Re: Total system freeze at Council Towers - Help! (ps3 psn version)

I am having the exact same issue as mentioned above. It is incredibly frustrating as I cannot get past this point in the game. As soon as the cutscene triggers by talking to Captain Anderson, dialogue skips and then the screen goes black and freezes up. The only way to get out of this is by pressing the ps3 home button and quitting the game. When you reload the save to try again, the same thing happens. I must've tried this about 20 times to no avail. I really want to play the entire mass effect trilogy and forked out nearly £60 to that effect - and I can't even get past the first mission. I'm sorry but this is unacceptable. It either needs to be fixed or I want a refund.

I have tried deleting the game data and reinstalling it (a lengthy process) and still encounter the exact same issue.

I have downloaded the Mass Effect Trilogy pack for PS3 on the PSN network. Please answer this question / provide a solution for this problem.

THIS IS A GAME-BREAKING ISSUE.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Just to clarify on the above point, I don't know if it will help but going to provide as much detail as possible:

1. I have the PS3 dowloaded 'Mass Effect Trilogy' version from the PS3 online store.
2. The issue occurs in Mass Effect 1, after the first Eden Prime mission and after I have explored the Citadel and completed all initially available side-quests. The cutscene occurs in the citadel tower and involves Tali's evidence of Saren's betrayal being presented to the council (I know this because the first couple of lines of dialogue play before the screen starts stuttering and goes black).
3. I have the opinion of all team members except Liara. I have been playing with Tali and Ashley as my squad members just prior to this cutscene, and in general lean towards the 'Paragon' play style.
4. Even if I reload a previous save, the cutscene still freezes. It is actually possible to hear gunshots if you press shoot and if you press the Start button you can even save the game at certain points during the cutscene (just before the screen goes black and freezes up), but this does not solve the issue. When you load the save it takes you back to before you spoke to Captain Anderson (on the steps behind him), and the same issue occurs when you speak to him.
5. Changing game modes (difficulty, graphics etc) yielded SLIGHT changes to WHEN the cutscene freezes, but it still freezes.
6. Deleting the game data and re-downloading and re-installing does not solve this issue. It still freezes up at exactly the same point.

PLEASE PLEASE HELP THIS IS MASSIVELY DISAPPOINTING!

Ok - I have managed to solve the issue! Wooo!!

Basically I reloaded a previous save game file which I luckily had from before I completed any of the side quests (when I first arrived in the citadel). Annoying, but it only took me about an hour to get back to the point where I had the freezing problem.

Ok, read the following carefully:

When you first reach the Citadel, make sure that you go to the Citadel tower and convene with the council BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE. In my initial playthrough, I left this until last - i.e. I completed all the side-quests INCLUDING the story driven side quests (meeting Garrus, Wrex and Tali) BEFORE going to speak to the citadel council. When I did this just now (going to see the council first) it triggered a cutscene with Saren (in holographic form) and the council discussing your accusations against Saren, resulting in them sending you away because you have no proof etc etc.

importantly - I DID NOT SEE THIS CUTSCENE IN MY INITIAL PLAYTHROUGH.

Basically, I think the sequence of events doesn't work properly if you miss this cutscene, and this must be why the second cutscene with the Council (after you receive the evidence from Tali) was going all screwy.

So, I think to solve this issue, make sure you go and see the Citadel Council in the Citadel Tower before you do any other story related mission. I.e. Do not visit Chora's Den and speak to Harkin, do not do the 'Fist' side quests with Wrex, and do not initiate the sequence where you save Tali from the assassins. You can do this all AFTER you have spoken with the council.

I really hope this solves the issue for everyone else who was experiencing this problem. The second cutscene just played for me without a hitch after completing this sequence of events in the correct order. I literally jumped up and down! I never thought being a completionist / explorer would ever backfire on me in such a spectacular fashion.

Little tip for future playthroughs: Manually save your game CONSTANTLY.