Mortal wounds frequently don't kill, hearts/throats barely bleed, disembowelment rare
..."disembowelment rare".
(Dwarf Fortress, for the unfamiliar, is an ASCII-based game that allows you to build up a fortress starting from seven dwarves, or go round a randomly-generated world as an adventurer killing stuff. Part of its appeal is the ridiculous complexity - in fortress mode, running a fortress is insanely complex, and in adventurer mode, the body is modelled in increasing detail, allowing a disturbing degree of realism in the wounds that arise from combat. Limbs and digits have flesh, bone, nerves, and skin, plus there's the usual complement of internal organs, all of which can sustain damage from piercing, slashing, bludgeoning, being sliced off with an axe, poison, or fire - characters even have a layer of subcutaneous fat to model burns more accurately. None of this, however, is actually shown, merely described in the message log and appropriate menus - your character is just a blinking "@" sign.)
(There's probably some fascinating studies to be written on the use the players make of the freedom the game allows them. Some seek to produce great works and perform great deeds within the limits imposed; some seek the well-being of their dwarves; some take delight in the detailed brutality of combat.)
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