From my perspective, all it did was refocus combat on the powers that specifically interacted with those barriers. Shields don't totally negate powers, they call for you to use Overload or an SMG, armour doesn't totally negate powers, it calls for you to use warp/incinerate, barriers call for Warp or Warp ammo, etc. There were even cool interactions like Kasumi's flashbangs shutting down Harbinger when he assumed direct control, turning him basically back into a normal mook because they disabled enemy biotics.
In ME2 different weapons and powers have different purposes and intelligently choosing between them was a big part of success on higher difficulties. In ME3 all you needed was a Mattock and every problem was a nail.