Mass Effect 3: Leviathan DLC review

For better or for worse, Mass Effect 3 is one of those games that's pretty difficult to forget. Despite garnering heavy criticism from its rabid fan-base for its questionable end, ME3 still retains one of the best narratives of the year. Leviathan, the game's first piece of paid DLC, not only expands upon an already riveting storyline, it contains information that will likely make die-hard fans explode in a cloud of gore and joy. That's a good thing.

Having discovered the husk of a dead Reaper, questions about what caused its demise have been mounting. With the Reaper invasion already happening, the answer could result in the key to victory against impossible odds. Being the savior of the galaxy as usual, Shepard is called in to assist a scientific team who believe they've found the answer - something they call 'Leviathan.'

You'll travel to a variety of environments throughout Leviathan.

Whether you outright adored ME3, despised it to the very core or you just hate DLC in general, if you call yourself a fan of the Mass Effect series you owe it to yourself to pick up Leviathan. Without question, it's single-handedly one of the most interesting moments of the series. While I'd never spoil something so ridiculously important, know that come the end I sat in stupefied awe as to what was divulged to me. Yes, it's THAT kind of important.

Starting off a little slow, Leviathan tosses a bit of mystery solving in with the typical 'run around and click everything' mentality. It's not difficult and some will find it comes off as more of a gimmick, but it does help with the atmosphere and severity of the situation. Depending on how well you do, you can practically fly right to the planet of interest instead of probing, because we all know how awesome that is.

Real men use biotics.

Just like the core game, Leviathan contains interesting dialogue that will keep you engaged. However, if you're not much of a talker there's always the new weapons to keep you busy. Expect to find a new shotgun and the M-55 Argus which was previously available to those who pre-ordered the game from Amazon. There's also the new Omni-blade Bayonet which can be attached to your weapon for increased melee damage. It'll come in handy for more up close and personal classes, but as an Adept, something like that isn't exactly necessary when you can disintegrate foes who get too close with your eyes. Yes, your eyes.

Being around a three hour adventure, Leviathan certainly adds a slew of content that can be enjoyed as soon as you obtain the Normandy. The only issue I had with the new content was that some of the answers Leviathan provides are so deep that I feel it would affect how Shepard would go about the end of the game. Regardless, for $10 or 800 Microsoft Dino Coins, Leviathan is an absolute must play for any Mass Effect fan, if only for the story alone.

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