Marvel Rivals offers refuge to Mercy mains left out by Overwatch nerfs as the new hero shooter resurrects her most broken ability

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"Heroes Never Die!" can never die

Overwatch Mercy
(Image credit: Blizzard)

Marvel Rivals remixes and resurrects probably the most hotly debated skill in Overwatch's history, which Blizzard pretty much deleted from the hero shooter.

Anyone who played Overwatch during its first few years remembers Mercy's old ultimate ability, the one where she would instantly resurrect any number of allies in her radius to full health. Seeing an enemy Mercy zip across the map just after your team delivered a multi-elimination to undo all your hard work was a heart-dropping experience. "Heroes Never Die," was the catchphrase dreaded by every Mercy foe. It was also fun as hell when you were the Mercy, but developer Blizzard Entertainment eventually replaced the ultimate anyway and gave Mercy a much-downgraded version.

Marvel Rivals is either not worried about any controversy that might come from a resurrect-oriented meta or the team reckons it's sufficiently rejigged the ability, because the new hero shooter's Adam Warlock has an ultimate that's kind of the same. At least in the ongoing closed beta, Adam Warlock's ultimate, called Karmic Revival, has him summon a glowy golden circle that not only revives already-dead allies but also automatically brings back any allies that die for the next ten seconds with partially restored health. It's essentially a mass rez and a temporary respawn checkpoint rolled up into one ultimate.

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The problem with Mercy's old ultimate ability was that it basically turned team shoot-outs into endurance tests. Every match had two Mercy's, and every confrontation was a waiting game of "Who can kill Mercy first? Who can save their ultimates until after Mercy uses her's?" It was emblematic of a time when Overwatch was more of a fun, off-the-wall party game, rather than a competitive shooter that needed to be strictly balanced. We'll see which way Marvel Rivals swings when it comes out later this year.

Gamesradar’s Marvel Rivals preview thought that beyond its A-list roster, the hero shooter falls dramatically short of stealing Overwatch’s crown.

Kaan Serin
Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.