Well most technology is abusing physics ;P
Mass Effect tries to be on the "One Big Lie"
Spectrum of Science Fiction Hardness, which means it tries to stick to real world physics but has one or two pieces of
phlebotinum (eezo in Mass Effect) that it uses to explain the less realistic aspects.
In comparison, you have things which take known and developing world technologies and try to extrapolate from there, whilst sticking as close to what is possible as they can.
For example, take Ghost in the Shell or Deus Ex Human Revolution, which at least try to take what people are trying to do with real life prosthetics and go from there, assuming "major and sudden breakthroughs" in the whole brain-device interface. Assume we have a breakthrough make a learning machine that can be plugged into the brain so the brain and device can learn to work together like it's a limb, suddenly a lot of Human Revolution's augmentations become more plausible.
And you have soft science fiction which basically shrugs and says "science did it" to explain what amounts to space magic.
Mass Effect, at least the first one, did make attempts to be somewhat "hard" outside of "ezzo did it", especially if you read the codex, so those attempts at hardness can be at least considered and scrutinised.