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.
The Mass Effect series tries to be hard sci-fi in the way that McDonalds tries to be gourmet food.
Magical space explosions that turn all organic DNA into part machine somehow. Bringing people back from the dead. Core concepts of what weapons are being completely changed EVERYWHERE inside of 2 years. Magic space children from beyond the stars. Some sort of DNA weather machine that magically cures all Krogan in the universe when it's turned on at Tuchanka. The crucible in its entireity. Turning an entire race into goo and then building a terminator skeleton of that race to somehow make them all live forever. Etc...
I admit that the first one made a decent attempt at being hard sci-fi, but the 2nd and 3rd game pretty much do away with the "one big lie" concept. It's pretty obvious that they aren't afraid to retcon anything inbetween games though. And then the third just throws away any pretense of the entire series scientific basis being taken seriously.