The writing is the same. There are highs and lows. I enjoyed many of the story lines tremendously.
I never got the Gault complaints. It was bad that you couldn't finish him off, I agree totally, but he literally sits in my ship and I never talk to the guy. He's pretty easy to ignore.
Apparently Bioware originally had companions that you could kill or miss out on, but players complained about it. So yeah, can't please everyone.