Walking in to the first weekend of a Halo-themed convention from Microsoft themselves, I wasn’t sure what all to expect and just how in-depth they were planning on taking things. They listed multiple experiences that I was looking forward to trying out on the official Halo Outpost Discovery website and none of them left me disappointed. From life-sized models the moment you entered to full hands-on experiences, this event was one worth going to and that I hope to see again.
The first thing I was focused on after entering were the different experience options. While they had an awesome LAN center set up for players to try out literally any Halo out to date on both co-op and big battle options, I was drawn to see some of the more unique aspects of Halo. The obvious choice after seeing the options was to go to the Training Grounds and try out what Halo is like in VR, which my full experience with that is on this Hands On article.
From there I decided to check out some of the different displays they had set up. This is where we got to see a lot of different parts of Halo at a life size comparison. There was a wall with the different enemies, ranging from a Grunt to a Hunter, and I was a bit surprised to find that Grunts are the height of an average person! Below you can see me standing next to a Hunter and their intimidation reached a whole new level seeing how big they really are. Even the flag used for Capture the Flag matches was pretty large, covering about 3/4’s of my height alone.
The interest gained from seeing these life size models lead me to check out the next experience known as The Ring. In here we got a full history break down and informative walkthrough of the different aspects of Halo. It was like a museum or art collection where you wore headphones and the aspects of the world were in explained as it stood in front of you. We got to see more life size models, like the Sentinels and Flood, and the level of amazement just grew. The Ring experience ended with a IMAX-style dome theater room that took you through a brief exploration of life on Halo while summarizing the workings of how The Ring functions. Hands down, The Ring was my favorite part of the entire convention!
To finish off the day, we checked out a couple of the other experiences from afar, not having enough time to go through each one due to only being there for a single day. While everything looked fun, I felt that the VR and The Ring experiences were the main two must-do’s while there. We also got to check out the Mega Blocks section which is where people were able to contribute to monuments or build there own vehicles from the spare pieces. It is also where we got to see a full-sized capsule made out of Mega Blocks (see above).
The shop was also full of a lot of cool gear and memorabilia, but you could get even more exclusives from being a VIP pass member. If you weren’t a pass member, there were still a lot of clothing, books, POP! figures, energy swords, and so much more that you could consider getting. Not to mention in the back they also had Halo-themed games like Monopoly and Risk available!
Overall, the Halo Outpost Discovery convention was an amazing experience and one that any fan of Halo should consider visiting. To get the most out of it, you will want to get the 3-day pack or at least a 2-day VIP pack, but it will be worth every penny. I heard they are considering hosting this event again if it goes well this year and I certainly hope that they do. My one day adventure wasn’t enough and if they decide to host this again, you can bet that I will be there with my 3-day VIP passes in hand on day one!
