Leviathan

"Command, what the hell is that?"

- Nathan Hale upon first seeing the Leviathan in Chicago.

The Leviathan is a 300-foot tall Chimera. Only two Leviathans were ever reported. Described as the single-largest creature to have ever walked the earth, these bipedal creatures possess a large cooling device on their back.

Resistance 2
The only Leviathan encountered in the game is in the Chicago mission. It is assumed that thousands of bodies would have been necessary to create it. Prior to the Leviathan sighting in Chicago, Specter Team reported that the Chimera were constructing a 300-foot-tall enclosure surrounding Wrigley Field, possibly the birthplace of the Leviathan. SRPA had decided to ignore the report since Specter Team had just decimated the Chimera command structure in Chicago during Operation: Shadow Strike.

When Echo Team entered into Chicago to deactivate the city's Chimeran Tower, the Leviathan's roar was heard when Nathan Hale assists Benjamin Warner in deactivating Hellfire Turrets after deactivating the first turret. It was then briefly seen in the distance by Hale on the subway bridge on State Street. Halfway after Hale and Victor Company helped in clearing Chimeran forces in the Michigan–Wacker District, the Leviathan made its full appearance before Hale fled.

Subsequently, the Leviathan made actual contact with Hale and the Black Ops forces in which it swat away a U/AV-17 Hawk, carrying Keystone Company, into a building where Hale was on, killing everyone on board the VTOL. Thereafter, the Leviathan picked up Hale and attempted to devour him, but is repulsed by the L210 LAARK's rockets that Hale had equipped. The creature then literally threw Hale across Chicago, in which he then landed into an outpost of the Chimeran Tower. SRPA forces attempted to kill the Leviathan while it was distracted by Warner. They planned to lure it under a sky-bridge where a demolition team laid explosive charges inside the sky-bridge to blow it up and inflict massive trauma to the Leviathan's skull. Hale forced the Leviathan under the sky-bridge by using the LAARK, but the charges failed to detonate. This forces Hale to fire at the bridge when the Leviathan was under it, and the subsequent explosion blew off a portion of its face, exposing its skull. Hale fired one more rocket into it's skull, thus eliminating the Leviathan.

Strategy
The Leviathan is immune to any weapon and is only scripted to die at the end of Chicago. When the Leviathan picks up Hale, the player is automatically armed with the L210 LAARK (the only weapon that can deal damage to it) and must fire at its face and mouth when about to be eaten. This occurs twice before the player is thrown onto a building. The player must escape as the Leviathan will tear the building apart, and cross a fallen, makeshift bridge into another building before the Leviathan destroys the bridge. Thereafter the player again must run down from the roof of the building as the Leviathan will tear down the above floors before arriving into a reinforced room. There are more ammo for the LARRK in the center of the room.

The player is again picked up by the Leviathan when entering the nearby open window and must fire at the creature a third time. This will cause the Leviathan to angrily throw Hale across the city, who will then land in a Chimeran outpost. After clearing away a number of Hybrids, the player needs to attract the Leviathan under the sky-bridge, where a demolition team places explosives charges to kill the Leviathan, with the LARRK. There is an ammo crate to replenish the LARRK's rockets. After attracting the Leviathan's attentions, Patrol Drones will appear before Hale and must be destroyed. When the charges failed to ignite after the Leviathan is under it, Major Blake orders the player to fire a rocket at the bridge; the subsequent explosion severely damages the Leviathan's face and exposing its skull, but not killing it. The player is to fire a rocket once more into its skull in order to finally kill the Leviathan. After killing the Leviathan the player is awarded the bronze trophy "The Bigger They Are".

Video
Video:Resistance 2 Boss Fight Leviathan

Resistance: Burning Skies
A partially-completed Leviathan is encountered at the end of Resistance: Burning Skies in the Conversion Tower, a massive facility seemingly designed specifically to manufacture this strain. Richard Gorrell engineers the kidnapping of the Protection Camp in order to gain access to the incomplete Leviathan and rig up Gray Tech control modules to it, so that it will fight for the US military.

When encountered the Leviathan has no eyes and does not appear to have a cooling unit fitted. Gorrell explains the device's functionality, but the Leviathan wakes up early and not under the control of the modules, Gorrell fleeing and Tom Riley being forced to fight the creature.

Strategy
The Leviathan attacks with its giant hands, smashing them down on the platform Riley is standing on or throwing punches. A direct hit from any of the Leviathan's physical attacks is instant death. Like many of the Resistance 2 bosses, it also has a roar attack which deals damage but cannot kill the player.

As the intel "Grey Tech Chimeran Control Initiative" implies, the control modules are the creature's weak point and are vulnerable when fully lit. While the game spawns ammunition for the Sw.A.R.M., the weapon is virtually useless here as the weak points move around too much for the weapon to track correctly. The Mauler is the best choice, preferrably with the Lightweight Gray Tech upgrade as this will allow the player to dodge more easily.

In the first stage the main targets are the modules on the Leviathan's left side (the player's right). The first is on the Leviathan's chest, the second is central on its belly, and the third is on its shoulder. Moving towards the front of the platform will allow for more accurate shooting but is not advised as any hit here is instant death. The modules will only light up as the Leviathan is winding up to attack with its hands. The shoulder is the hardest as only one of the Leviathan's attack animations actually keeps it visible during the time it is lit up, so patience is required.

Once the three modules are destroyed the Leviathan will grab Riley and attempt to eat him, but be foiled as its left arm disintegrates, dropping him on a higher platform. The entire front of this platform is unsafe and will result in instant death if the player is struck while standing here, so backing up into the area with ammo pickups is the first priority.

There are three more modules to shoot; one on the Leviathan's chest, one on its waist and one on the side of its head. The Leviathan rests its hand over the one on its waist, meaning it can only be attacked when the hand is lifted away from it. Once the one on the Leviathan's face is destroyed it partially destroys the Chimera's head, revealing a final module inside the Leviathan's skull. Destroying this one leads to the Leviathan staggering backwards into the beam from the Tower's generator, obliterating it for good.

Trivia



 * The Leviathan is named after a Biblical sea creature of gigantic proportions. Leviathan as a name means "the largest of its kind".


 * The Leviathan makes a roar not unlike Godzilla.


 * Most of the fight sequence against the Leviathan was shown in the E3 2008 gameplay video.


 * In the novel Resistance: The Gathering Storm, as Hale is hiding in his childhood shelter (on his journey to the ranch he used to live on), he feels the earth tremble beneath some kind of Chimeran horror, and speculates that it could be a Leviathan, among other things. Seeing as how SRPA had no knowledge of Leviathans at this period in time, it would seem that this is a continuity error.


 * A creature which may have been an early precursor to the Leviathan was photographed in intelligence reports found on SRPANET, by the French resistance.


 * Given the Leviathan's size of roughly 300 feet, it is about twice the size of the 150 feet tall Goliath.