For the record, I played through Mass Effect, did almost every single side-quest, and mostly rather liked the game.
However, I definitely empathize with Yahtzee's complaints. The game does tend to be rather wordy, and it carries this strange compulsion to fully explore and listen to every journal entry and dialogue tree even though you don't really care, just in case you missed something. The combat is weak, in part due to the reasons mentioned. The Mako really does handle terribly, though this is partially due to the design of the non-plot-related planets, with their giant jaggy cliffs, pits, and ditches.
Anyway, awesome review. One of the better ones.
Also, I knew there was something that bugged me about Ashley's name. I'm suddenly really glad I went with the blue alien chick.