Perhaps the best piece I have ever read on io9 (which is admittedly not a high bar to clear). I have a few quibbles with it, particularly the bit about not having too many aliens that look "suspiciously similar to humans," but in general the conclusion is well-supported.
Yes, a lot of the species in Mass Effect are humanoid in shape, but when the author says "suspiciously similar to humans", he really means "exactly identical in appearance to humans except for one tiny difference", which is the standard set by budgetary restrictions in live-action media. Most of the major species in Mass Effect are indeed humanoid, but I don't think any of them are nearly similar enough to humans that anyone would ever for an instant mistake them for human (unless they've been to a lot of Blue Man Group concerts).
but I don't think any of them are nearly similar enough to humans that anyone would ever for an instant mistake them for human
Really? The article says "Run around the Citadel and you'll be damned if you find more than two or three humans out of hundreds of citizens milling about, shopkeepers hocking their wares, and government officials eyeing you suspiciously. The entire government of the galaxy, known as the Council, is run by non-humans."
That all sounds exceedingly human to me. You can't start an article with engulfs all of science fiction's greatest universes and then say that. There are some /really/ great universes out there. A government? Seriously?
A government? A mixed species government? Shopkeepers? Wares? This isn't an amazing genre beating non-human future, this is small-town-humans-in-space-in-weird-bodies. AI and FTL and life goes on? Multiple civilizations and they're all basically equal in brainpower?
