Leviathan's another well-liked add-on in the series, and for numerous good reasons. While ME3 adamantly lines itself to a more action-heavy nature (which I have... feelings on), this DLC takes it down a few notches and follows up a fair bit on 1 and the other half of 2's tech-noir aspect, delving deeper into the lore and building up how the Catalyst itself plays into the conflict of them, with the newly introduced Leviathans, which are Totally Not More Lovecraftian Sea Creatures We Swear. It still has the mission structure, but thankfully it's a bit more spread out and not always reliant on it to get you to move on, as well as once again utilizing some mechanics from the multiplayer onto the missions.

You'll mainly be talking or doing some mystery solving like you're some third-rate space detective. EDI tags along for most of the length, which is warranted since she's one of the many victims of 3's companion writing being rather lackluster, despite having a visible arc and relationship bud with Joker. Your companions, and especially whoever your LI is, finally start adding more things to say instead of being blank-faced about what's happening, and some of the dialog here can really drive in the desperation and risky the whole assignment has become.

There's some writing qualms, mainly due to the fact that you can clearly tell this was written so that it could retroactively explain why the ending is the way it is, but overall I do find the actual mythos of the titular species to be pretty well done. Them essentially acting like another barrier for Shepard to overcome in order to unify different outlooks together to face a common threat is well done, and even then this whole final ordeal was well worth it for the framing of the mech, going deeper and deeper as you're unsure as to what will happen.

Much like the case with Citadel DLC, it's best to do Leviathan's missions after a specific point in the plot and not ASAP. I forgot the exact order as to when it's the most ideal, but sometime in the 2nd act, particularly after the main mission in Thessia and/or the Ardat-Yakshi Monastery side mission, should suffice.

Mass Effect series Review + Retrospective #3.3: Leviathan

Leviathan is the first story expansion for Mass Effect 3, following Shepard and the crew investigating a mysterious creature capable of killing Reapers – the titular Leviathan.

Leviathan dwarfs the other Mass Effect DLCs by having multiple missions on various planets throughout the galaxy, a new mini hub you’ll visit multiple times, and a couple new systems to explore for more war assets.

I think Leviathan is great – the missions are exciting and varied, the story is intriguing, and the integration of multiplayer elements (such as guiding a repair drone or carrying valuable items) is smoothly executed. The new missions give plenty of unique dialogue for your squadmates, avoiding ME2’s issue of the “silent gun” party members in its DLCs. Exploring Dr. Bryson’s lab with EDI also gives some opportunities for good character moments with her, a character sort of neglected throughout ME3. Playing detective in the lab is simple, but a fun gameplay diversion that doesn’t overstay its welcome.

The combat missions are really nicely paced – fast, action-packed, and short. Each one features a great setpiece that helps it stay memorable, especially diving to the sea floor in the ATLAS mech during the final mission. It looks great and is a super cool moment.

Some find the Leviathan itself to be controversial, but I actually think it’s a interesting character and I liked the little background info on the Reapers. I think this one is probably my favorite Mass Effect DLC, and definitely worth checking out.

Playtime: 3 Hours
Score: 8/10

Interesting DLC for the game! It included some investigation elements which I wasn't that into but I liked that it helped break up the missions. While the ME2 DLCs kind of had do everything at once, this games DLC breaks things up so you have more quieter moments in between which I appreciated. The stuff with Leviathan and the lore around it is super interesting too. Overall, a solid enough DLC!

All DLC I have played ranked: https://www.backloggd.com/u/JudgeDredd35/list/all-dlcs-i-have-played-and-reviewed-ranked/

I'm making my way through Mass Effect 3 to finish off the Legendary Edition. Most of the downloadable content to this I never played at the time. The biggest possible compliment I can give is that most of it blends in so well with the main game most of the time I don't realize I'm playing the downloadable content until I'm halfway through the missions related to it.

Mass Effect 3: Leviathan is one such piece that it actually blows my mind that this is extra content not included in the base game at all. It's not something I can discuss in depth without having to spoiler tag but the story and lore to this content absolutely should have been part of the main game and it's pretty nuts that so many people, (myself as an example only playing this 10 years later) would have, could have, and did miss it. Based on other reviews I've read since playing through, it looks like that's a fairly unanimous consensus.

Not much else I can say about it. It's only a couple of hours with a few missions with several new locations, weapons, war assets etc. but it really isn't one that should be missed if you're a Mass Effect fan. I had a good time with it.

I agree with the people saying its baffling how this was cut out for dlc, but now thankfully through The Legendary Edition thats no longer an issue. And damn was this good. The combat sections in the first few parts of it and the backtracking to the lab were quite frankly a little tedious but so much was added to the Mass Effect lore I was just on the edge of my seat the entire time, and the whole section underwater was really awesome. This would be an easy 5/5 if the early bits werent dragged out as much but man, this universe is just so cool

Time Played - No idea lol
Rating - 94/100
DLC Completion #5 of 2022

Not a huge fan of thie DLC to be honest. Story feels good, but gameplay-wise it's pretty bad. "But why?" you might ask. Because of bad level design and enemy placement.

Look I'm not the greatest gamer and i play on Normal still i died around 10 times on this DLC not because of my skills but because of bad design. That's more than my total deaths on ME1 and ME2 combined!

I wanna love this DLC but it has very poorly designed levels. If you don't have Legendary Edition, I can't recommend this.

(Review originally written on May 2nd, 2021. Currently reorganizing journal)

Leviathan is a fantastic DLC. Not only is it fun obviously, but it takes a great approach that reminds me of a sort of detective noire kind of tone to it all that works really well. In between the missions there are parts where you hang out in a laboratory trying to narrow down the location of Leviathan. The set up for the story also does a good job of establishing a narrative hook. Shepard meets with a scientist who tells him there have been rumors of a so called "Reaper killer", and whatever killed a reaper is worth tracking down.

While the DLC does have a really good detective noire kind of tone to it, its other tone is even better as it takes a lot of inspiration from the works of H.P. Lovecraft. The Leviathan's ability to mind control reminds me of something that Cthulhu or maybe some other entity created by Lovecraft. This DLC embraces the cosmic horror of the Reapers and Leviathan.

One thing I always praise when it comes to Mass Effect 3 is the party member interaction and in this DLC, there's no shortage of that. You'll always have your party members interacting with each other, providing advice and their own personal thoughts, bickering, and surprisingly even some new dialogue with whoever you're in a relationship with. Not once does the writing feel like a drop in quality or do the characters feel neglected.

The level design in this DLC is a lot different than what you'd usually see within the main story surprisingly. While linear of course, it's still really fun and takes a different approach with its pacing and even provides for a very unique underwater section. It's pretty great.

This DLC is a great addition to what Mass Effect 3 has to offer with its main story, while not something what DLC should aspire to be, it's definitely a worthwhile and fantastic experience that the game would not feel complete without.

8/10