Honestly, you should battle througb, even if its boring as fuck. I suggest using the power wheel more, as it does stop everything around you and let you aim and I.D. targets that you can hit with squad powers. If it really doean't help enough, you can change the difficulty down to easy for the fight...
The point is you need to experience the first game to develop your own shepard. It will be worth it in the end, Alisha.