GURPS Combat. Ramped up or pared back?

[Peter Knutsen]

Originally Posted by whswhs

When I go for high combat, I like to use the crippling and bleeding rules (together with the rules for field surgery, especially premodern field surgery), lots of techniques, formal martial arts, and the committed attack and defensive attack options, which give more nuances to combat tactics. On the other hand, I don't like the option of buying off the penalty to hit a specific part of the body by taking a technique; I think if you're going to try to shoot someone in the head you ought to have the sense that it's a hard shot. That's really a reflection of my narrative preferences, not of actual experience with armed combat.

I thought hit location Techniques were a 3rd Edition thing, deliberately dropped from 4th Edition. Have I overlooked or misunderstood something here?