yeah, the parts where you drive with the Mako vehicle were too long, too boring and too repetitive, and uneventful for the most part, along with practically all the scouring on uncharted planets
character development was seriously lacking, along with game lenght, and the quality of side quests... I also found the game ridiculously easy with a soldier as a main protagonist
Mass Effect still does some things very nicely, especially when it comes to creating a compelling sci-fi universe and emulating the presentation of sci-fi TV series... in the end it's a satisfying quest to experiment even if your average quality computer RPG shames it when it comes to content
8.5/10 sounds about right