In very short words: my expectations bar wasn't set too high for this DLC, and the DLC passed it without any problems. Leviathan comes with an interesting plot that's similar in length like the plot of the Quarian/Geth conflict - roughly 3 - 4 hours of play time.
The plot itself was crafted carefully and tries to solve some loose ends caused by the basic story: who're the creators of the Reapers? What had happen to them? How long do the Reapers exist already? Why did they create the Mass Relay Network? All those questions got answered.
Are the Leviathans friends? Hardly. They seem to see themselves as "master race" everyone else should obey, that's what I can read from their lines. Their only goal is to enslave or destroy the Reapers and ... well, whatever they have in their mind, it won't be very friendly towards the galaxy's civilizations. Maybe I'm wrong, but the Leviathans feel like the big evil, the Fiend himself, and you ask him to take down his own disloyal demons. He might do so, but once he's done, he'll come after you.
In some way the Leviathans and the Reapers remind me of Quarians and Geth: both races created synthetics, just in one case the synthetics turned into the galaxy's scourge while the Geth aren't evil at all. It all depends on the programming ...
The plot is impressive, but also features some plot holes. I'll name only a few:
- Vega's presence in the lab
Sorry - why's Shepard surprised Vega made it to the lab? There's no second car in the garden outside, so Vega must have been with Shepard the entire time. And still Shepard reacts as if Vega just showed up.
A detail, but a bit annoying.
- Long lifespan
Well, we know the Leviathan of Dis is a billion years old - and it's one of the oldest Reapers. That means, the Leviathans existed for more than a billion years. That isn't impossible, however, I doubt the Leviathans in ME3 are THAT old. If they can reach such lifespans, they never would have undergone evolution in THIS universe. They must be much older than our universe - which is impossible. Nothing can survive a full-universe-singularity (big bang).
Well, maybe one Leviathan can expect a lifespan of a million years, empowered by genetical engineering and cybernetic implants - and they can grow even older if they go into hybernation. That's very likely, but then I wonder why they never tried to come back in the time between those cycles ... why did they vanish from the screen for a billion years? Why didn't they try to manipulate races earlier to prepare them for that war?
- Curbstomp da Reaper
The three seen Leviathans are able to take down a Sovereign-class Reaper without any difficulties. It simply drops dead on the water, case closed.
That makes me wonder how the Leviathans lost their war a billion years ago: were they so few in numbers and so many Reapers out there they only could flee?
Or were the Leviathans far less powerful in their time? I don't know, but it definitely blows a huge logic hole in the plot.
- Indoctrination light
The Reapers are masters of indoctrination - the Leviathans are not so. Although they seem to care for their victims of some sort (after all, that Mining Colony was able to survive for 10 years under full indoctrination while Reapers tend to abondon their troops as soon as they're no longer useful), the indoctrinated persons act -really- odd. Not to say "robotic".
It's funny: the synthetic race of the Reapers can make a person act like a normal person while being indoctrinated, the Leviathans, clearly organic, make their indoctrinated persons acting like robots ...
Worst of all: Shepard and his/her squadmates KNOW something is wrong but can't put their finger at it. Shouldn't they be aware something's wrong right from the beginning?
Well, just those few points, I'll stop here.
Also, 'though it's difficult to notice, but the Romance has some extra lines. I counted one or two for Ashley, I'm sure Kaidan got similar lines. Same for Garrus, Liara and Tali - the LIs you can pick as squadmates for the mission. The "romantic line" appears before Shepard does his/her dive - and once s/he's back. It's nothing special and less that I had expected from the leaked files, but at least it's still in there.
Another nice idea was to introduce new weapon mods known from the coop modus with that DLC.
Overall, I think the DLC was worth the money, thanks to a quite extented play time. It fits the lore so far and gives some extra information, 'though not without adding new logic issues too.
If other plot DLCs come with a similar amount of content, it'll be worth the money - it just shouldn't be less. 3 - 4 hours of gameplay time are okay, less would feel like a rip off, more is difficult to do with a limited budget.
I can't wait for Omega DLC.
And I hope all story DLCs might add enough new stuff so it MAY change the end game. The refusal option should grant you a happy ending if you have all story DLCs
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