Always love and appreciate your analysis. Btw, we intended infinite spawning of Covenant on the beach in Long Night of Solace. Something or someone changed it.
Hey Marty, hope all's well with you mate? Appreciate the kind words too although in all fairness, none of my videos would be possible without all the amazing work you and the wider Bungie team did for so many years. Thanks for clarifying re Long Night of Solace as well, still not sure how parts of that level in particular have ended up so broken.
Its just so sad to me. Partly Marty's fault. Realizing George just sacrificed himself for 1/100th of the actual fleet. & Realizing reach will be without a doubt, lost. Did Colonel Holland get kat killed? He hailed on an unencrypted line & carter had to take it.
Being a Hungarian i remember when I first played Reach and I heard the civilians speak my language. That some places are named after Hungarian cities I giggled and laughed so much in joy. Later I learned that Reach was originally first settled by Hungarians made me love Reach even more, not to mention that Jorge is from Reach which means he could be of Hungarian descent made me love him a lot more and now he is one of my all time favourite Halo characters. So let me translate some of the Hungarian in the game and help with pronunciations a bit. The farmers: "Mi nem csináltunk semmit" ( we didn't do anything) "Nem akartok meghalni?" ( you don't wanna die) (akartok is you but in it's prulal form) Jorge: "Mit keresetek itt?!" (what are you doing here?!) quite obvious because Carter asked him to say that. "Tegnap este a barátomat és a családját, se költözés." ( last night my friend and his family no moving ( as in moving house ) let me note that this is said with a pretty bad grammar plus I cant make out what he is saying after "se költözés" Jorge: 'Azt mondtam befelé, gyerünk!" ( I said get inside, now!") It's funny that the farmer did not say that his friend and his family was kidnapped or killed or he might have but the voice actor swallowed all his words after the "se költözés" part. The girl named Sára: "Ne, menjen innen! Ne, hagyon békén! Kérem ne! Jaj ne!" (No, go away! No leave me alone! Please no! Oh no!) the "Oh no" makes me laugh with that thick and fake slavic accent, which makes no sense to have, but for some reason they always portray us with a weird slavic accent. "Még.....itt vannak." ( They.....are still here.) After she is rescued Jorge: "Engem Jorgenak hívnak." (My name is Jorge) ( A more literal translation would be: They call me Jorge) Sára: "Sára." (of course) Jorge: "Sára? Szép, határozott név." (Sára? A nice and firm name) ( unfortunately "határozott" can be translated into a lot of words in English so I chose what sounded the best for me) The part after this is funny because Sára says "Tengeri" when she should be saying Hungary though the country on Reach might actually be called Tengeri, which is once again funny because "Tengeri" means some like "Of the sea" or "From the sea" as in something that lives or comes from the sea. So now for some pronounciations. The "S" in Hungarian is pronounced as the English "Sh" as in Shovel. The "G" in Hungarian is pronounced as the "g" in garden. The "Á" is simply just say Ah. The "E" is pronounced as the "e" in elevator Hope that helps a little with Visegrád and Sopron There is also Farkas lake which means Wolf lake. Lake in Hungarian is called Tó which is pronounced as Tow. Those are the things I could remember that are in the game, I hope I helped a little and sorry for any grammatical errors, I'm sure there are a lot of them. And of course thank you for the great video.
Első és (sajnos) egyetlen halo játékom volt, és ugyanúgy mint neked, engem is meglepett kicsiként hogy magyarul beszélnek benne és azóta belém égett ez a játék, főleg a vége miatt, az nagyon belém égett. Legyél szerencsés!
or even if you just didn't see any elites up until that point with it just being grunts, jackals, and skirmishers in the valley. but yeah have the first attack be an assault out of nowhere as you exit that barn and have the characters react more alarmed and aghast.
@@BenPlaysGames I remember another RU-vidr proposing the idea of flipping the level around, having you start in the relay with an ambush and then expand out into the plains to try and rescue civilians/find missing UNSC/survey the extent of covenant presence in the area, or even to take out a small observation base and then gather intelligence to suggest an attack on Sword is likely, helping to better queue that up as the next mission. You could change the opening tone entirely to have the intelligence suggest that local militia had taken the relay offline as there have been other instances of their involvement in the region (which could even tie in to you saving some in the fields who then change their allegiance to help), perhaps in an effort to steal something valuable or gain territory. That would make the ambush so much more impactful when it seems like just a routine op, with Kat starting her repair only to then be jumped by the Zealots. Would have been a nice homage to the first two games as well, which started you in interior sections only to then open up in their second levels.
@@spartan117zmi was just about to make the same comment. Flipping the mission would make it probably the best opening level in the series in my opinion.
I actually disagree with you guys because the first mission is supposed to make you feel superior to the covenant in every way. Flipping the level will make it feel like exodus
Finally playing Reach when it came out on the PC, it made me sad for what we could have had if Bungie had remained a game developer instead of a live-service provider. When compared to the mainline trilogy, it showed that they were capable of more than just a campy sci-fi shooter with some real emotional depth.
Sad thing is while Reach may be arguably the best Bungie title (Eat your hearts out “Halo 3 is the peak of gaming” Halo “fans”) outside a few sins such as Bloom, they were sick of the franchise by the point we got to even Halo 3. I wonder what a Bungie Halo 4 would look like, though I’m not going to complain about what we got for the campaign of 343 Halo 4, even if it’s lackluster at times, because of the connection between Chief and Cortana.
yeah modern bungie is just downright depressing. I got so excited when I heard there was going to be another Marathon game. Marathon was known for its heady sci fi story telling. And then... I found out it was going to be a live service game... and an extraction shooter of all things, one of the least interesting genres. Talk about disappointing.
@@SpartanNat Halo 3 is inarguably one of the most well (if not the best) crafted arena shooters on the PvP side of things. I’ll eat my heart out to the end of days stating that, and saying fans in quotation marks in mockery is super weird.
I can elaborate on the "Latchkey" discovery a bit as it's something you may really need to delve into if you want to get the full story. Rather it's a fan theory supported with supporting lore from the Fall of Reach novel and the game that honestly ties the two up together quite nicely. In the novel Reach is the strongest military outpost Humanity has left. The original plan to end the war is to use Reach as a staging ground for Operation: Red Flag in which the UNSC would use hundreds of Spartans and specially modified ship to capturing a Covenant-Hierarch and bring the Covenant to the negotiating table. That of course is stopped by the Covenants discovery of Reach, after a space battle and the *Long-Night-of-Solace* Battlegroup searching for Forerunner tech. When Reach starts to get hot, the UNSC hopes that they can destroy the Super-Carrier without Reach being compromised. After its destruction with the *Fleet of Particular Justice* and the soon to be Arbiter arriving, they hope *Red Flag* has just arrived on their door step and commit most of the forces to the battle. When it's clear Reach and everyone there are simply being annihilated, they switch to retreating and evacuation all the resources of *Red Flag* that haven't been destroyed. Including the experimental-ship and her Captain. The Latchkey the Halsey and Cortana found from that Forerunner ship thanks to the scientist the was probably coordinates, and little did they know or perhaps they even did, that on the other side of it was going to be Halo. So why not send an the remains of Red Flag which were trying to escape anyway, to try and salvage victory from a back-breaking defeat.: Experimental Ship and Good Captain - *Keyes and the Autumn* AI with critical knowledge about the Forerunners - *Cortana and why she's so important* Hundreds of Spartans - *John-117 considering he's all that's left/aboard the Autumn (not entirely true but I digress).* If you don't believe me consider this. Both in the books and games, Cortana is patterned off of Halsey's mind. Both show traits and characteristics of acting without others authority for doing what is right, in almost all of the games. Would Halsey, someone who interferes with military operations twice in the game and more than a few times in the lore, simply allow an opportunity for humanity to regain a fighting advantage simply slip by? *Finding Halo wasn't an accident. Bringing the Covenant along for the discovery was.*
I actually think the cutscene at the start of tip of the spear was great. It might not be how future wars would be fought but it's exactly how they're fought in halo wars 1 and 2. I grew up on those games nearly as much as mainline halo games so seeing the same battles I used to control in halo wars being recreated in a cutscene linked both series together for me
With Kats death, I always thought of it as not everyone gets a 'good' death, this is war, not everyone who dies has a heroic death like Jorge, sometimes it's unfair. in a blink they're gone and that no-one, not even a spartan with all the training and state of the art armour can prevent that. Just cut down in the middle of a sentence. Another point is to show just how ruthless the Covenant are, they were pulling out all their units, about to glass the city, but a phantom spotted some Spartans retreating and decided to stop just to shoot them in the back, the city was about to get glassed, the covenant had no idea there was a bunker there, so it would be safe to assume they would die in the glassing, however the elite wanted to get that shot in.
A thing that I've heard from other people is that the reason the elite is there is because of the open coms that the team used prior, which funnily enough Kat is not happy about
I believe that it was revealed that the Elite that took out Kat was one that was somewhat "tracking" Noble Team. And as zombiekilla pointed out, it was the call risk they took on open comms that helped that Phantom dial in on Noble Team's position
Someone may have already said it in the comments, sorry for not checking that thoroughly. Something you didn't touch on about the introduction cutscene that I feel is really important is the helmet. You buy Reach, at the time or later. The first thing you do isn't launching the campaign. "Wow, I get to make my own Spartan for this campaign????!?" So you open the customisation menu, and make your own Spartan. You do the armour, the helmet, the colour, THEN you launch the campaign. And the first thing you see in the opening is a clear shot of the super-cool Spartan you made, probably KIA. That hits HARD. Love it.
From what I remember, when you start the game, there are no other helmets available to you. Yeah, you can change the color, but the helmet is the same for everybody on the first playthrough.
I wonder if the lone wolf line was also meant to be a bit of a nod to the fact that the player likely played the previous games, where chief does a whole lot of missions and makes a lot of important milestones in the war all in his own.
Reach was my first Halo campaign. Because of it, it's my favorite halo campaign. The fact that it was a prequel and featured different characters helped too, I didnt feel like I was out of the loop in the story of master chief and the main halo games. And not knowing the story of reach beforehand caused it to leave a lasting impact. My only complaint was that the first zealot cutscene wasnt the games introduction to the elites or better yet the Covenant.
for Long Night of Solace 343i broke portions of the game that caused some bugs. The infinite waves of Covenant and Marines now never appear, the Seraphs flying overhead don’t either and the AA guns don’t fire. You can also see a bug from this update in Tip of the Spear where the frigates’ cannons fire random projectiles rather than their UNSC cannon rounds
Exodus was always my favourite Reach mission. Theres just something about taking a hyper-lethal spartan and takimg away all the weapons he usually has at his disposal, and just dropping him in a suburban warzone
The target locator actually recharges as you proceed into each of the areas, for 3 times to be exact (once at AA gun, once at the COMMs array, and once when you head back to the SWORD base).
Oh yeah, it comes in handy on Legendary if you hold onto it. Just bombard the area with the Locator to try and clear as many enemies as you can before hitting the objective, and then moving on. It also helps that those checkpoints aren't exactly "kill every enemy before you can proceed" areas. All you have to do is hit the objectives and move on so the Target Locator can really help thin or scatter the enemies around those areas making it a bit easier to just rush to the objective, activate it, then rush out the area onto the next.
The ending of Long Night of Solace is my favorite. You think you've just beaten the game with the story wrapping up in a noble (pun intended) self-sacrifice, only for dozens of the thing you just spent 3 missions fighting to destroy to show up.
My first time playing the game, my friend and I both cursed as soon as we heard "slipspace rupture detected" and sat in silence as more and more super carriers arrived. It's very good at ripping the good feeling of conquering the first away from the player, and as heartbreaking as it was to realize Jorge more or less died in vain, I wouldn't change a thing.
Fun fact about emiles Helmet, if it was Anything else, emile wouldve been Repremanded for Vandalizing ONI property (yes, his EVA helmet is ONI property) but since his carving had a great intimidating factor, he was allowed to Keep it. Basically, ONI said "Youre not supposed to do that to your equipment, but since it looks badass, we'll allow it"
Thanks for this incredible work! The attention to detail combined with the sheer length of this video really showcases your dedication to the series. All Halo lore lovers are lucky to have someone like you on our side.
For some of us older players, the space battle at the start of Long Night: I really hoped it would be more developed, in the game and after. I would have loved Bungie bringing back the Space Fighter genre, exemplified by the Wing Commander series (or X-wing/TIE Fighter). It was not to be. They gave us a bit of a slog with it that added little. Still hoping for some return to the genre someday!
10:22 if you look closely, you actually notice Jorge look up a bit too when the girl says “they’re still here” and he actually hears the elite before it drops on them.
1:10:20 basically an airliner has a tail fire and plunges into the water from low altitude. Realistically there would be many survivors. Hypothetically, trying to rescue them would be putting rescue craft at risk, so the UNSC just let 500+ people drown
My friend has a massive amount or nostalgia for this game, and a few days ago he got me to play coop with him through the campaign in one night. Let’s just say that’s he’s way more enthusiastic about it than I am 😂
*48:51** I just tested it in MCC and it still worked like a charm. If you kill the Wraith enemies will keep being dropped off from the beach and former Wraith location.*
Something I enjoy about the winter contingency cutscene but becomes more evident on repeat playthroughs is around Emile's remark of "Big man forgets what he is sometimes" about Jorge. I'm sure he intends it as "He forgets he's a Spartan" but as you play the game you realize that no, "Big man" remembers just fine what he is and arguably keeps his humanity the best out of all of noble team - made a little more pointed as it comes from Emile who arguably does so the least.
These are so well made, Ive tried doing something like this but im too disorganised, you’re great at every aspect and I doubt it came easy, you just perservered
Never forget about Reach 🫡❤️ noble team and all unsc soldiers who died fighting on reach fought a war they knew they couldn’t win just buying us enough time to ensure we didn’t completely become extinct. From the point Noble 6 made the decision to stay behind and cover the ship he unknowingly gave us halo as we all knew and love (plus how ever we feel about it today) the importance of this stand I believe isn’t stated enough in the halo community. There would be no halo community without this.
Nightfall was the hardest level for my friend and I on our Lasso playthrough of the Halo games. We spent at least a week trying to complete that level, if not longer.
I never understood how bungie despite all their great achievements with ai never managed to make friendly ai at least ok at driving. How is it so horrendous? Enemy ai doesnt seem to have that problem
The "wonderfully jaunty music" in the New Alexandria elevator? Yeah, that's an old commercial jingle Marty O'Donnell wrote years before he worked for Bungie.
Six's end is also eluded to in the first mission. He gets pinned down by an Elite who attempts to stab him with a Energy Wrist blade, he holds them off for a moment. In the first mission, he's saved by Carter, but obviously in the last mission, without his team, his fate is assured.
Just beat reach on legendary yesterday. Definitely not the best halo game, especially multiplayer, but I’ll always love its campaign and the journey of noble team. Remember reach.
@@BenPlaysGames honestly, it wasn’t too bad. There where a couple hard parts like the space section on LNoS and the hunter fights. I recommended watching some legendary playthroughs on RU-vid for the tougher levels, especially PoA. Good luck and have fun!
I really liked the entire video. Pointing out small things within each levels of the campaign and giving a more in depth details within each mission. Halo reach I have put around 12k hours in the game and played the campaign countless amount of times. Seeing this video still made me learn a few things I haven't noticed yet in small details about the campaign and just makes me appreciate more my absolute favorite game. The critiques are fair and explanations of everything is very well done. I'll be watching your halo 3 video next
This game is definitely a "Best Of" for the series, as in it was designed to put you in scenarios that are similar to what you had in earlier games, but without the downsides/debuffs/issues that are associated with each of them. If the entire series could be re-worked with the game engine, physics, weapons, vehicles, and general stage moment-to-moment design that was used in Reach, that would be the best thing to ever happen to Halo. That's really why I like the idea of the Halo Reborn mod, I'm hoping things go smoothly for the team working on that.
Like you, I adore this game, and I also share your puzzlement at a few of the moments in the first half of the game being played so flat and matter-of-fact rather than being played up for effect, the reveal of the Covenant on Winter Contingency and the destruction of the spire in Tip of the Spear being my go-to examples. In the latter case, something dramatic happens right afterwards, but it's still like, clearly this was a creative choice to have everyone be professionals and affect that kind of Homeworld everyone-is-cool-and-calm thing, which then shatters when things go south. But when the game really lets the emotion go and plays things up, well, we have some of the most iconic moments in the franchise. "Tell 'em to make it count." Also I have to say, the attention to detail proves Bungie's, and your, love and dedication to the work you both produced here. Things like making a point out of Kat's legendarily infamous and ridiculous driving, how she's somehow worse at it than the Halo 2 and 3 marines, bring back nostalgic memories as well as establish for viewers yet again why your insights are so dead-on. You've pointed out many details about the levels that, despite having played the game for over a decade off and on, I never noticed. Also, the charming Britishisms were charming and British, that's all I got tbh.
My only complaint with what I consider to be the perfect Halo game is that they could not do some of the insurrectionist level at the beginning Bungie had blocked out concept art and unused characters (Rosalinda-A334). I really think if Reach *had* started with Noble combatting insurrectionists, the reveal of and subsequent conquest by the Covenant would have hit a lot harder.
I set up macros on my mmo mouse for all the different pieces of equipment in Halo Infinite. You're right, the grappling is by far the best, but on legendary the other ones can come in handy for sure. It's also very cool to use all the different equipment in concert.
Havent played halo since shorty after the release of reach. Recently got snother Xbox and reach and infinite. Man they bring me back ESPECIALLY reach. An incredible game
Jorge: Born on Reach & Heart of Gold, Died a Noble Death above the Planet Reach. Kat: Tech Expert & Brains of Noble, Died via Headshot after Glassing deactivated her shields (also her missing the elevator button causing her to fall behind) Jun: Sniper (known for keeping their distance from the enemy), survives guarding Halsey from the enemy. Carter: Leader of Noble Team…dies going down with the Ship. Emile: Specializes in Close Combat (Knife), stabbed in the back. Noble Six: The Lone Wolf Newbie, last to die…as a Lone Wolf.
I disagree on the battle in Tip of the Spear. I think the best thing they could have done would be to pay homage to the tank battle on The Ark, or the two scarabs on The Covenant. Reach’s first Vidoc went on and on about how with the improved engine they were capable of putting more AI in encounters than ever before, allowing for giant battles, but I feel Reach never made use of that, and it was already lacking a good tank mission.
After doing some thinking I really like this video and the way it looks back honestly on Halo:Reach's campaign. The only thing I think differently on is The package. The levels up until then have been overwhelming defeat after defeat and at that point we're basically grasping at straws. The package is the final nail in the coffin. That mission's slower and draws home the fact that there is no salvaging it, nothing on the planet matters except getting this one discovery off the planet. The tank section lets you see the destruction on the ground while New Alexandria shows you it on a broad scale. The part within sword base shows you what is left after the covenant reaches you and shows you what will be your ultimate fate. However the last portion of the mission cements that it will be fine as long as you can finish this last mission. It's a similar thing to Kat's question at the end of New Alexandria. "I know we're losing, I want to know if we've lost" I think she was referring to the war as a whole. More along the lines of "If reach falls does the rest of humanity?" This mission ends with reassurance in the barest sense that "Even when we fall. Humanity will not be lost." However that's just my take.
Although i read the books first so I know the fall of reach went a little differently than the game portrayed it, but I truly loved it. I went in already knowing it was a completely loosing fight no matter what, I was blown away at the story they created.
It should be noted that most of the "Marines" in Reach are actually UNSC Army troopers. There are some Marines in the game, notably toward the end (the soldiers accompanying Keyes on his Pelican when he retrieves the Cortana fragment from Six are Marines) but through most of the game they're army.
In Tip of the Spear, after giving it some thought, it starts to make sense why they resorted to a massed charge. The surrounding areas around the invasion force were inaccesible by air, were situated in the middle of a plateau surrounded by sheer mountains with very few if not only one entrance into the area. Any air vehicles would be shot down flying over the mountains, stealth teams wouldnt be able to scale them quick enough to avoid detection while maintaining a force large enough to detroy the entire base, and sneaking to the base was out of the question due to superior covenant scanning tech. With all that in mind, in order to achieve a fast and hard strike, they would be forced to perform a massed charge from the only viable entrance, which is why we see the battle stretch across the plateau at the start of the mission. Our force was literally the tip of the spear followed by the rest of the unsc forces. And finally we see just how desperate the unsc is with the closeup of a mongoose alongside the warthogs and scorpions. They pulled together everthing they could at the last possible moment, which means they didnt have time to pull together for a better attack plan.
My buddy and I spent far, FAR too much time playing Halo 3 and Reach, and we had a system for the warthog sections: he wasbthe better driver, and I could snipe with the Gauss cannon. When we got to the mission where Kat tries to drive, we gave her a chance...for all of 10 seconds. Then we hopped out and swapped to him driving and her in the passenger seat. Playing that mission solo, I will do the driving. She is not allowed to operate vehicles.
I know IRL we live on Earth and are meant to care about Earth the most, but I really feel a connection to the planet and people of Reach in this game. Such a great story, characters. Very bleak. Earth had plot armour, Reach had to go it alone.
I got MCC on PC and I just started on the journey of playing halo again. I played Halo 2 and Halo 3 because my friend had a 360 but I never finished the games all the way through. I finished Reach last night and it such a good game and story. Maybe if I can get good enough I’ll have to beat it on Legendary lol
Idk if this has been said, but I love the overall irony of the story/timeline. You’ve played as a sole Spartan-II. You’ve single-handedly defeated the covenant multiple times before. Why should Reach be different? Mission 1: You’re a TEAM of Spartans. You’re at the home of the UNSC. This is home to the Spartan program, ONI, and weapons research. What could possibly stand in your way? Mission 2: oh snap, covenant is on Reach? Roger that! We have free range to engage and drop targets in sight! Mission 3: They’re attacking sword base?! They must have a death wish. We successfully push back the attack, they’re on the back foot! Mission 4: Small outposts with covenant soldiers? This is suspicious. Let’s investigate. There’s an invading strike force?! Negative. Jun says this is an invading army, and I agree. Mission 5: Welcome to Reach! We go head first against this invading force, we have to disable the anti air crafts to even the odds, plus, that spire has to go down! MAC rounds authorized! HOORAHH! *Grafton gets destroyed* WTF. HUGE SETBACK. FALL BACK. LETS RE-EVALUATE OUR APPROACH. Mission 6: We have to improvise. Get into a top secret Sabre aircraft, improvise a bomb, get it into the Super Carrier. This MUST work. Has to. Super carrier destroyed! Jorge gave his life for this planet. But we have secured Reach. All is well. *Slipspace rupture detected* *Slipspace rupture detected* *Slipspace rupture detected* Oh no. Mission 7: We’ve started to evacuate civilians off planet. We’re losing cities. Evac shuttles. Covenant forces are ground side and wasting civilians. We’re scattered. But we will save as many as we can. Mission 8: New Alexandria, home of millions, is completely destroyed. We’re circling for any remaining survivors, supporting our remaining forces, and regrouping all those we can find. We will not go quietly into the night. We lose Kat. Over nothing. Mission 9: Why are we being sent back to Sword base? Covenant have completely taken this area over. Torch and burn? Why not just blow it up from a minimum safe distance? We have our orders. We find Halsey is holed in an underground lab. She’s found something. She seems hopeful, in spite of our situation. There must be a silver lining. Mission 10: This AI has to get to the Pillar of Autumn, it’s going to help us win this war. Reach is lost. We must all evac, or die trying. Carter gives his life for us to make it past a scarab. Emile dies with a sword to the gut. We deliver Cortana. But the Autumn needs to get off planet. We have the gun. Mission 11: Carter: “we’re a team. That lone wolf stuff, stays behind.” Indeed, it does. We stay behind, but we ensured safe passage to thousands of civilians, we assisted dozens of fireteams, we took down a super carrier, and we proved to the Covenant, “You may have taken Reach. But you aren’t winning this war. Over my dead body.” I absolutely loved the feeling of despair that the UNSC/Noble team faces, but they stick to their guns to the very end. The dread from losing the Grafton, Jorge, the Savannah, Kat, civilians, sword base, an ONI building, and a city, just adds up to a Hail Mary type of play. Reach went out, but it fought back as hard as it could. Halo: Reach is peak halo, and I’m dying on this hill.
What you mentioned about the passing of time and mentioning exactly how long had passed. Destiny 2 actually did during the Red war campaign right after the fall of the traveler
I walkways used The Target Locator in Sword Base for everything BUT those two wraiths. I just hijack the wraiths and use the DMR and then I drive to the anti air cannon to the east and use it to trivialize that entire section with the elite general and rangers.
That's what they should have done with the first series of the TV show. Make it about Noble Team and the fall of Reach with a few brief glimpses of Master Chief to get people excited, then launch into the trilogy from series two.
Just a fan idea, its Halo we never had air superiority. The convoy entrance on Spear to that fight on a open field. Id prefer to drop some orbital rim debris on the camp\covenant AA (anti-air) guns. Drop some ODST by the pretty secluded AA guns. Followed by shortswords (UNSC jets) almost AA gun proof pick off investigative cov aircrafts, Then the convoy, gauss 2nd\3rd line for banshees, rockethogs 7\8th for straglers, and misc vehicles where needed. As the best I would have thought. The AA woulda wiped scorpions and cargo pelicans. Side note the point blank MAC blast sounds outrageous, but the freighter woulda been in view in over 360° in space. They just had gravity and 160° of land coverage.
commenting while listening, I think the Covenant were well seen, "ruthless and bloodthirsty", true, but. Noble 1's dismissive winter contingency alert. Probably seen as a scout crew and leave, "Welp". Halsey acknowledging the high class zealots priority a day later and clear taste of vengeance. They probably sensed a colony first, see high tech intel, 6\7 super weapons RIP Tomm, lost 2 good comrades and thought "somethings important here." Sure the covenant are full of jakcasses who only wanna find out what their god is. Though there are specialist and intelligence within their own who are still "ruthless and bloodthirsty".
I think Exodus is actually excellent for the subtle worldbuilding it does with the Covenant. Sure, we don't get much direct insight into how they work, but the details you point out gives a lot of insight into how they work. The suicide Grunts suggest both the Covenant's fanaticism and how disposably they treat their underclass- you can picture Grunts indoctrinated from an early age into the Covenant's religion only to be thrown away totally thoughtlessly by a ruling class that doesn't care about them at all. It honestly made me pity the Grunts a lot- it's clearly horrific for them to be the cannon fodder of a totalitarian theocracy. Similarly, the use of the Brutes here is excellent- the tear with which they're treated by the humans suggests they have a reputation for crimes against civilians even greater than the other races of the Covenant, and the fact that the Covenant is sending them into an area they've mostly secured makes them seem almost like death squads, sort of like the Nazi Einsatzgruppen- their mission is to cleanse captured areas of humans and they go about it with glee. Exodus is honestly the most disturbing and scary mission in the series for me because it does the most to show what the Covenant's genocidal goal against humanity actually means- the sight of Brutes outright choking defenseless civilians to death and Grunts whose entire lives are just building up to the moment they uselessly get shot in the head on an attempted suicide run is a much more intimate way of showing how awful the Covenant really is than just watching them glass a planet from afar.
6:35 that has *always* bothered me in a way I could never wrap my head around until I considered the following- the level is split into two distinct parts, outside shooting, and shooting within the relay, and when they're inside, the cutscene that plays revealing the plasma damage, data module, survivor, and then the zealots; it feels like *that's* supposed to be the "Oh SHIT" moment of the covenant being on Reach. The gameplay segment afterwards has you quite literally flushing them out. All this to say, to me it feels like the build-up to the reveal of the covenant felt like this sequence of events was the initial idea- You investigate the distress beacon, talk with the locals who didn't see but *heard* what happened last night, find tortured and murdered infantry, then proceed inside the facility. There's an additional marine who's not going to make it, more signs of plasma damage when- "I've got a live one over here!" Noble team tries to calm her down to ask what the hell happened, then she tells them in Hungarian that they're still here- bam, Zealots and a Field Marshall drop in. You and Jorge go in to flush them out, you get two of the zealots, and the leader gets by. Kat and maybe Emile would stay behind at the relay while Carter linked up with you and Jorge after picking up local marine chatter requesting assitance as the covenant are revealed to be operating in this area while the relay is offline and no comms to command can get through. My point being- it feels like the mission structure was literally ***flipped*** and trimmed to not appear so obviously flipped.
