"Ex-Starfield Artist Explains Cut of Graphic Violence"

Summary

• Starfield's lack of graphic violence was an intentional choice largely due to technical issues.
• It also wouldn't fit Starfield's tone, said Dennis Mejillones, a character artist who worked at Bethesda on Starfield and Fallout 4.

Starfield was originally envisioned to be much more violent, as revealed by a former Bethesda artist. While Bethesda's first-person shooters are known for their gore, the visceral elements of Fallout did not transition into the studio's latest sci-fi adventure. The decision to minimize graphic violence in Starfield was deliberate, despite initial plans to include it.

Bethesda did not completely avoid violence in Starfield. The game features central gunplay and melee combat, which many players consider an improvement over Fallout 4, with significant attention given to the mechanics of shooting and melee attacks. However, the studio chose to scale back some of the more graphic elements.

Dennis Mejillones, a character artist who contributed to both Starfield and Fallout 4, discussed the game's approach to violence in an interview with the Kiwi Talkz podcast on YouTube. He confirmed that Starfield was initially planned to include decapitations and other kill animations, but technical challenges prevented this. The variety of suits and helmets in the game made it difficult to animate such violence realistically without causing visual bugs. Given Starfield's ongoing technical issues even after multiple updates, the decision to avoid further graphical complications seems justified.

Starfield Cut Decapitations for Technical and Tonal Reasons

The decision to exclude graphic violence from Starfield was not solely based on technical difficulties. Mejillones highlighted that the gore in Fallout contributes to its humor, which does not align well with Starfield's intended tone. Although Starfield occasionally nods to Bethesda's more lighthearted and violent games, such as with the recent addition of Doom-inspired content, it generally adopts a more subdued and realistic approach to the sci-fi genre. Over-the-top executions, while potentially thrilling, might have disrupted the game's immersion.

Fans have expressed a desire for more realism in Starfield, noting that elements like the game's nightclubs feel tame and less convincing compared to other gritty sci-fi titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Mass Effect. Including humorous violence could have exacerbated these concerns, making the game feel less grounded. Ultimately, Bethesda's choice to tone down the gore in Starfield, even if it deviates from the studio's previous shooter trends, appears to be the right move.