No, it’s not that deep. But here we are…
I decided to ride it a few more times before putting my thoughts together. I’m over 10 rides in now, and while I said I’d post a quick review after preview night, I’ll admit that review would have been pretty rough.
Even now, I don’t think this is a great experience in its current state. This isn’t my official review by any means - consider this more of a “these things need to be addressed” post.
The queue upgrades are cool, but the audio execution is rough. They spent all that money on an animatronic, and you can barely hear it from a few feet away. It doesn’t help that speakers elsewhere in the same building are blasting music while Frau Hexel is trying to speak.
Broom. I was so excited for Broom. So excited. He looks awesome. But I’ll be damned if this thing does anything besides sleep and snore. When he is awake, the audio quality is laughable, and the clunky movements sound incredibly cheap.
The station is another audio nightmare. Some areas are too loud, others are too quiet. Instead of everything syncing together, you’ve got video screens playing audio, entry and exit spiels firing off at different times, and operators talking over top of it all. I think the station audio is technically working now - it’s just incredibly difficult to hear when three different things are happening at once.
Once you’re on the ride, there’s no audio at all where the VW scene used to be. During dual loading, the second train just sits there in silence. There’s now a tree-breaking sound effect as you pass the billboard, but the arrow turns almost too late in my opinion, and the audio isn’t nearly loud enough.
The fog effect at the entrance doesn’t seem to be working, which lets a lot of extra light into the tunnel. The overhead lights during the launch are static instead of activating in sequence. The music throughout the ride is awful and feels completely out of place. The tree scene is awkwardly lit and has very little audio presence while you’re sitting on that block section.
And the VW? They moved it from its original location and stuck it in arguably the worst possible spot in the building. If you want a good look at it, you have about 0.2 seconds to snap your neck to the left before it’s gone.
Now for the good stuff.
I LOVE the “Don’t turn right!” audio sequence before the drop track. The lighting accompanying the drop track is fantastic.
BUT…
“Fine, I’ll save you, but first you have to rate me 5 stars.”
That has to be one of the most baffling choices they could have made for the ride’s big moment.
My jaw was literally hanging open the first time I heard it because… what the actual fuck BGW. Rate Frau Hexel 5 stars in the middle of the Black fucking Forest?
After the drop, the audio issues continue. Frau Hexel is supposed to say “Auf Wiedersehen,” but you only hear it sometimes depending on where you’re sitting. Speaking of which, why was that line basically removed from the ride? I’d much rather hear “Auf Wiedersehen” before the drop than listen to Frau Hexel asking for a 5-star Uber rating.
Then comes launch 2 out of the tunnel, where you fly across a launch track with no audio, and arrive at the bridge. Which still isn’t fully fixed. And, you guessed it… no audio.
Then comes the best part of the ride: getting shaken around like a Walmart shopping cart if you could drive one on I-95. If you know, you know. The ending is getting rough.
In conclusion, will I still ride it? Absolutely.
Do I hope they fix it? Absolutely.
Will they? I hope so.
Is old Verbolten better? Right now, in my opinion, yes.
When everything was working, the original version had significantly better execution than what we’ve been presented with so far. I’m glad they refreshed the ride and gave us something new, but it really feels like it needed more time in the oven. First impressions matter.
The set design is impressive. Really impressive. The lighting and sound design, however, have been a major disappointment. The drop track sequence is genuinely awesome, but I still can’t get over the fact that the big payoff is Frau Hexel asking for a 5-star review. Half the time I could barely hear her while standing in line anyway.
What would be so difficult about giving her a handful of different lines using the exact same animation?
“I told you not to turn right!”
“I warned you not to enter the Black Forest!”
“Now get out of my forest!”
Something. Anything.
I’ll tolerate the 5-star line if it’s mixed into a rotation of other dialogue, but having that be the primary payoff just feels weird.
Anyway, rant over.
Thanks for listening. I’ll provide another update later in the season.
For now? Disappointed. IlL sAvE yOu iF yOu gIvE 5 StArZzzz MY ASS
