The animal forms have some utility. Outside combat, badger, spider and cat are good for recon/sneaking/jumping.
Initiating combat with a burrowing badger often gives Lae'zel a few nice prone targets for round one, as well as giving you 13 extra hit points. Similarly, the wolf can kick things off by giving the party some valuable extra movement, as well as a 23-point health buffer. Spider form is useful in the spider fight, allowing two characters instead of one (assuming you've found the boots) to navigate the webs, and not bad against the harpies, being the most mobile unit available to you in the game bar the Moon Druid's raven.
But yes, apart from some cute opening-round tricks, the Land druid works much better as a fighter/caster. I treat the animal forms as a sort of pre-fight buff - a mega-Aid for one character plus a mass Longstrider or Sleep.
