So I managed to get a hold of a torrent that unlocks the GoG preload from InsaneRamzes. Got both the preload and the unlock from btdig.
I'm only a couple hours in on hard, but the game's fine. This whole thread has been overblown imo. Gunplay is fine, and the actual amount of times I've been involved in a gunfight has been incredibly minimal. The art-design is on point imo, and the music fit's very well. Might not be into the heavy synth and saw house music, but it's written well imo and fits into the theme.
The bullet sponge enemies aren't a huge problem (yet) and the melee combat plays well enough. This is all subject to change as I push on of course, but I think so far all the complaints have been nothing but autism.
The RPG side of things is lacking so far, but there has been plenty of choices I could have made in the beginning, I just don't know what actual impact they have aside from dialogue.
I have run into some glitches and fuckery, but nothing gamebreaking, although I'm expecting to at some point.
It's not perfect, and certainly not worthy of the amount of hype it's gotten over all these years, but it's a fine game. Like a better FO:NV. Solid 7/10 after a couple hours. Game unlocks in like 2 hours, so just go pirate it and try it for yourselves. I'm probably gonna buy it when it goes on sale.