There's no doubt that he could use some buffing, but he ain't unplayable. So far my friend plays him well enough that he usually tops the board with most kills, even with Ashe and Tryndamere running around killing everyone but running away from him when he shows up. (I know a lot of you won't believe it and will say "Oh yer low tier lawl", but this isn't the case. More mid to mid-high tier rapage)
Udyr is mostly a support/assassin, but most seem to try and play him as DPS or Tank which he can't really do either very well. He's sort of like an Evelynn or Yi: if he catches an opponent with their pants down, they're ****ed, but if more than one or two focus fires on him he can drop hard (same can be said for any squishy)