Memories: Bloodlust Software

By: Derek Yu

On: May 21st, 2007

I can’t remember how I first got a hold of Executioners, but I do remember sitting in front of my dad’s old computer, being completely mesmerized by this gritty, gory game. Nevermind how rough the presentation was or how basic the gameplay was… even as a youngling I could tell this game had a lot of heart.

In just the first level of this game you’d fight off a menagerie of strange mutants, everything from Rastafarian zombies to werewolf hookers. In the background, signs for “Ed’s Wiener Shop” and “Julio’s Stuffed Pets” passed you by. At the end of the level, a bloody guy gets tossed off the hood of a moving car, only to begin puking on you and beating you with his own limbs. Violence and bad taste have always been a mainstay of commercial video games, but even Mortal Kombat had nothing on Executioners. While Commander Keen, released a year before, was setting the bar high for PC games and putting the shareware business model in motion, games like Executioners and, later on, Timeslaughter, pulled the bar back down and then kicked it into a shallow grave. Bloodlust Software games were the indie of the indie.

Ethan “Hellbent” Petty (Bloodlust’s lead designer and the artist for the games) and Icer Addis (the programmer) would eventually part ways and land jobs in the commercial game industry. But not before releasing NESticle and Genecyst, two of the earliest and most legendary emulators.

Bloodlust Software still (kind of) exists today, maintained by Ethan alone. Ethan’s even released a few games on his own, using game creation software like Multimedia Fusion to bring his twisted designs to life. I’ve had the opportunity to chat with him on more than one occasion and he is a downright friendly guy! Last I heard, he was a new dad! Congrats, Ethan!

Plans for sequels to Executioners and Timeslaughter have been in the works for a long time, but may never see the light of day. But you can still obtain full, free versions of the originals from the games page on the Bloodlust Software website. DosBox is almost certainly necessary to get the games to run.

Posted in Fighters, Freeware

HaloBreaker

Oh wow I remember finding Time Slaughters while when I found Wrath of the Sea King on a site. WOW that was a while ago, yeah his games are so indie that even the mention of them on an indie site makes them mainstream.
Halo jellyfish

I thought I stopped my old handle from posting on time… I guess not.
Derek

I nuked it for you. :)
Jimbob

And then Sirius ‘O Snip! Man it was a shame that only a demo got released for it (or otherwise it was damn short :S). Awesome character…
penumbro

>Wiener [sic]

What’s the sic for? That is how it’s spelled…
Derek

Wow, you’re right. :O

Fixt.

You fucking weiner!
CosMind

ahhhh, so that explains the bizarre, dismembered hand for a cursor in NESticle…

one mystery solved. a trillion more to go.
Lackey

I just experienced the same revelation myself, CosMind. Also dripping blood menu bar.

I totally remember Executioners from my Games Empire disc.
Dan MacDonald

Man, I remember this game. I remember thinking how could such a crappy artist make such a cool game! But.. uh.. that’s about all I remember.
crackers

I remember playing Executioners. I got up to the first boss, found all my attacks had no priority so I quit and went back to Scorched Earth.
GrViper

There is a Pong-ish game featuring the same characters using severed head as a ball. Nogginknockers. Yummy…
CB

Oh man, the hours I spent in front of Executioners. Good times.

I always liked the brown ninja-kinda guy.
PoV

Speaking of fun ugly ass games, Dungeons of the Unforgiven. I spent way too much time playing that one.
Ryan

To this day, nesticle ownz my b0xen.
Nothing introduces a session of old school NES games better than clicking on an icon in the shape of hairy testicles.