DLC Doubleshot

Welcome to the first ever DLC doubleshot on Tophat Gamer! Not the first ever DLC review I've done, but the first one that had to of them, so that's something. This week, I'll give you guys a brief summary of two different pieces of DLC, and my thoughts on them. For this, I have Batman Arkham City and Skyrim DLC for examination.

BATMAN: Arkham City- Harley Quinn's Revenge

STORY
Due to the nature of the DLC, major Spoilers for Arkham City are inbound. Don't say I didn't warn you.
So Harley Quinn's revenge begins after the shocking ending to Arkham City. The Joker is gone, and Harley Quinn is in a standoff with police inside his old hideout. Batman has gone missing after going in to save some cops, and no one knows if he's alive, or what state of mind he's in.

So, it goes without saying that the ending to Arkham City left alot of people with more questions than answers. Harley Quinn's revenge answers one of those questions (quelling any ideas of the possible sequel that many gamers had in their minds) quite clearly, but anything regarding Wayne's current mental condition is ignored and pushed aside. Leaving HQ's revenge, I found that not a lot of questions had really been resolved, which I found quite disappointing. The story itself is not a bad one, it just doesn't provide much closure.

GAMEPLAY AND PRESENTATION
So alot of this DLC actually puts players under the hood of Robin (currently Tim Drake)in search of his missing mentor. Gamers who have had access to the Robin challenge maps previously will know that he plays quite differently to the Dark Knight. With his own range of gadgets and abilities, Robin is a nice change of pace and play style, but I found that there wasn't really enough of him for my liking. The game seems almost anxious to throw you back into the cowl of the bat.

Combat and Predator sections are just as smooth as they ever were, with Robin's animations looking as brutal as B-man's, while adding a little acrobatic flair to his takedowns.
The area of exploration isn't a lot, but theres a certain depressing look that gives it it's own new character after it was owned by the Joker.

IS IT WORTH YOUR MONEY
If you loved Batman: Arkham City, then chances are, you've already got this DLC. If for some reason you've been tossing up over whether or not you need it, I'd tell you that it's a fun little experience that ends too quickly and doesn't provide the closure that you're probably looking for. On the other hand though, I'd give anything to play around as Robin some more, so if you're in for that, then this is a definite YES.
If that's not enough for you, then I'd consider how much you enjoyed the original game. If you need more Batman AC, but can't bear to play the campaign again, then this might be for you as well.

SKYRIM: DAWNGUARD

STORY
Skyrim's Dawnguard expansion follows a battle between a group of Vampire Lords, and the fabled Dawnguard, a group of warriors sworn to defend Tamriel from vampires. In this questline, you get to choose who you side with, and ultimately, you get to decide how the world is affected by this conflict.

After experiencing quite a few questlines in Skyrim, I can safely say that this one definitely has some more interesting characters than most. On top of that, the background's of the vampires and dawnguard are interesting to say the least, and we all know how much the elder scrolls games love to give us history lessons at a moments notice.
This is probably the best vampire related thing you will see this year.

GAMEPLAY AND PRESENTATION
As with most DLC, Dawnguard doesn't do a whole lot to change up the look of the game, for the most part. It adds new characters, new creatures and a few new locations as well. Two in particular will stand out, for being particularly good, and bad. The Forgotten Vale looks pretty cool, offering a mystical snowy landscape filled with crazy variants on normal creatures and other sweet stuff. The soul Cairn on the other hand is very bland and overly blue/purple.

On the gameplay front, however, Dawnguard adds a whole lot of new crap. Crossbows, new enemies, a new form for vampires, and new skill trees for werewolves and vampires individually. Needless to say, the formerly boring "specialties" are now looking much more inviting. Lycanthropy has never been so fun. Add to this the recent patch updates of new killcams and horseback combat and you have a few reasons to head back to the tundra of Skyrim.

IS IT WORTH YOUR MONEY
Ok, short answer, YES. Dawnguard adds at least 5 hours onto the already packed game, but it also adds a plethora of cool things to see, do and steal. Plus they finally added a service to change your appearance. Yay!
If you like the elder scrolls, this is most definitely worth the 15 or so dollars you'll pay for it. I highly recommend it.

OVERVIEW
So if you had both games and only enough money for one of these DLC packs, which would I recommend? Well, the obvious choice is Skyrim: Dawnguard. While Harley Quinn's revenge is good, Dawnguard just adds so much more on top of the already fantastic base game. The Arkham City DLC just adds more of the same. Granted, Arkham City was near perfect, but when you pay 15-20 dollars for more game, you want a little extra, don't you?
Both are good, but Dawnguard is definitely worth more. To me, at least.

Next Sunday, it's Dragons Dogma. Finally. See you next time!