I was reading the Todd Howard interview with the Norwegian Magazine and one of the questions asked this:
Quote: Can you cripple enemy's limbs?
Todd - How should I answer this? Yes, there is a kind of system, but not like in Fallout 3
So I'm wondering how are they going to implement something like the crippling system in Fallout?
Discuss
They will not be implementing something
Like the fallout system.
It may just be me but when he says '........not like in Fallout' was a big clue to this.
The system in fallout was if a leg was crippled it slowed the NPC, if an arm was crippled it lowered the weapon effectiveness, but the system also includes the way you fix a crippled limb.
There has been alot of talk about the ability to cut off limbs and decapitate NPC, this could be implemented as some of the finishing moves associated with the weapons, instead of like fallout where crippling could happen at any time during a fight.