Bioware's games usually involve really good storytelling and characters, with flawed gameplay.  Yet their games are all really highly regarded (e.g. Jade Empire, KOTOR, ME, Dragon Age).  Just goes to show that story goes a long way.

I think it had a great storyline and characters. And that's about it. The combat, mako and side quests were terrible. 
 
Also, the mass effect universe doesn't do much for me. But on the other hand, i'm spoiled by warhammer 40k's dark and rich in lore universe, so every other sci fi universe just falls short in comparison to warhammer for me.

Mass Effect 2 sort of points towards the future of all RPGs in general.  As much as I enjoy a good D&D style romp like Dragon Age: Origins, these kind of RPGs are a time sink that often require you to have play sessions of at least 2 hours to feel like you've made any sort of progress.  Spend 30-45 minutes wandering a town or hub area just talking to NPCs and fiddling with inventory and you'll know exactly what I mean. 
 
I'm older now and my free time is increasingly scarce.  Although a game like Mass Effect offered a pretty meaty experience and a fair amount of depth, I think the designers railroaded you enough so that you were always doing something that funneled you through the game's main sections.  Side exploration was completely optional.  If all you did was stick to the main quests, you were still taken on wild ride, getting wrapped up in engaging dialog sequences, action-packed combat and just the right amount of exploration. 
 
Mass Effect had tons of polish issues and the RPG elements are not very deep, but it's the total package that really made it memorable and it's why so many gamers are still in love with it.  The sequel should be improving on all the original's strengths (and even shoring up a few of it's weaknesses) so I am rightfully stoked to get my hands on the game this month!    

All the more reason to look forward to Mass Effect 2. I will agree that Mass Effect could have been better - but when you consider how much they did right with that game, and how much freedom the player is given in choosing what content they experience, its really quite amazing. The repetitiveness you mentioned will only become a problem for completionists, which the large majority are not. That doesn't excuse the overall lack of polish on that game's ideas, but such is the nature of the corporate game industry which values money over quality. Time that could be spent making a game like Mass Effect into the true masterpiece it should have been is often cut short because well.. that time is seen as potential profits slipping out the door and if the higher-ups say "good enough" then so it shall be.