Mass Effect 3: Leviathan DLC Review

Oh, that's why.

I told you the weak spot is between the legs. Look!

BioWare released their first story DLC for Mass Effect 3, titled, "Leviathan." Well, this isn't the first story content per se, but it's a new original mission as opposed to an expansion on the controversial ending. The goal behind it was to offer up more information on the origins of the Reapers, and that's exactly what it does. In terms of pacing, "Leviathan" is remarkably formulaic. It starts with a trip to a new area on the Citadel, and from there you will be dispatched to another system and return to the Citadel two more times before completing the DLC in another system. Compared to "Overlord" for Mass Effect 2, which was huge and took place on a singular world, or "Lair of the Shadow Broker," which took the player to many locations with a lot of variety thrown in, this back-and-forth travel felt like a lost opportunity to build upon the quality BioWare established in the last round.

Still, this trip is undeniably more of the gameplay we love from Mass Effect 3, and formula aside, it does throw in some new mechanics including searching for clues in a laboratory and piloting a mech underwater. Though enjoyable, these novelties do not act as major draws, just as means to an end. In keeping with the triad of enemy types available in the main game, you only have one set of enemies during the two and a half hours it takes to complete "Leviathan" – Reaper forces. Given the backstory, this isn't surprising, but the developers didn't even throw in a boss fight for good measure. You only combat scripted sequences of gauntlets of Reaper forces until your next objective. One of the boons of "Leviathan" is a significant amount of discoverables including XP and money boosting supply reserves and new expansions for your weapons. The most notable expansion is a melee enhancement for assault rifles, but I did not test out its efficacy.

Underwater shenanigans.

The main attraction, the story, brings a lot to the table, however. It begins with a war-changing discovery, which leads to the DLC's main pursuit of yet another possible weapon against the Reapers. Without exaggerating, the lessons the player learns via "Leviathan" are a necessity for both players who have finished the game already and players who still have yet to finish. On top of achieving a much-needed backstory for all three games in the series, it also solves one of the greater paradoxes of the ending, extended cut included. For me, it really completed the mythos and put my mind at ease about how the writers chose to wrap up the series' events. I am dead serious about this.

At $10 (800 BioWare or MS points), the question of whether or not this is a worthwhile purchase is debatable. I would argue that this is a must play because of what the ending reveals to you. It makes the ending to the game as a whole much better. The problem is that the overall flow of the events that bring you to the end are not as thrilling, so it really depends on how much you want the excellent origin story offered here. I do not regret my purchase in the slightest, but for anyone less interested in absorbing the details of the Mass Effect universe, this would be a hard sell. But if you just want to know more or resolve some bitter feelings you've been harboring against the writers since March, buy it right now. Trust me.

Those aren't crows.

Although Origin does not feature a screenshot feature, I ran it through Steam, creating a software platform Voltron, whereby I could take screenshots.