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 as a much more violent game, according to a former Bethesda artist. While Bethesda's first-person shooters are known for their gore, the visceral blood and guts typical of the Fallout series did not make the transition to their latest sci-fi adventure. The decision to tone down the graphic violence in Starfield was deliberate, even though the initial plan was different.

Bethesda did not completely abandon violence in Starfield. The game features central roles for gunplay and melee combat, which many players consider an improvement over Fallout 4's combat mechanics. The developers put significant effort into refining the shooting and melee systems, although they ultimately chose to scale back 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 revealed that Starfield was initially designed to include decapitations and other kill animations. However, technical challenges, particularly the complexity of animating these effects across the game's various suits and helmets, led to their omission. Given Starfield's ongoing technical issues even after multiple updates, this decision seems justified to avoid further graphical complications.

Starfield Cut Decapitations for Technical and Tonal Reasons

The decision to remove graphic violence from Starfield was not solely based on technical difficulties. Mejillones highlighted how the gore in Fallout contributes to its humor, a style that does not align well with Starfield's intended tone. Although Starfield includes nods to Bethesda's more lighthearted and violent games, such as recent Doom-inspired content, it aims for a more subdued and realistic sci-fi experience. Over-the-top executions might have disrupted the game's immersive atmosphere.

Fans have expressed a desire for greater realism in Starfield, particularly criticizing the game's nightclubs as lacking the grittiness seen in other sci-fi titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Mass Effect. Adding exaggerated violence could have further detracted from the game's grounded feel. Ultimately, Bethesda's choice to moderate the level of gore in Starfield, while diverging from their previous shooter trends, appears to have been a wise one.