Don't worry about the bad critics,I had the storm for 2 years and it's a awesome phone,this phone had too many bad rep and I always felt it didn't deserve all of it.This phone works very well once you update it.
I used to have the same problem then you,the solution is to upgrade it to OS 5 and you should start receiving mms.I suggest that you update it to the latest version...it fixes a lot of problems this phone had during the initial launch date.
With all that said...I wish they still kept the storm series alive,I don't know if I was one of those lucky onces who had a good phone but it worked great for me.