Of course you have to jump through hoops to access Bloodborne's Old Hunters DLC

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Louise Blain is a journalist and broadcaster specialising in gaming, technology, and entertainment. She is the presenter of BBC Radio 3’s monthly Sound of Gaming show and has a weekly consumer tech slot on BBC Radio Scotland. She can also be found on BBC Radio 4, BBC Five Live, Netflix UK's YouTube Channel, and on The Evolution of Horror podcast. As well as her work on GamesRadar, Louise writes for NME, T3, and TechRadar. When she’s not working, you can probably find her watching horror movies or playing an Assassin’s Creed game and getting distracted by Photo Mode.

You haven't had nightmares in a while have you? Good news then, it's almost time for Bloodborne's The Old Hunters DLC. The expansion to the PS4 exclusive is out on November 23rd and of course you have to jump through a few hoops to get there.

The Old Hunters expansion will be out on Tuesday and thankfully the PlayStation Blog has a guide for how to access the new content. The fresh horror includes hordes of new nasty enemies and environments, and two new weapons - the Gatling gun and the Bloodletter. Oh and we should apparently be very afraid of something called the Bell Holder. Not ominous at all. There's also a new rune called The Beast's Embrace that boosts your transformation effects when holding a beast weapon. Handy.

Here's a breakdown of what you have to do to take in the sights of the shiny/ horrendous new areas:

• Defeat the boss of the Cathedral Ward and examine the altar in the back of the room to change the time to night.
• Go to the Hunter's Dream and get the Eye of a Blood-Drunk Hunter from a messenger.
• Go to the Oedon Chapel and leave via the left-hand exit to enter the square.
• Go to the right-hand end of the square to trigger an event which will then take you to the new area: The Hunter's Nightmare.

If you aren't planning to get the new £15.99 DLC, then a 9GB patch out today brings various new features to the game for existing players. The League feature means you can access ranking screens and because this is Bloodborne, there's a task to do first. In order to get onto the boards you need to meet Summon Master Valtr and get your hands on the 'Impurity' rune. Summon him inside the shack to the right of the first lamp in the Forbidden Forest. Once you've memorised the rune, then and only then can you see ranking screens.

The new NPCs that are being added in let you summon them for aid, much like co-op play and even inside Chalice Dungeons. Get your hands on the 'Old Hunter Bell' from the messengers in the Hunter's Dream area and you'll be good to go. Remember, if you pre-order the Bloodborne DLC before Tuesday, you'll get a free exclusive PS4 theme. Until then you can check out some suitably dark images in the gallery above.

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