Star Trek: Elite Force 2 had to cut a shuttle-into-building scene after 9/11

Star Trek: Elite Force 2 – the fan-favorite FPS that launched on PC in June 2002 – nearly shipped with a very different opening. Lead scripter and level designer Benson Russell has revealed in a new interview with FRVR that a key sequence had to be scrapped after the September 11 attacks.

Russell explained that during development, the game's Starfleet Academy section originally featured a shuttle flying directly into a building as part of an attack on the campus. "We actually had a shuttle fly into a building and stuff like that," he told FRVR. With the game arriving less than a year after 9/11, that content was cut entirely. "Well, that was a no-no for understandable reasons, of course," Russell said.

Elite Force 2 is built on id Tech 3 and features Patrick Stewart reprising his role as Picard – one of the few Star Trek games to land a cast member of that profile. Despite being a commercial disappointment on release, it has aged well in the eyes of the community for blending action, puzzles, and dialogue in a way few licensed shooters managed. It wasn't the only game reshaped by 9/11 that year: Rockstar had to rework Grand Theft Auto 3's police cars to look less like real NYPD vehicles and redesign the US box art before launch. That hastily revised GTA 3 cover ended up defining the grid-based style the series still uses today, right through to the upcoming GTA 6.

Russell's interview is a rare behind-the-scenes look at a game that doesn't get much developer commentary, and it's a reminder of how broadly the attacks rippled through pop culture and entertainment production in 2001 and 2002.