In the game, players take the role of former military intelligence operative Jack Devon, tasked by his ex-partner Hoover with finding a missing biologist (and former crush), Laura, who developed an antidote to a deadly virus created by germ warfare specialist Karl Von Kruger.

An official PC version restored and remastered featuring a newly recorded voiceover by Timothy Bottoms was released digitally in 2021 on GOG.com, developed by Empty Clip Studios and published by Ziggurat Interactive.

[10][11] As with Atari's Caves of Fear, American Hero is an interactive movie game that uses full motion video (FMV) to present the story and gameplay, similar to Digital Pictures' Sewer Shark and Netflix's Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, where players are instructed by the in-game text messages or a subliminal voice heard on the background to make Jack Devon perform a choice under quick time events by pressing the A button on the controller, which can alter the course of the narrative and create a branching storyline, leading to different outcomes on each playthrough such as having the main character killed by enemies or setpieces.

Due to its use of the GameFilm technology, scenes play and alter between each other without visible pausing, streamlining the experience and giving them a smooth narrative flow as a result, unlike most FMV titles released at the time.

[5] In 2003, community member Stone of AtariAge produced a limited run of the Jaguar CD version, complete with custom artwork and case, which was sold and showcased at the fan festival JagFest UK 2003.