(CBS News) In typical Bethesda fashion, Skyrim is a long game - very long game. According to the developer, the average player logs an average of 80 hours into their massively open-world game, though many dedicated adventurers have no doubt played past the 100-hour mark.
Skyrim Review: Get ready not to sleep for days
Then there is that elite group of Dragonborn who extend their time in Tamriel well beyond 300 hours - with multiple characters - having deep intellectual conversations with every inhabitant of that snowy country to the north...and yet we still want more. Finally, we have been given Dawnguard.
When Skyrim was released last November, there was no question if an expansion pack would be released, only when and what. When players completed the game, speculation ran rampant online as everyone tried to predict what would (or should in their humble and respectful opinions) come next.
Would the mysteries of the Dwemer (the long vanished race of Dwarves) be resolved? Would the Falmer - no longer content with cowardly raids on traveling merchants - finally wage war on the surface world? Would the great civil war that split Skyrim down the middle and pit brother against brother finally erupt into a grand deciding battle with the Thalmor?
As it turns out, it would be none of the above. Instead, Dawnguard tells what is largely a standalone tale of a vampire uprising and those who are honor-bound to stop them - the Dawnguard. Like the civil war story from the main campaign, players can choose to join forces with either faction - seeking the path of honor or that of power.
In addition to its robust main story, Dawnguard also sports a hefty helping of new radiant and miscellaneous quests as well as new dungeons to explore and weapons and armor to collect. It also offers new skill trees and perks for those who prefer to run the wilds of Skyrim as a werewolf and for the newly introduced vampire lord transformation.
While it may not directly tie to any one story thread from the already robust main game, the new expansion does do a great job of telling a new tale in the established fiction and throws in plenty of new additions to help spice up the experience. Dawnguard delivers exactly what fans wanted: more Skyrim.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Dawnguard is available now for download on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. It is rated M for Mature by the ESRB.
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