will never make them so. The extra C-bills are a bonus, but it's not a combat advantage, just a simple (and relatively small) time saver over games played. They aren't any better then any other mech variants, just different in some ways, like weapon hardpoint distribution. In the end however all mechs obey the same loadout rules of weight/space/heat/engines/armor/etc.

The mech simulation aspect of MWO is actually more in depth and true to the fiction/tabletop rules then MW4:Mercenaries. Way more detailed mech customization. If they made a SP game with these mechanics ... man.

This game has come a long way since IGP was removed from the picture. PGI had been fighting IGP on just about every single facet of the game. IGP had continually pushed CW and just had no clear idea about who their fanbase was or what people wanted with their game. Since June '14 there have been constant updates, massive amounts of communication between the devs and the community, the beta release of Community Warfare (Over a year late, but we finally have something), another new map coming for CW after only one month and constant focus on balance while also trying to stick to battletech lore.

Its my GOTY for 2014 only because its the one I played the most, and had the most fun with and that is mostly due to the people I play with the completely different play style the game offers.