E3 2012: Skyrim Dawnguard DLC Impressions

This month Skyrim's first DLC content, titled Dawnguard, will be released. Dawnguard promises to have 10-20 hours of additional gameplay, and features two additional elder scrolls, a new race, two new skill trees, a new weapon, and a new shout.

There will be two new areas depending on which faction you choose; You can either fight with Vampires who wish to block out sun because of an impending prophecy or the Dawnguard - a group who hope to foil the vampire's plan.  

I got to go hands-on with the new vampire area Soul Cairn, which takes place about five hours into Dawnguard. The objective of this part of the DLC was to follow the trail of a couple elder scrolls. In doing so you help a young female vampire named Serana.

Serana is caught between a complicated familial dispute, and you must travel to Castle Valkihar to resolve it. First, you must find her mother Valerica, who is trying to protect Serana from her blood-hungry and dangerous father.

The main appeal of Dawnguard is getting to join these vampires as one of their ow - by becoming a Vampire Lord. Like becoming a werewolf in the original game, you're given a set of abilities that replace your standard set of powers as long as you're transformed.

For example, your glowing red and blue hands wield basic magic attacks. Vampires can also float aorund a foot off the ground - but that's sadly mostly useless unless you're sprint-flying or trying to get over a body of water.   

While the basic vampire form is not especially interesting or aesthetically pleasing, the real excitement of the Vampire Lord lies in the expanded skill tree. There are several new powerful summon abilities. You can raise the dead, summon a gargoyle, or teleport as a swarm of bats.

You also gain access to vampiric grip, a skill which allows you to drain life from your enemies, and vampiric sight, which grants enhanced night vision.   

But the DLC will also have bonus content for those who decide not to follow the vampire path. There will be a new weapon, the crossbow, which is incredibly handy but relies on a limited number of bolts, and a new Shout called Soul Tear, which steals enemy souls and turns them into minions.    

Dawnguard offers a significant amount of content for Skyrim players who have long since exhausted the main quest. It will also appeal to players who enjoyed lycanthropy, but prefer to play with magic rather than melee attacks.

Ultimately, it is Skyrim's promising first foray into the world of downloadable content, which we'll undoubtedly see more of in the future.

Dawnguard drops on the Xbox on June 26th, with its PC and PS3 coming a month later. The price will be 1600 Microsoft Points, or $20, depending on the platform.