Mass Effect 3 Leviathan DLC Review

Leviathan is a must-have for Mass Effect fans. Although fairly short, it is packed full of information about the Reapers, their origins and the series’ ending.

By Alex Hawksworth-Brookes / October 11, 2012

rating:4

Although the From Ashes DLC offered players a new mission and a few snippets of additional story, Leviathan represents Biowares first large piece of content which expands the story of Mass Effect 3. With a play-time of around four hours on harder difficulty settings, Leviathan is a great attempt at explaining many of the questions that players had after finishing Commander Shepards story. The DLC begins with an email from Admiral Hackett, which asks Shepard to head to a lab on the citadel to speak with a scientist who has uncovered information about a potential reaper killer. Without giving too much plot detail away, things take a turn for the worse once Shepard arrives, leaving him with the task of figuring out exactly what this Leviathan creature is and how to track it down. The search for information takes Shepard through some fantastic new locations, including an asteroid-based mining facility, an exploding research base on an arid planet, and the depths of an oceanic world. The last location is particularly spectacular, especially once Shepard has descended to the ocean floor in search of the Leviathan. This section of the DLC is viewed from a first-person perspective, complete with the HUD of Shepards submersible mech, making the underwater area incredibly atmospheric and somewhat reminiscent of Bioshock. The moment when the Leviathan is confronted in the flesh stands out as one of the most memorable, not just in the DLC, but in Mass Effect 3 in general. The atmosphere throughout the DLC is well crafted and incredibly tense at times, with more than a few clever and surprising twists. The writers were obviously inspired by Lovecraftian horror, and have done well to create such a chilling tone. In terms of the story itself, there was a pleasing amount of new information to be found over the course of the content, and the final scene where Shepard confronts Leviathan really helped to explain the events of the (much hated) ending, and also gave some much needed information about the Reapers and their origins. Sadly, other than a few lines of dialogue, Leviathan has no real impact on the ending itself, but does help to give some much needed context. It is also slightly irritating that the story is completely linear aside from a few quick time paragon/renegade choices, theres no room for affecting the outcome of the DLC the ending will be the same every time. Leviathan also introduces a crime-scene investigation section, where Shepard must investigate an area for clues about Leviathans whereabouts, and use them to narrow down the number of locations to visit on the galaxy map. Its not quite L.A. Noire, but this section was enjoyable and well implemented, and really helped to build the sense of mystery that permeates the Leviathan expansion. These sections also did a good job of integrating the Normandy crew members (especially EDI) into the storyline, and added some variety in place of combat. In terms of the action sequences, theres nothing too special about to be found in Leviathan. There are three separate combat missions, each in a different environment, but the lack of new enemies to fight means that none of them are particularly memorable. The most striking feature of these sections is the high level of difficulty, especially since most of them involve some sort of escort component (at one point Shepard has to repeatedly run between power cell stations, relying on his squadmates to hold back waves of powerful enemies). With this in mind, Leviathan is definitely for players interested in learning more about the Mass Effect universe combat junkies had best stick to multiplayer. Overall, Leviathan is a great addition to the Mass Effect story, and represents a valiant attempt to explain the Reapers and the controversial ending. The atmosphere is expertly crafted and the story is exciting enough to ensure that most people wont put their controllers down until the mystery surrounding the Leviathan is solved. Whilst it doesnt answer many peoples cries for a completely rewritten ending, Leviathan does a great job of showing why Mass Effect is one of gamings most beloved series. Mass Effect 3 Leviathon DLC is available to download now.