Starfield didn’t have some of the more ultra-violent features of older Bethesda titles like Fallout 4 because of technical complications. Speaking on gaming podcast Kiwi Talkz, former character artist for Bethesda Dennis Mejillones spoke about Starfield and why it didn’t have dismemberment in its combat.
For context, some of Bethesda’s titles are well known for how gory they can get. Even Skyrim had a fair bit of dismemberment in its combat, especially when the player scored a critical hit on enemies. The Fallout games have also had plenty of gore and dismemberment.
Mejillones talks about how dismemberment was difficult to pull off in Starfield because of how it would interact with the various space suits that players and other characters have to equip in the sci-fi RPG. Things got especially complicated when the studio had to account for the various pipes and tubes that a space suit typically has.
“There was a lot of implications with the different suits from a technical perspective,” said Mejillones. “There’s a lot that has to go with it. You have to cut the helmet in a certain way, and it’s got to come off, you have meat caps to the bottom where the flesh is.”
“We had systems for all of that, and it turned into a big rat’s nest,” he continued. “All these things you have to count for now with all these crazy hoses on the helmets and all that kind of stuff that we added. Or now you could change the body size significantly. The character creator had evolved quite a bit.”
Mejillones also goes on to talk about how copious amounts of gore and dismemberment make more sense for games in the Fallout franchise, which always tends to have an undercurrent of black comedy throughout their story and gameplay, with some games even allowing players to select a trait that makes deaths of other characters around them even more gory and gruesome than they would have been otherwise.
Starfield was originally released back in September 2023, and was a commercial success. Despite an overall positive critical response, many players lamented the lack of various features like seamless space travel and the presence of excessive loading screens.
Since its release, Starfield has gotten quite a few updates, ranging from bug fixes to balance changes and even new features such as support for DLSS 3 and FSR 3. The game has also seen the release of a major DLC in the form of the horror-themed Shattered Space. It promised new features like a host of new enemies and more than 50 new locations for players to explore.
Despite the divisive response, however, the game has sold quite well. According to a report from November, more than 15 million players have now played Starfield. For more details about the game, check out our review. While you’re at it, also check out our review of the Shattered Space DLC.
