The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Dawnguard DLC Reviews
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MSXBOX World, 8.5/10.
All in all, a great expansion and definitely worth the money. I was slightly worried at first that being a Vampire Lord would mean NPCs would just flee from me, but this doesn't seem to be the case so far, as long as I don't transform into the Vampire Lord in front of civilians, meaning I plan to carry on the original Skyrim quests using my vampire save game which I think will make the game far more interesting from now on as I rank up my perk tree. The expansion isn't flawless by any means, but I think if you're a true Skyrim fan the problems can be forgiven, after all, you're a Vampire Lord with the ability to blot out the sun, what more could you want? Except maybe a dragon mount, that would be downright awesome and something they'll hopefully bring someday, fingers and toes crossed. After playing this I definitely can't wait to see what they come up with in future DLC.
The Smoking Jacket (warning: the link contains NSFW content), 8.0/10.
If you take your time, you'll get as much as 12 hours of playtime out of Dawnguard in other words, about as much playtime as you'll get from finishing one of the many other storylines already in the launch version of the game. If this were another game, that'd probably be enough to justify its $19.99 price, but it's something of a stretch for a game that already came with hundreds of hours of gameplay bundled in a convenient $60.00 package. Still, Dawnguard marks a welcome return to Skyrim for those of us who completed every single one of its quests since last year, and its few flaws aren't enough to damage the whole. All in all, it's a good reason to return to Tamriel.
Oh, and in case you were wondering no, you can't marry Serana. The best ones always seem unavailable, don't they?
Platform Nation thinks it misses the mark when compared to Fallout 3 and New Vegas' DLC, scoreless.
In fact, it's probably the little things like that to find the proper joy in Dawnguard. The story is largely inconsequential and a bit drab (though Serena's arc is, despite being about vampires, quite relatable) and the biggest draw of being a Vampire Lord is more bothersome than interesting, but you are also given a new, more difficult type of dragon to fight, the ability to summon a ghostly steed, and new, fairly fun enemies.
However, twenty dollars for an eight-hour trip where I wasn't even enjoying most of it doesn't seem like a great proposition. If it were something more like ten dollars, then that's something I could fully endorse. I mean, it's definitely a close call and really is more about what you enjoy (more bestial engagement) contrasted with what you find annoying (more bestial engagement).
But hot damn, that fire bow is crazy.
Finally, RPGamer has some positive impressions, scoreless.
My recommendation of Dawnguard boils down to what you enjoy most about Skyrim. If you like exploring, completing quests, and working through the game's narrative, then it doesn't get much better than this. It's not likely to convert many of the game's dissenters, but fans should have more than enough to play around with. I spent nearly ten hours with the new content and found it immensely enjoyable, so for me it was well worth the wait. Since it was spaced just far enough away from the initial release, I was in the mood for more Skyrim and Dawnguard fit the bill perfectly.
