The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has been a widely-successful game since its initial release back in November of 2011, earning many game-of-the-year awards and garnering incredible sales. Naturally, the first bit of DLC for the game, now known as Dawnguard, had been eagerly anticipated even before its official announcement.

Now that the DLC has been released on Xbox 360, some gamers may be wondering if it's worth their hard-earned money or their time. A new gameplay video may help them make that choice.

Sam Clay of VG 24/7 sat down to play through the first chunk of the Dawnguard DLC, joining up with the vampire-hunting faction and heading to the first dungeon. You can see the full 20+ minute video below.

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The video starts off much like the suggested way to begin the Dawnguard quest. Clay's character goes to the Dawnguard stronghold and meets up with Isran, the leader of the Dawnguard. He joins the faction and is given a crossbow, which is the new vampire-killing weapon exclusive to the DLC. Afterwards, the character is given the first quest, which is to go to Dim Hollow Crypt and take out the vampires that killed a large amount of the Vigilants faction.

The video shows off a bit of the crossbow in action, which seems to be a good weapon for those wanting to focus on their Archery skill. No footage of it being used from horseback, however. The character makes it to Dim Hollow Crypt and soon takes care of the various vampires hanging about, though some of the overheard dialogue seems to indicate that they're searching for something in the crypt. Sure enough, after eliminating them all, the character frees another vampire who doesn't seem to be an immediate threat. She then asks the character to help her find her family, which is where the video ends.

It seems likely that this is where the player can make the choice of either staying with the Dawnguard faction, or switching sides and become a vampire themselves. While vampires technically already exist in Skyrim without the DLC, this could help expand them further and make them a core gameplay option, much like becoming a werewolf is.

Will you be downloading the Dawnguard DLC? Will you be a vampire or a Dawnguard?

The Dawnguard DLC for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is out now for the Xbox 360 for 1600 Microsoft points, with PS3 and PC release dates still unknown.

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Source: VG 24/7