Kingdoms Of Amalur: The Legend of Dead Kel preview - Ten more hours in Amalur

Kingdoms of Amalur's first bit of post-release downloadable content, The Legend of Dead Kel, is due out later this month, and looks to bring an extremely large chunk of land to Amalur. Like, a really, really big one, as big as any of the game's other areas, with between eight to ten hours of gameplay. At $10, eight to ten hours provides a pretty good bang for your buck. We recently had a chance to sit down with the DLC, getting an early look at what Dead Kel has to offer when it releases on March 20.

It begins like just about every other grand adventure: in a tavern. We stumbled into the Seafoam Tavern in Rathir and started the quest, which directed us to take a ship to Gallows End. Gallows End is as ominous an island as it sounds, with most captains refusing to even sail in that direction for fear of being shipwrecked. Their worries, apparently, were valid, and we soon found ourselves gagging on saltwater on the shore, looking at a row of gallows in the city ahead.

Things were going great, obviously.

Above: Not Dead Kel, but some other creepy skeleton pirate

Once we actually made our way to the city (which really wasn't as bad as we feared, what with the gallows and all) we began being pulled through fairly typical Kingdoms of Amalur adventures. We fought some angry monsters, killed some evil pirates, and started completing quests in different areas in order to find a way off the island. And you really do need to find a way off the island, that's not just plot fluff. You're stuck there until you do, which makes sense, what with the whole being shipwrecked thing. Within an hour or so you'll get a ship to travel back to the main land, but before then there's no fast travels. You're landlocked.

As we fought through dungeons we were fed more details about the island, which apparently hosts a mysterious power. Tied to that power is Dead Kel, an evil skeletal pirate with a powerful connection to the island. He's, obviously, the main bad guy of the DLC, controlling the island with his creepy, skeletal fist.

While it might seem like everything is gloomy and depressing, there was one bit of actual good news on the island, and it came in the form of an abandoned fortress. This massive, walled compound is filled with monsters to fight, but by completing different quests we're told that you'll be able to clean it up, eventually gaining control over it. That's right: in The Legend of Dead Kel you don't get a house, you get an entire fortress. Eat that, Skyrim.

Above: Welcome to your dark, moody fortress

Dead Kel certainly looks like it's going to be worth the $10 asking price when it comes out later this month, but be sure to check back for more information near release to find out if the rest of the DLC lives up to expectations.