Yea, I would say that the quality is lackluster. I don't know if I'd call it bad writing, but I definitely wouldn't call it good. I like Van Lente as well (Archer & Armstrong is still my favorite VEI series, War Mother and Timewalker were solid, and his Incredible Hercules was good fun), but thi was not his shining moment.
More than that though, my main problem with the series is the direction they took the characters in. They essentially abandoned everything Dysart had build for Gen. Zero and gave them a new personality, mantra, and tone that didn't fit what I wanted a Gen. Zero book to be. It didn't help that it was one of the "lighter" books that all came out around the same time (A+A, Faith, Harbinger Renegade), and at that point I was just tired of it. It felt like they were going for a different audience, which theoretically is great, but imo it betrayed what Gen. Zero was originally intended to be.
EDIT: That said, if you're at all interested in the characters or concept, check out Armor Hunters: Harbinger first, then read the first couple issues and see what you think.