That being said, how many 10/10 games are there that don't have a decent story? Not many, if any. It's a workable formula.
Look, I won't say I love the combat in this game, even though it is quite a bit better than the vast majority of what is out there. But it's not like it's senseless. It makes sense within the game world and it is really only overdone in a couple of scenes. The skyline riding and stuff adds depth that you generally don't get in shooting-first games. And the game even discourages you from shooting by putting down your gun frequently. In fact, most of the time your gun is down unless someone is shooting at you first.
It seems like to me part of the problem is you guys played on Hard. I also played through on Hard and I found it tenuously enjoyable. There were several places where I thought the game was being overly unfair towards me because of layout, lack of ammo, and poor weapon choices. I went back and played some parts on Normal and Easy and they were definitely more entertaining because, if nothing else, Elizabeth helps you out more.
Still, the combat play is definitely the weakest part of the game though I could easily give it more than an 8/10. Compared to so many other games, it is just that much better.