Beyond Comic-Con: VR obstacle courses, escape rooms and more

There was a trend at San Diego Comic-Con 2018: escape rooms, which are physical adventure games where players are tasked with solving a puzzle using hints and clues. This one had a South Park theme. A lot of experiences outside the convention center also included VR this year. 

Join us as we visit some of the best activations we could find outside the convention center at San Diego Comic-Con.

We got to spend some time exploring the different sections of the DC Universe experience. It was packed with tech, interesting food choices, an escape room and even a haunted house.

Read the full breakdown of the experience here.

The welcome party to the DC Universe experience was a unique lab that offered a few things to taste from an unlabeled tasting tube. That's safe, right?

We also got to try popcorn frozen with nitrogen. I tried the chocolate-caramel flavor.

This is how they froze the popcorn. 

I can't resist the beauty of a plasma ball.

Yes, we got to see the Batmobile from Batman Returns. You can see the excitement on CNET editor Roger Cheng's face. 

At the DC experience, we also got to enjoy a mini museum with models and props from Batman and other DC movies.

This beauty was the helmet Lynda Carter wore in the classic Wonder Woman TV show.

Mr. Freeze's gun was also on display. 

So were a few of Batarangs.

On the right we have the costume of Beast Boy (Ryan Potter) and Raven (Teagan Croft). 

Here's the suit Robin (Brenton Thwaites) will wear on the show.

Anna Diop will playing Koriand'r in Teen Titans and this is her look.

A haunted maze full of pretty creepy characters.

I initially thought this was just a prop, but it moved at the last moment to scare me out of my mind. Yes, I screamed.

I wasn't very happy when this trio decided to escort me out.

I teamed up with CNET's Erin Carson to tackle this Titan's themed escape room.

We had to look all over the room for a calendar or written clues to unlock the Teen Titans trailer.

One clue took us to the next, and we finally found the code to open a safe with the remote to play the trailer.

The Chaos Room was was my favorite part of the Harley Quinn experience at Comic-Con.

Suit up, grab a bat and bat things around. I was a fan of splashing paint around. The combination of hitting things and being free to make a mess was very cathartic.

Outside The Good Place activation, you could see how good SDCC attendees were being. 

The Amazon show went all out to promote the upcoming release of its original Jack Ryan series.

We got the VIP treatment, fill out all the liability forms to get inside and turn into an operative.

This activation also had different test like memorizing your secret identity. 

The idea was to transport you to Yemen.  Since it's always hot in San Diego -- ahem, Yemen -- we had a nice water station and even bananas.

We also tackled secret missions, like taking a selfie with a lady in a pineapple cap.

CNET video producer John Kim and engagement editor Caitlin Petrakovitz get ready to kick-start their training.

As part of the training, you had to complete tasks on a training field. These included repelling from a helicopter.

This experience was like jumping into a video game, thanks to four sensors or pucks that you wear on your hands and feet and a computer powering your Oculus Rift headset to take you to the training course.  

You also zip line down to a jeep, which was definitely fun.

An AMC experience let you explore scenes and scenarios from The Walking Dead and Fear of the Walking Dead.

If you're the type who likes to get your adrenaline pumping, you could slide down to a pit of walkers.  

Hyper X had some Street Fighter gaming going on. 

Even the trolley stops did cosplay at Comic-Con.