Okay, so I managed to give reborn a go last November during the firework event, and I must say...
Yeah, it's not even close, original Nemesis all the way.
Let's take it from the top then.
The area:
As me and my friends were leaving Gloomy Woods for Forbidden Valley, I was honestly a little heartbroken how... what's the right word to use...? Hollywood-ified Forbidden Valley now looks and feels. The flashing beacons, the X-sector looking archway, the helicopter, it just felt like the new entrance doesn't have the same impact the original did with the mysterious Drilling machine covered in tendrils, and the former mysterious and edgy music by Graham Smart now replaced with a very adrenaline running, in your face score by IMAscore.
The tendrils on the monoliths are a nice addition though which I really appreciate.
The area just feels incomplete without that iconic rustic look. It looks all samey now to Merlins other projects from Smiler to the Swarm, and I like the Swarms theme and I think it was better executed than Reborns area.
Don't get me started on The Phalanx's inclusion with Reborn, that's something I have little to speak of positively. Unnecessary and the logo just painted everywhere with that annoying announcer voice being spammed every 30 seconds just isn't my cuppa personally.
The Station:
The station is quite mixed bag personally, maybe it was because we saw it at night, but it looks very... plastic looking now? I'm not sure if that's the right word to use, but the new arms looked great on pictures, but in person they have this artificial shiny look on them the older ones didn't have.
To keep this part short, I've never liked the colour choices they made for Reborn, and I'm still not a fan of the black/grey/red look they gave the station over the former more interesting rotten/fleshy skin it had.
Now, the eye... oh boy... maybe it was because we didn't see it in the daytime, but at night, it looked really tacky. It takes a lot of space up on the station that it does seem a bit out of place, it just screams "I'm made to be photogenic!".
I love the spikes around it though and the smoke effect as the train passes, they look great. Perhaps if the eye was smaller and a prop instead of a screen I would've liked it more.
The Queue:
I haven't got much to say about this really apart from that it was just... okay. I prefer the wooden queue fences before, and I do miss the old route as you got so close to the eyes and the loop, but the new route that goes round the turn before the loop has a great view!
The station interior:
This is a great improvement over the original interior, I love how they kept the metallic boxes between the air gates and painted them to look more like flesh, and the glowing tube with the row numbers embedded looks really good too! I love all the red drapes hanging above as it really emphasises that we're inside some alien creature! Pretty good lighting too, but maybe a bit too OTT when it dispatches, but all in all, fantastic!!
Now, the elephant in the room...
The ride experience:
It was so good hearing that classic chain lift once again! Afterwards, the ride was relatively quite smooth, but after that downwards helix, it just got really rattly after that for some reason. I don't know what caused this, but knowing B&Ms current reputation in the industry, I'm sadly not all that surprised that Nemesis was guilty of this new 'rattle' newer B&Ms have now.
So, all in all... Nemesis Reborn, the Michael Bay cut of the original...hmm...I'd give it a 7/10.
There's lots of small details I love, but lots of other stuff I'm not particularly fond of either, especially the Phalanx Theme and IMAs new music. How I miss that Graham Smart original so much...
Area Theme: Downgrade
Music: Downgrade
Station exterior: Mixed Bag
Station interior: Upgrade
Ride experience: Mixed Bag (First half is very good, but afterwards it's very rattly, even more so than the OG when that was rattly)
I know I probably sound like a whiny person on topics about The Haunted House and Nemesis, maybe its just nostalgia, but I genuinely preferred the former themes for these rides from an artistic perspective, and Nemesis Reborn is no different, but it has a lot more positives than Alton Manors personally.
Maybe people are just into more sensory-triggering experiences nowadays over the more traditional and more arty ones. Maybe I just don't get the Hype of it all nowadays. I'm glad people enjoy Reborn, but for me... I just don't think its as, or ever will be, as strong as the Original.