Dawnguard
Producer: Bethesda Softworks
Release Date: June 26, 2012
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Rating: Mature
Genre: Fantasy
HOWL, SUCK…OR BOTH?
Written by Josh Schilling
Dawnguard is the first major expansion for the critically acclaimed Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. What is it that made me so eager to return to this world after roughly 170 hours of questin’, slashin’, thievin’, wanderin’, spellin’ and mud crabbin’? Well I know it wasn’t for the flawless, error free game play, that’s for sure. I had a moment during my Tamriel adventures when a glitch almost made me give up my game-playing days for good, but I endured. For a game with so many weird and frustrating moments, it speaks a great deal that even with these flaws it is still one of the best games I have ever played.
So Dawnguard came calling and I answered enthusiastically. The greatest thing about this game is the freedom it allows you to do pretty much whatever you want. Sometimes you lose a little bit of focus by wanting to walk around, sell off some items, or find out what’s in that cave over there. After starting the game and doing a bit of gratuitous side-tracking, I focused myself into traveling to the Dawnguard fortress to get this new adventure underway.
What unfolded was a rather lengthy quest that challenges you with a major decision: Do you become a vampire lord and join in with the other blood suckers or do you remain true to the Dawnguard by utilizing your nifty werewolf powers to fight the pesky vampires? Your choice will lead you deep into the respective faction and you will fight to uncover the vampire’s plans to knock out the sun so they can finally traipse around at all hours of the day. Whichever decision you make, the story and gameplay are basically the same with a few dialogue differences. With that, your actions in the Dawnguard expansion main quest can sometimes seem a bit forced as the same story line tries to toe the line between the vampire and Dawnguard sides, but nit-picking aside, it’s still a fulfilling ride.
There are other interesting things that come with the Dawnguard expansion that really add to the overall world of Skyrim. By becoming a vampire lord, you can morph into a grotesque, floating beast that can suck the life out of hordes of enemies. In fact, some of my most outstanding moments involve saving the game, then going ape-shit in a random city. After the glorious carnage, you just utilize the Omega 13-esque “Load Previous Save” and all is well again. The Dawnguard expansion also gives you additional weapons, spells, and a new shout to play around with as you explore additional settings including a quest-line foray into Oblivion.
For a non-multiplayer game, keeping things fresh by injecting expansions is a commendable (and profitable) thing by Bethesda, but if you’re a PC player, you already have a nearly endless array of user generated mods so Dawnguard might not seem as much of a necessity as it would to console jockeys. Still, it’s almost a no-brainer to grab this expansion. $20 for 20+ hours of new gameplay in one of the greatest games in recent memory should be a rewarding experience for fan boys and casual Skyrimmers alike. With or without this expansion, Skyrim is a nearly endless game, but Dawnguard adds some interesting flavor even with the sometimes maddening bugs.