Skyrim: Dawnguard

So, Skyrim's Dawnguard expansion is here; though for us primitives playing the game on PC, it looks like we'll be waiting awhile to play it. I'd be annoyed, but my capacity to mod it with all manner of wonderful toys has given me enough ner-ner moments as it is. Some of us have had dragonbone weapons for ages, man...

Sparkly vamps need not apply.

It's a big 'un, at ten to twenty hours worth. Not so big as Shivering Isles, but plenty big enough to renew interest in that old savegame, or make you start a new one. Vampire and werewolf perks, crossbows, new weapons and armour. The storyline can be completed as either a vampire hunter (though not in the Buffy tradition, I'm guessing) or as a vampire, with the implication being that you might just be able to permanently blot out the sun, making life a bit easier for the daylight-challenged.

Speaking of making life easier for vamps, the experience is apparently no longer completely an utterly painful by all accounts. Anyone who ever played one for more than five minutes should be able to tell you how irritating the experience is; sure, vampirism is traditionally a curse, but gaming isn't bloody supposed to be. You'll no longer be attacked on sight because you haven't found a sleeper in a while, bottled blood is available... and you can transform into the scary bugger above. There's also perks gained by feeding, and a similar tree for all you werewolf fans too.

Still, they'll be hard pressed to be cooler than the coolest vampire of all time. Say it with me, kiddies: "Vun immortal Dovah..."