At the end of 2011 Bethesda opened Skyrim up to their annual Game Jam. The developers at Bethesda's studio added Kinect support, horseback combat and other features we've already seen in 2012's patches, but the bulk of the Game Jam's experiments are a part of Skyrim's first major DLC.
Dawnguard is a heavyweight, Shivering Isles-sized chunk of content where you'll join Skyrim's vampires to fulfil their cheerful plan to blot out the sun, or fight against them and purge the world of emo. Bethesda's behind-closed-doors E3 demo picks up five hours into the Dawnguard campaign on the vampire side, with the Dragonborn fully in the grip of neck-munching vampirism.
NORTH OF THE BORDER
Your fellow vampire Serena has traced her mother Valerica to Castle Valkihar, far north of Northwatch Keep. An all-new area, Valkihar lies on an island far out at sea in an area shrouded on Skyrim's map. There you'll find a portal to Oblivion - an experiment conducted by Valerica which saw her become trapped in Oblivion's Soul Cairn with dozens of other lost souls.
Passing through the portal begins the quest Beyond Death in a deep purple world haunted plaintive spectral souls and aggressive skeletal Bonemen, apparently pissed off about being named "Bonemen". Here, in a prison cell, you'll find Valerica who explains how to end "the tyranny of the sun" and why doing so will be good news for vampires but bad news for Serena.
But let's steer clear of spoilers and stick to the Christopher Lee side of Dawnguard. Playing as a vampire opens up an all-new vampirism skill tree which powers your Vampire Lord form. With a tap of the left bumper you'll morph into a flying, spell-casting, blood-sucking, Buffy-bothering demon able to cast vampire magic or attack with razor-sharp claws. Vampirism works like lycanthropy in Skyrim; your monster form gives you new abilities but denies you others, but the risk is worth the reward once you've powered up your ugly side.
At the top of the Vampire Lord's three-pronged skill tree is the time-slowing Supernatural Reflexes, an instant paralysis spell, and Night Cloak - a cloud of bats which surround you and attack anyone looking to stick a wooden stake in your chest.
Of course, being a vampire means you'll have to look like death warmed up, avoid travelling by day, listen to shitty nu-metal and fight an entire army of vampire hunters. In Dawnguard's first hour you'll be faced with a choice - to fight with the vampires or against them - and fighting on the side of mortal men brings with it an all-new werewolf skill tree. It's another throwback to that Game Jam, along with improvements to the game's dungeons and the game's first epic mount, Arvak - a spectral horse you'll bring back from Oblivion and can summon at any time.
More than anything it's a chance to return to Skyrim and explore the land in a new light, or go all Lost Boys and drench the world in darkness.
Comments
16 comments so far...
Da Green Fungus on 9 Jun '12 said:
Ok so this looks good and i`m sure i will enjoy it, but i am hoping for more in the future. Give me shivering isles, new dadric realms and princes, it`s the most interesting aspect of the elderscrolls universe why so little focus on it?
sbradley88 on 9 Jun '12 said:
Didn't care about the lycan form in vanilla skyrim, won't care about/for vampire form.
Would love to see a Van Helsing style fight between lycan and vampire though
I choose Van Helsing because Underworld is s**t.
TheCrimsonFenix on 9 Jun '12 said:
I was honestly expecting more than this when they were talking about making more epic than Shivering Isles expansion packs. The quest doesn't exactly interest me as the vamps never have and crossbows are something they shouldn't have even cut post-morrowind, now they're actually bringing back in the form of dlc? What's next? A dark brotherhood quest with spears and another small time race with throwing stars?
KMakawa on 9 Jun '12 said:
Yeahh, Its seems to be a niché thing or I completely didnt 'get it' but I too didnt go for Werewolf form or Vampire form in Skyrim, purely because it would limit it me to a certain path of which I didnt like.
So I guess i'll get Dawnguard, play on the Dawnguard side of things - but flying around as a vampire or werewolf, just doesnt look interesting to me.
Oh well, we'll see how it goes!
corkscru74 on 9 Jun '12 said:
Yeah, I couldn't find a use for werewolf form. I felt it was under powered by the time I got it. Like the idea of leveling up a skill-tree for it though, would give more reason to use it. On a roleplaying level I played a (mostly) good Nord and turning into a werewolf in town for some mayhem didn't really fit. Would be good if the transformations weren't always voluntary and you only have limited control, like you were hulking out
freds1 on 9 Jun '12 said:
It seems to me that they included werewolves only because people were demanding it, well maybe not demanding but it was requested by outspoken fans. Just wish they put more thought behind it at first (Like it's own perk tree for example) because I can't really find a good use for it either, it's seriously underpowed imo. There's nothing it can do, bar looking badass running around as a werewolf licking your own balls, that a normal character can't in terms of killing, it's all show. Same as vampirism, both seem to limit your character without offering anything much to compensate. It's much less of a hassle to be a normal dovakin, unless you are RP'ing. Anyway it looks like these will be enhanced with Dawnguard, and will make playing as either one fun and worthwhile.
flash501 on 9 Jun '12 said:
The Shivering Isles was possibly the greatest bit of dlc I have ever played so I'm going to give Bethesda the benefit of the doubt here. Dawnguard will almost certainly be a game in itself!
gayrath on 11 Jun '12 said:
Vampyrism in Skyrim is frankly a pain in the arse. It is much more hardcore then Oblivion in terms of restricting your character and making travelling and playing hard. The only reason I stayed with being a werewolf was the protection from deseises perk which protected me from becomming a bloody vampre! Plus it was always hilarious to transform in the middle of a big town and watch the people run.
I'm really looking forward to the dlc. Improving the werewolf and vampire storylines is what both really need.
Frypot on 11 Jun '12 said:
Hope there will be A) More than one type of crossbow. I.E basic crossbow then iron, steel, ebony, orcish ect and they are craft-able.
nakedian on 11 Jun '12 said:
Boo to werewolves and vampires! What's wrong with more great story line with the option to become either.
monkeybiscuit on 12 Jun '12 said:
I really hope I wont be forced to become a werewolf when I choose the dawnguard side.
richomack360 on 12 Jun '12 said:
Yeah I dont want to become a werewolf..again....
Can't i just harvest loads of garlic and then proceed to throw it at passing blood suckers ?
MattyR95 on 13 Jun '12 said:
I liked being a werewolf. The occasional snide comment from guards, no diseases, the speed and tearing into guards etc. That Vampire lord form thing looks alright. I'm gonna join the vampires first, see if they can actually shut out the sun, it'd make travelling much easier I suppose.
Gamingsince83 on 13 Jun '12 said:
AWWW No Horse armour!
Keltrick on 15 Jun '12 said:
I really doubted this before, and since then they've stated it won't be as large. Not every bit of DLC has to be expansion worthy, and I honestly wouldn't expect it from the first one. I believe we'll be getting a Shivering Isles sized DLC at some point (or at least would call it a HUGE step back if we didn't) but I'm also expecting quest expansions like this thrown in.
GlobalNightmare on 15 Jun '12 said:
I was hoping for something more shivering isles-esqe to keep me interested. I tried to enjoy this game but alas, it felt a little joyless to me. Trade in time.