The Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga is a 1997 beat 'em up video game developed by Attention to Detail and published by Eidos Interactive for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. The game is based on the Marvel Comics superhero Hulk, who must traverse through a series of levels and destroy enemies with an assortment of offensive and defensive maneuvers. The game features visuals created on Silicon Graphics workstations and a plot based on the Pantheon storyline from the comics. The narrative revolves around the Hulk joining the titular superhero team and fighting such adversaries as Piecemeal, Trauma, and the U-Foes. The game was negatively received for its gameplay, controls, visuals, and music, and has been ranked among the worst superhero-based video games.
Gameplay
The Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga is a third-person beat 'em up set in three-dimensional areas. The player controls the Hulk, who can walk, run, jump, grab and carry objects, and perform a number of offensive and defensive maneuvers against enemy characters. The game consists of five levels that are divided into three stages, with the exception of the final level. Progress is reserved with passwords, which are given upon the completion of a level; memory cards are not supported. The game's difficulty level can be set to "Easy", "Medium", or "Hard".
The Hulk's health is represented by a meter on the upper-left hand corner of the screen. The meter decreases as the Hulk sustains enemy attacks, and automatically regenerates depending on the difficulty setting. Below the health meter is a gamma meter, which indicates how much power the Hulk has reserved to perform special moves. Different special moves cost more gamma than others, and this cost is also dependent on the difficulty setting. Items can be collected to restore health or gamma, as well as temporarily double the power of the Hulk's attacks. Also collectible are calling cards that can summon a member of the superhero team Pantheon, who will assist the Hulk for a limited time.
Plot
Nuclear physicist Robert Bruce Banner is caught in the blast of an exploding gamma bomb while rescuing Rick Jones. The massive dose of gamma rays alters Banner's genetic structure, causing him to transform into the Hulk, a monstrous being with superhuman strength. The Hulk is taken prisoner by members of the Pantheon – a superhero team that specializes in tactical missions – so that their leader Agamemnon can convince the Hulk that his powers can be used to benefit mankind. As Pantheon members Paris and Ulysses transport the Hulk into their secret base, the Mount, their ship crashes, freeing the Hulk. After the Hulk fights through the Mount and bests Atalanta, Ulysses, Ajax, and Hector, he is assigned by Agamemnon to stop Piecemeal, who has taken hostages in a Scottish castle. The Hulk then rescues Atalanta from Lazarus and Trauma in Antarctica, and thwarts a siege of the Mount by the U-Foes. The Hulk is suddenly transported to the Future Imperfect, where he battles the Maestro – an alternate version of the Hulk – and sends him back in time to the gamma bomb test. The explosion that created the Hulk destroys Maestro.
Development and release
The Incredible Hulk: The Pantheon Saga was developed by British company Attention to Detail and published by Eidos Interactive. The plot is based on the Pantheon storyline by Marvel Comics. Development was directed by Chris Gibbs and Fred Gill. The graphics were created on Silicon Graphics workstations by John Dunn, David West, Vincent Shaw-Morton, and Richard Priest; West created and animated the models for the Hulk, Trauma, and Atalanta, while Dunn created Lazarus, and Shaw-Morton created Hector. Lyndon Sharp and Andrew Wright served as the lead programmers, with Wright creating the game's graphics engine. The music was composed by Des Tong and features Mike Hehir on guitar and vocals by Chris Warne. The voice acting was provided by Ian Wilson and producer Brian Schorr. The game was unveiled at E3 1996, with a release set for the first quarter of 1997. It was released for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn on April 10, 1997. A PC version was advertised, but not released.