Assault on the Control Room (Level)

Assault on the Control Room is the fifth and longest campaign level in Halo: Combat Evolved.

The level follows John-117 on a mission to reach the Control Room of Installation 04. The Covenant are deployed in greater numbers and in a superior force than previously seen in the game, using Wraiths, Ghosts and Banshees.

The majority of the level is set in a snowy, outdoor environment. Although the level seems to be natural, there are networks of tunnels and elevators built by the Forerunners that connect sections of the constructs into the Control Room.

The level is known for its variety and well roundness. It allows the player to use every weapon and vehicle in the game (except the Shotgun and Fuel Rod Gun), and is the only stage in Halo: Combat Evolved that allows Master Chief to use a Scorpion tank. Although the level is famous for its snowy outdoor battles and large bridges, there are also a variety of indoor skirmishes, including standoffs with Zealot Elites. There is a mix of vehicle, long-range, and close quarters combat. The player is assisted by a handful of Marines after their Pelican crashes, but the level is mostly a solitary experience.

At the end, Master Chief reaches the control room and Cortana interfaces with the computers. She is horrified to learn that Halo houses the Flood, and the weapons cache that Captain Keyes is looking for will lead him straight to the parasite. Cortana elects to stay behind, while Chief rushes off to find Captain Jacob Keyes.

Allies

 * Marines
 * Fire Team Zulu
 * Echo 419
 * AI
 * Cortana

Weapons

 * Pistol
 * Assault Rifle
 * Sniper Rifle
 * Rocket Launcher
 * Fragmentation Grenade
 * Plasma Pistol
 * Plasma Rifle
 * Needler
 * Plasma Grenade
 * Shade
 * Energy Sword (non-usable)

Vehicles

 * Warthog
 * Scorpion Tank
 * Ghost
 * Banshee
 * Pelican (non-drivable)
 * Spirit (non-drivable)
 * Wraith (drivable with mod only)

Equipment

 * Active Camouflage
 * Health Pack

Part 01: I Would Have Been Your Daddy...
{Cutscene}

{Fade in to the interior of a large Forerunner dome, pan down to a long shaft, a Grunt paces on an open platform}

{Close up of the walking Grunt, other Grunts around him are asleep, he stops as he hears jets, he sniffs the air, and yelps as a Pelican rises up from the chasm in front of him, screams and runs towards the door}

{Gameplay}

Foehammer (O.S.): "This is as far as I can go."

Cortana (O.S.): "Roger that, we can find our way to the Control Center from here."

Foehammer (O.S.): "Good luck, Foehammer out."

{the Pelican hovers at the edge of the platform, the Chief gets out}

{Once you clear the first of the circular rooms}

Cortana: "The Covenant presence here is stronger than I anticipated. They seem to have the entire region secured."

{Once you reach the first bridge}

Cortana: "Interesting... the weather patterns here seem natural, not artificial. I wonder if the ring's environment systems are malfunctioning... or if the designers wanted the installation to have inclement weather. "

''{a Pelican Dropship flies over the bridge. The Covenant forces on the bridge open fire}''

Unnamed Sergeant (O.S.): "This is Fire Team Zulu requesting immediate assistance from any UNSC forces. Does anyone copy?"

Cortana: "I didn't think there were any human forces left on this part of the ring.... (O.S.) Cortana to Fire Team Zulu, I read you. Fire Team Zulu, this is Cortana. Hold position. We're on our way."

Unnamed Sergeant (O.S.): "Roger that. Make it quick."

{The Pelican descends to an area below the bridge}

{When you reach the bottom of the chasm and meet up with Fire Team Zulu}

{''A large number of Covenant have three Marines with an overturned Warthog cornered. A Covenant Wraith tank fires plasma mortars as Shade turrets and Ghost vehicles strafe the Marines.''}

Marine 1: "Glad you could join the party, Sir!"

or

Marine 1: "Master Chief, Sir! Good to see you!"

{When you reach the second group of Marines fighting near the Scorpion and clear the area}

Marine 1: "Enemy forces eliminated. The area's secure."

Marine 2: "Aw, crap. Let's get the hell outta here, man! Somebody call the dropship!"

Unnamed Sergeant: "You stow that garbage right now, mister. You're a Marine, so act like it, dammit! We've got a job to do here."

or

Marine 3: "Shut up! Show some backbone, amigo!"

Cortana (O.S.): "Negative, team. No evac available at this time. But the Chief and I could use some assistance."

Sergeant: "Okay, Marines. Time to pay back the Chief for pulling your sorry tails out of the fire. Prepare to move out!"

(As you reach the second large open area, where one Wraith hovers on the ice and another lurks on top of the cliff at the far end of the canyon)

Marine 1: "Bloody hell! Enemy forces have armour support...it's time to earn our pay."

or

Marine 1: "Enemy mortar tanks sighted at my position...it's gonna be a busy day."

or

Marine:"Dang, they got armour support! Watch out for those tanks!"

Cortana:"The Covenant placed their tanks to defend the entrance to the tunnel."

{When you've destroyed the first Covenant tank.}

Marine 1:"Looks like that armour wasn't so tough after all! Let's mop up the rest of 'em!"

{When you reach the large interior cavern and engage the Covenant inside.}

Marine 1:"More Covenant sighted!"

Marine 2:"Man, these guys are like cockroaches!"

{As you reach the long rock tunnel leading up from the cave system back to the surface.}

Part 02: Rolling Thunder
{As you clear the area containing the fourth Wraith of the level.}

Unnamed Sergeant: "You monkeys almost look like golden boys!"

Marine 1: "Damn straight!"

{As you come across two Hunters chasing after a squad of Marines, where the path switches back and goes down to a frozen river leading to the cave to the last area of the second chasm.}

Cortana: "I thought the Covenant had eliminated all the Marine forces in this area."

{As a Covenant dropship appears from behind the cliffs and drops in on the ridge you just descended from.}

Marine 3: "Anybody else hear that? Aw, man...Covenant dropship inbound, take cover!"

Marine 2: "The Covenant are dropping in behind us! We're trapped!"

{As you near the switchbacks leading up to final area of the second chasm.}

Marine 3: "Whoa, Sir! The Covenant are dug up in those rocks! They've got us pinned down here!"

Cortana: {to Master Chief} "We need to get up this ridge." (O.S.) "Marines, hold your positions. We'll handle those guns." (to Master Chief) "Master Chief, we should scale the ridge and get below those stationary guns."

Marine 3: "I'm in no hurry for a heroic charge on those guns, Cortana. Holding position."

{As you reach the door leading into the cliff face, eliminating all enemies.}

Cortana: "Cortana to Fire Team Zulu. I've sent a distress signal tagged with your current position. Hold your position and await evac. The Master Chief and I are going to continue on ahead."

Unnamed Sergeant or Marine 1: "That's affirmative! Fire Team Zulu out!"

or

Marine 1: "Affirmative! Okay people, evac bird's on the way!"

{As you clear the final area before the third chasm.}

Cortana: "Resistance appears to be increasing. We must be close to the Control Center."

{As you reach the door to the third chasm.}

03: If I Had a Super Weapon...
Cortana: "Analyzing. This must be the Control Room. Subtle. The entrance to the Control Room is at the top of that pyramid structure. Bring me up there and I should be able to get us inside."

{As you reach the bottom of the pyramid structure.}

Cortana: "The entrance to the Control Room is at the top of the pyramid. Let's get up there. We should commandeer one of those Ghosts, we're going to need the firepower."

{As you open the door to the last leg of hallway leading to the Control Center.}

Cortana: "Scanning. Covenant forces in the vicinity have been eliminated. Let's move on to Halo's Control Room."

{As you open the door for the final cinematic}

{Cutscene}

Cortana: "This is it. Halo's Control Center."

{''The Master Chief walks through the door and to a control panel at the centre of a circular glass walkway projecting into the middle of a massive open chamber. A holographic map of Halo surrounds a smaller holographic map of the system, which shows Basis and Threshold, and Halo itself between them. Also noticeable are the red areas shown on the lands of Halo, possible indicating where the Flood is currently spreading.''}

Cortana: "That terminal, try there."

{''The Master Chief unplugs Cortana's chip from his helmet and places her chip in the terminal. A moment later, she appears above the display. Data streams out from her in all directions. Her eyes are now red.''}

Master Chief: "You all right?"

Cortana: (smiles) "Never been better! You can't imagine the wealth of information. Knowledge...so much...so fast. It's glorious!"

Master Chief: "So...what sort of weapon is it?"

Cortana: "What are you talking about?"

Master Chief: "Let's stay focused. Halo...how do we use it against the Covenant?"

Cortana: "This ring isn't a cudgel you barbarian, it's something else...something much more important. The Covenant were right...this ring...it's Forerunner. Give me a second to access...yes, the Forerunners built this place, what they called a "fortress world," in order to...no, that can't be. Oh, those Covenant fools...they must have known, there must have been signs!"

Master Chief: "Slow down. You're losing me."

Cortana: "The Covenant found something, buried in this ring, something horrible, and now...they're afraid."

Master Chief: "Something buried? Where?"

Cortana: (looks horrified) "The Captain, we've got to stop the Captain!"

Master Chief: "Keyes? What do we—"

Cortana: "The weapons cache he's looking for. It's not really— We can't let him get inside!"

Master Chief: "I don't understand."

Cortana: "There's no time. Get out of here, find Keyes, stop him! Before it's too late!"

{The Master Chief turns and runs from the Control Room}

General Walkthrough
Now you completed the easy part of the game, we can now move on to the longest part of the game. In the beginning of the level, Foehammer will drop you off by the platform to the entrance of the control room, you will see Grunts running into the pressure doors to call upon their big brothers. Now you have two options. 1) Board the Shade Turret and gun everything down. 2) Wait for the door to reopen and chuck a grenade over the oncoming crowds. The first option is a little bit risky, because if you're playing on higher difficulties, the Grunts will always get on the turrets before you can even get close. The second option is an immediate tactic that saves a lot of time, although the Elites may survive the blast. Swap a Plasma Pistol for the Assault Rifle for your next encounter. Venture into the short passage, the next room is litter with Grunts, but before that, you will have to take out the Elite. Use a charge shot to disable the Elites shield and gun him down with a pistol headshot. Fairly easy, but the minor elite may have spotted you, and he will began throwing ridiculous amount of plasma grenades at you, lob a grenade at him to disperse the oncoming hoard of Grunts. Journey your way across the room, BUT DON'T get near the doors, because a hail of plasma by Jackals and Grunts will put you down. Lob another grenade (plasma or frag grenades, it doesn't really matter) at them, and proceed onto the bridge. The Bridge is one of the toughest parts in the level, with luck, you will loose one or two health bars; If you're one of the ones who always get unlucky in Halo, you might lose all your health. Melee the Grunts with ease, do it swiftly, because they will wake up later on (thanks to Foehammer's Pelican). Swap for the Needler over by the dead bodies. Again you now have two options. 1) Walk down the second level and blast the Major Elite or 2) continue your way across the bridge. The first tactic would be slow, but guarantee a safer route throughout your journey. The second tactic is quick, but will easily lead you into a situation where you find Grunts and Jackals surrounding you. All in all, you should succeed clearing your path with only pistol shots. Now I'll tell you what the Needler is for. Once you are at the end of the bridge, a Gold Elite with a Plasma Sword will come running at you. These are absolute monsters, with grunts on their tails. Back away and fire rapidly at the Elite, stop and you're a dead man. There is an easier way though, throw a grenade to soften up the crowd, and take on the Zealot. Anyway, after a lot of killing, walk into the next room. This room is fairly easy to complete, with a few Stealth Elites and Grunts, take them out with pistol shots and swap for the Assault Rifle and health pack lying on the floor. Take them down to the basement. Now at the basement, you will encounter some sleeping grunts, melee them with ease, and proceed. You will soon find an Elite wandering aimlessly back and forth, melee him in the back or just chuck a grenade at him casually, this will certainly wake everyone up, even if you did the job stealthy, because someone on the other side will probably see you. Gun everyone down nice and clean and proceed into the snowy grounds. The snowy playground is quite a nasty place with Shade Turrets, far ahead; you will see Fire Team Zulu fighting with Jackals and an Elite. The Elite will start running towards the Ghosts parked underneath a small cliff top with a shade turret on it. Use your pistol to gun down the Grunt by your side and the Grunt on the cliff top, and proceed to the Elites. Beware of the Wraith's fire though; they're dead accurate at overturning vehicles. After you put down the Elite, Swap for the Sniper Rifle or the Rocket launcher (Either one of them won't matter, you'll probably run out of ammo before you know it, you can swap the two weapons, which isn't recommended). And get onto the Warthog; drive it to the shady areas to pick up the Marines (in order to dodge the Wraith). Dash Forward, you don't need to wait for the gunner (if you have one) to put down the aliens. You will eventually run into a crashed Pelican and meet the only Scorpion that's parked with Marines. Board the Scorpion and proceed. Again you have two choices (1) Take the route on your left or 2) Kill the Ghosts on your right and proceed through the tunnel. Both routes lead to the next area, but the first option would lead you into a state where you will be surrounded by Ghosts and Elites. The second option however, would lead you into a confrontation with a Wraith Tank. Anyway, clear the area and you will see a way down to your next destination. You can choose to eliminate the Wraith tank on top of the hills, but careful, a Banshee will come and fire plasma at you. Just keep your head down and go into the tunnel. Drive your way through with confidence, you wouldn't encounter any Grunts or Elites on your way but once you reach the end and see two Elites (Major or Minor, it doesn't really matters...) stop right there, you wouldn't want to alarm them of your presence. Wait till they were just a step from each other, and fire a Scorpion shell to finish them off. Drive your way into the vicinity. Now be careful, because this is always where people lose their health and steps, and their marines. The bridge is littered with Jackals, two Shade turrets could be a small threat on lower difficulties, but you would want to take them out beforehand on Legendary. A funny way of preventing the Grunts on boarding the shade is simply blast the turret into the pit. Now for the Jackals. On lower difficulties, they're just aliens walking with toy guns, but on Heroic or Legendary, they're devastating beasts. Before you got onto the bridge, blast the first group of Jackals. Continue on and you'll see the next pack of them. These guys hold charge bolts and can take down your shield with ease, coupled by a few blast from the Hunter at the end of the bridge. Put them down, and stop at the rear end of the bridge.

Legendary Walkthrough
After you finished Silent Cartographer, you'll have a cutscene. After you get off, immediately chuck two grenades at the doors, as two Elites will come charging through, one a Major and the other a Minor. The grenades should extremely weaken the Major so use around half a magazine in a single burst to take it out before its shields can recharge. If you timed the grenades right, the Minor should be dead. If you receive a checkpoint too late after the doors have already begun opening, you might want to restart; this part is easily the hardest section in the whole level. After the door closes and the Elites have been dealt with, get into the Shade and simply hold down the fire button at the door. Grunts will fall at your onslaught without any resistance. Take heed-be careful not too let a stray Grunt escape for two reasons. First, it will distract your fire, allowing other Grunts to surround you. More importantly, it will stick you, given the opportunity. By now, after clearing that part, you should have lost about one or two health bars. Proceed through the corridor and clear out the next room(s) by use of surprise/firepower. A hint to ponder: always kill silently until seen-the Major Elites can be extremely resilient, taking even a direct rocket in Legendary. Hey though, you wanted it! You might want to keep the Pistol, as it will help kill Grunts easily, and you will want it on the bridge. Ok, once you arrive at the bridge, you should quietly melee the Grunts to death. Hurry! You will want to kill the Major Elite on the second level of the bridge. Even if no one sees you, Fire Team Zulu will arrive and wake everyone up. Try to kill the Major Elite, then man the Shade (preferably the one on the left-you get a better angle) and gun the Banshee down. Alternatively, you could use the Assault Rifle to destroy it. By now, you should also face the Jackals. Either use the Pistol that I told you to keep, or get a plasma pistol and repeatedly overcharge it into the Jackals, depleting their shields. Do not charge; in three seconds is all it takes to kill you by a group of Jackals. After you clear the bridge (it might take a long while-don't get frustrate!), the door should open and a group of Grunts, Jackals, and a Zealot should charge in. Halt! You can do this part of the level two ways, both of which will let you get past. First, simply spam the plasma grenade/fragmentation grenades at the entrance. All the enemies should be eliminated in no time. Alternatively, you could kill the Jackals / Grunts with your Assault Rifle, and then challenge yourself by killing the Zealot with only the Assault Rifle. This is often considered a difficult task, as previous experience from the Truth and Reconciliation has shown. This time, you do not have the overpowered Sniper Rifle, complicating your task. Simply dodge/jump (and time those!) and you should emerge victorious. You could take advantage of its AI by simply going far enough (It won't notice you or move). Simply go through the corridor, and you're in the next room! Take out the enemies (Grunts and Jackals) either through stealth or power-it doesn't matter. Then, you will see a Zealot with a plasma rifle. These are one of the hardest enemies in the game. Quickly take it out with a combination of the Assault Rifle and grenades (Plasma Pistols also work in place of the grenades-just use the overcharge to bring down its shield). The rest of the room, which consists of one or two Elites, should be dealt with easily enough. Proceed to the next room after reloading and stocking up on weapons. After fighting through a couple more rooms filled with Covenant, you should emerge onto the outside. First, you should be able to take the Grunt in the Shade with little problem, as he does not know you're there. Then, you can do one of two things. 1) You can gun down the Ghost from your Shade. However, this causes the possibility that you will get hit by the Wraith which is bombarding Fire Team Zulu, or your marines will all die before you arrive at their position. You do want a marine gunner to help take out the Wraith. 2) Alternatively, you could run towards the marines' position and, with cover from the trees, avoid the Wraith while dealing with the Ghost and infantry. This will probably result in a lot of health normally, so get in the gunner seat of the Warthog and gun the Ghost down. 3) Simply grab the rocket and fire at the Wraith, Ghost, and infantry to simply clear the area. You may want to conserve the Rocket Launcher for later, however. In my opinion, you should do a combination of the above. If you adore the sniper, go ahead and grab it (while you're at it, snipe the Shade turret on top of the massive rock-it is sort of hard to reach otherwise). Get a Gunner and Passenger for your Warthog and drive on. A hint on taking down the Wraith: be careful of the ice. Once you're on the ice, you will stay in that direction and it may make you skid, making you an easy target. Remain on the ice, circle the Wraith, and the gunner will destroy the Wraith with ease.

Easy/Normal Walkthrough (With easy way to obtain the Early Banshee)
Foehammer drops you off. This time, you're on your own. Run to the Shade she drops you beside, because those Grunts running aren't just going to cower in the hall. They're bringing their leader Elite to attack you. So, once they come back, shoot the Elite first, the turret should cut through his shields easily. Kill the Grunts that are on the platform, and beat down any in the halls. Pick up some Plasma Grenades, and move on.

Once you go through the hall, there will be an Elite marching back and forth. It will be almost impossible to assassinate him. Almost. Wait for him to walk next to the door's corner, run up, and whack him. If you do it too fast, he'll spot you. If you do it too slow, you'll find yourself face-to-face with him. So do it carefully. If you've succeeded, carefully creep towards the centre chasm, stay out of sight, and stick the Elite. Before it goes off, shoot as many of the Grunts with your Pistol as you can. If you didn't succeed in quietly killing the first Elite, just do a frontal assault. Once most of them are dead, a group of Jackals will come in. Seeing as you have UNSC weapons, just whack them.

When they're dead, go through the second hall. If you forgot which door you came through and which one you have to go through, check the arrows. On this level, they will point you on your way. Remember, in Two Betrayals, they will point in the opposite direction.

You're on the bridge. Look to your left and right, there should be some sleeping Grunts. Whack them, but stay out of sight. When a Pelican shows up, some Jackals will fire on them. Assassinate them as well. Going back to the door, look down to the lower level. If the Elite has his back turned to you, carefully walk down the ramp and melee him in the back. If not, stick him.

Stay on the lower level, walk through to the end, kill as many sleeping Grunts as you can.Go back up the ramp to the first level, and kill the Jackals. When you reach the end, shoot the Grunt (sometimes 2) that occupy the Shade(s) with your Pistol. If you see the tall door opening, it means an Elite Zealot has arrived. The easiest way to kill him is to stick him. If he dodges it (he usually does, as higher-ranking Elites can leap around at physically extraordinary lengths) he will most likely jump off the bridge and die. If you stick him, keep your distance, because he has a powerful Energy Sword. When he's dead, go through the door.

When you enter the room, look to your left. There are some Grunts, and an invisible Elite that you won't see at first. Throw a few frags, they will kill them, and the Elite doesn't have shields. Finish off the survivors. There will be Grunts on platforms that will run back and forth. Crouch-jump onto a container, and then to the platform. Kill the Grunt on it, and walk to the center of the room. Staying on the platform, you will get a good view of the enemies below you and on the other three platforms. For the enemies farther away, use your Pistol. For the ones closer to you, use the Assault Rifle. If you killed all of them, jump down, and you'll find a group of dead Marines and supplies nearby (were they prisoners?). Pick up some ammo, and finish off the enemies you couldn't kill. Go through the next hall, and up a short ramp. To your left will be an elevator lift. Walk onto it and activate the control mechanism.

When you reach the bottom, walk through the door. There will be sleeping Grunts to your left, right, and in front of you. Whack them all to death, and then turn left. There will be more, and kill them in the same way. Walk ahead, hide behind the weird containers. There will be an Elite walking away from you. Run up to him and whack him in the back. Keep going slowly, and there will be a Grunt on patrol, not seeing you. Beat him down, and there will be 2-4 sleeping Grunts on nearby elevations. Kill them all, and sometimes you can beat another one down. Now the room will have a few surviving Grunts, and Jackals. When you're absolutely sure you can't do any more quiet killing, aim at a Grunt (preferably a veteran), and shoot him in the head.

Now everyone knows you're here. Deal with the Jackals first, since they can drain your shields with a single shot. Use your AR either by looking for openings so you can shoot them, or whacking them. When they're dead, shoot down the Grunts, and walk through the door.

Now, you will have Marines with you for the first time this level. Shoot the Grunt in the Shade to your left (it always takes two shots), and take over. Aim the Shade at the other turret on the hill, and shoot at it. This gun is rather inaccurate, but I find I make more hits by aligning the top of the reticules circle with the enemy. When the Grunt dies, the Ghost will most likely turn its attention towards you. It shouldn't be too hard to destroy it with your turret. If there's some infantry that's noticed you, hose them with your turret. Get out, and join the Marines. You have a Wraith to deal with.

Pick up a Sniper Rifle and a Rocket Launcher (this is part of the Early Banshee trick), and see if you could pick off some distant enemies lurking near the sloping ridge before the short overhang. When you're done, jump in the 'Hog. Get some Marines on it, and charge the Wraith. This will be tricky, since some of the ground is ice, and unlike the Wraith, the Warthog does not hover, meaning traction will suck. But doing the best you can, keep the Warthog close to the tank's rear, where your gunner will have an accurate shot, and it can't shoot you. When it's exploded, drive towards the overhang, splatter the two Jackals there, and join the other Marines.

Ooh, a tank! Ditch the hog and take that, and killing the enemies should be a blast. The machinegun on it is amazingly inaccurate in this game (did anyone catch the “amazingly” sarcasm?), some shots even going as far as about seventy degrees off what you’re aiming at, which is sad, so I just use the main cannon. But I would advise you against it on three occasions. One, if there’s only a Grunt or Jackal alive. Two, if you or Marines are engaging them in close proximity. And three, if there are enemy vehicles inbound that would pose a bigger threat. If any of those are the case, let your Marines take care of the infantry, and wait patiently for your next kill.

I’d rather go down the bend rather than use the cave, since it gives you’re a better angle to tackle the first (well, technically second) Wraith. Blow up a few Ghosts as well, and shoot the Grunt gunner on the ridge off his turret. Leave your tank and walk up the ridge.

Making sure your Marines cover you so enemies don’t annoy you when you’re using your Sniper Rifle (which will make you zoom out), look at the platform where the future Pulse Generator is (for those who haven’t played Two Betrayals, look back to the bend, and look up) and zoom to 10x (8x for PC). You will see the Banshee’s top, which is a blur of magenta. Aim your Sniper Rifle at it, and without adjusting your aim, switch to your Rocket Launcher and fire.

If it impacts on the platform or wall, aim a little higher or lower (depending on where you missed), and try again. If you succeeded, good for you. The Banshee will most likely not fall, but will merely flip. This is all you need to do for now, as it will prevent the Elite from using it. Eliminate the remainder of the enemies, including the Wraith on the hill above the cave, and the Hunters in the cave.

Now, drive your tank to the right of the cave, where you will see a big boulder and a few supplies including ActivCam. Push the tank as close as you can to where the left side of the boulder meets the wall, and jump onto the tank. Crouch-jump onto the steep edge, and then on top of the boulder. Aim towards the second irregular steep edge, and crouch-jump. This may take a few tries, but you will make it up the hill where the remains of the Wraith is. Walk to the center, and you will have a straight and easy shot at the flipped Banshee. Look at it with your Sniper Rifle again, aim at one side of the Banshee, don’t move, switch to your Rocket Launcher, and fire.

The Banshee will fall to the inversion of whichever side you hit it at. You can switch either of your weapons for the other ones at the supplies if you want, but it doesn’t matter, because you won’t need to fire a single round from a weapon for the rest of the level.

Get to the Banshee, and fly it into the cave. Open the door, and fly in. You will be in a big cave filled with enemies, but never fear, for the sky’s the limit! (Or the top of the cave, anyway) Feel free to dispose of the enemies any way you want, but I’d recommend taking down those Hunters first, since their weapons can destroy your Banshee with a few direct hits. Interestingly, you can fly the Banshee into the bottom of the cave, and live.

When the enemies are all dead, open the second door, kill the enemies, and go up the giant tunnel. You see the Spirit dropship, but if you fly above it, its turret can’t hurt you. Wait for it to dispatch its troops, and kill them easily.

Fly further forwards, and straight up. There will be another Banshee on a central platform, in perfect condition. If yours is damaged, you can switch it, but flip it over the edge just in case the Elite that will show up gets any ideas.

Take out the remaining enemies, starting with the Wraith, then the Ghosts, then the Hunters, then the Shades. Keep flying, and kill the enemies on the spiraling path. Fly down, kill the Hunters, and shoot the Shades as well.

Fly your Banshee over the cave rather than go through it, and no enemies will appear. Nor will any for the rest of the level. Fly for the twin bridges, go onto the one closest to where you came from, go through the door, pass a few empty rooms, and walk out onto the bridge. The Banshees will be there, but there will be no enemies. Fly for the pyramid, open a few doors, and you’re done!

Col. Knadan here, if you can't pull of the early banshee trick something that's always there is an ammo cache under the energy tower that goes up the the middle of the control room. The cache has a sniper rifle with sniper ammo, rocket ammo, and some assault rifle and pistol ammo, you can use the tower to snipe almost everybody. If you can't do the early banshee, no matter! Just take the scorpion through until you can't. Go through the cave where you'll find a stealth elite with a sword, stick him. Now the marine lieutenant(the one with a sniper) is most likely alive, if you're a peacekeeper, he'll snipe out the ghosts and grunts on the bridge, if you're sadistic, kill him, and do the same. You're on your own when go through the door, so just go through to elevators, bridges, hunters and rockets!

Glitches

 * It is possible that you can save up to 10-12 marines. You can do this by NOT getting in the Scorpion. As soon as you move to the next area, the marines will follow. This only starts at the second marine area. Also, if you keep them alive until the 3rd hunter area you'll have 15-17 marines.
 * At the very beginning of the level, "Press (X) to enter side seat of Pelican" will appear. The player will be placed back on the Pelican and can get off at any time. However, if you don't get out the Pelican will crash and you will die.
 * Sometimes you can find small splotches of Flood "blood." Sometimes you can find it near the third dead Hunter below.
 * When you’re passing the bridge driving a Scorpion, you can hear the sound of cracking glass, despite the bridge windowpanes are not being broken.
 * This is the only level in which Sergeant Johnson and Sergeant Stacker are present at the exact same time. However, Stacker will not have his usual voice actor unless he is obtained by a glitch. But, on rare occasions, on The Pillar of Autumn, they may be seen together as well.
 * It is possible to climb the narrow spire ascending the front of the pyramid. This is especially useful if you have a sniper rifle, as the headshot opportunities are numerous. It is interesting to note that the Covenant will not return fire when shot at, and that any sleeping Grunts will not awake while the player is on the spire.
 * If you use one of the tricks to get to the valley floor early, you can find Sergeant Stacker among the Marines, the crashed Pelican, and the Scorpion tank as well as the Ghosts. Also only two of the Marines will hop in your Warthog, and they will not get out of it when you jump out, like they normally do.
 * If you manage to jump off the first bridge without going through the tunnel and live, you are able to go through the whole level without the Covenant attacking you. Although, eventually you will come upon a locked door and will need to restart the level or backtrack using the Banshee found at the end of the last open area prior to the final open area to fully complete it. The Banshee is necessary because you need a way back to the bridge. It is possible to take the Banshee and land on top of the bridge with enough momentum to throw the Banshee off causing it to be waiting for you once you have taken the long interior route down.
 * At the part when you get the Banshee, if you fly upwards at a 90 degree angle and fire either your plasma cannons or fuel rod cannon, they will go at another 90 degree angle behind you.
 * When flying a Banshee on easy near the control room, there are frozen Jackals on the energy tower.
 * If you lure a piloted Banshee into the Control Room, the cutscene then shows the Banshee soon splattering Master Chief but the dialog continues as if Master Chief were alive.
 * The Three Dead Grunts Easter egg is found on this level however it may be exclusive to the PC version of the game.
 * It is possible to get an Early Banshee before the bridge. Through this cheat, if you fly it high enough past certain points of the level, the enemies won't respawn for the rest of the level leaving empty vehicles and thus can be a good lifesaver on high difficulties. However bodies and ammo won't spawn either.
 * At the last part of the level, if you use a Ghost and time it correctly, you can have it ram you through the first door of the control room and the enemies there will not respond to anything the player does (killing one of them will not alert the others, they will not notice a plasma grenade stuck to their head, etc.). This can also be done with a Banshee although a bit more difficult.
 * The driver of the fourth Wraith can be killed before he enters the vehicle, although you still cannot drive the Wraith. At Rolling Thunder, get one of the Ghosts and drive all the way to the area with the Wraith, while ignoring the enemies. An Elite can be seen making a run for the Wraith. You can use the guns on the Ghost or snipe him from a distance. A similar trick can be done on Two Betrayals.
 * If you spare some Grunts and Elites in the tunnel where you get the Scorpion, and you come back after getting to the big room with the Shades, the Grunts will be sleeping and the Elite will run to the crashed Pelican, get stuck on the top and keep on running into the wall.
 * If you use the Active Camouflage to run through the room, and through the tunnel before the last chapter is activated, and you avoid the Grunts, you can go back through the tunnel once the last chapter is activated and the Grunts will be frozen for a limited amount of time.
 * If you take a Banshee inside the control room and activate the control to open the last door, quickly hop back in and fly towards the door, when the cutscene starts there is a small chance that the Master Chief will be run over by the Banshee and the grenades and guns will roll to where the Chief would normally walk, the Master Chief will still speak though.
 * If your playing on Co-op, at the last part of the level before you open the last door to the control room, if you kill your friend you can see his dead body in the background during the final cutscene.
 * It's possible to leap off of the chasm overlooking the pyramid to the Control Room and survive. (Helpful on Legendary)
 * If you get a Ghost in the ending cut scene there is always an explosion of some kind in the background.
 * If you get a Warthog into the structures with marines still in the vehicle, they will not respond to anything, and will be completely frozen.
 * There is a way to get a Ghost on one of the elevators. If you make the elevator go up with you on the ghost, then you (and the Ghost) will go through the ground sending you to the bottom of the elevator.
 * Sometimes, when all your marines are dead, you may find them or Sgt. Johnson frozen in the walls. They will only be 2-D and will bleed and speak when shot. When they die, their bodies stay upright. This may be a mistake by Bungie. This can also happen in the cavern just before "Rolling Thunder". When they lag behind and the text "Rolling Thunder" appears on the screen, go back and they will either have disappeared or will be frozen. They will not speak when shot, but when they die, their corpses will fall down after a few seconds. Try sticking them while they are frozen. Even if you love them, you will laugh at the results.
 * At the point where you obtain the Scorpion, Johnson will be present and will ride the tank, although this is impossible as he is at the supposed weapons cache with Keyes at the time. A similar glitch is Johnson sending out Fire Team Zulu's distress call, despite not being there at the time.

Miscellaneous

 * This is the only level in Halo: CE to have three Hunters in one battle at a time. When you get the tank and fight the Wraith when you get to the cavern drive to the right and go past the downed bridge and there is a weapons cache with Marine corpse and a lone Hunter, plus the live ones on the other side.
 * When you leave Fire Team Zulu at that strange looking "building" if you go down in between the two sections and look either left or right you'll see Elites hiding in the doors.
 * There are two weapon caches in this level. The first can be found if you go right after you enter the room with the two bridges, and the other is if you drop into the area where the spire leading up to the control room goes into the ground.
 * This level is the very first in which you can drive a Ghost.
 * This level has the highest number of Marines you will get to support you at the same time. It is possible to save 12 marines on this level with a mixture of Assault Rifles, Plasma Rifles, Sniper Rifles and Needlers.
 * There are Marines that wield Needlers. They and Keyes are the only known soldier AI's in Halo: Combat Evolved to be armed with one. There are also several Marines with Plasma Rifles, and both Sergeants have sniper rifles that they use extremely effectively on lower difficulty levels.
 * This level has the most Mgalekgolo (Hunters), with 12 in the level (this varies with difficulty settings: a grand total of 20 appear on Legendary).
 * This is the only campaign level with a drivable Scorpion tank in the Halo: Combat Evolved Campaign.
 * No less than three hidden ActivCams can be discovered in this level. First, in the corridor filled with Stealth Elites, after you have killed all the Elites, go towards the end and look behind you. There, just in front of the second supporting structure to your right, there will be an Active Camouflage. This usually is only found if you already know of its location or stumbled across it by accident. If you just charge and avoid the fight with the Elites (not advisable as they will kill you), you will definitely miss it. In addition, the second active camo is found after you have come out of the enormous cave and defeated the Covenant reinforcements. There, there should be a tall building to your right, where more Covenant will come pouring out (Elites, Jackals, and Grunts). You can either kill all of them but probably lose a health, or you can get out and grenade-spam the entrance, as they will come charging out. After going into the structure, kill the two active camo Elites and snag your prize behind the pillar. Warning! If you take too long, two Elites will fire upon you from yet another entrance (there are three entrances to that structure).
 * If you use the Early Banshee Trick, or modify the map to get a Banshee you can fly into the 1st and 3rd phase pulse generators which you have to destroy in Two Betrayals.
 * This level and Two Betrayals is in which a Zealot wields a Plasma Rifle rather than an Energy Sword.
 * The "Lost Song", which was accidentally left out of the Halo: Original Soundtrack, is played on this level, in the series of rooms where you fight a group of Stealth Elites and a pair of Hunters, immediately before the rock bridge overlooking the control tower.
 * This is the only level that you can drive all vehicles (except the Wraith).
 * You will go through this level two times for different reasons.
 * This is the first level where Banshees are available, but the tutorial will appear for both this level and Two Betrayals.
 * If you're playing on Co-op, when you get to the first elevator, have one player stand on the elevator and have the other player repeatedly kill the other player over and over again until you have around 30 dead bodies laying on the elevator, then repeatedly activate the elevator as fast as you can, all the dead bodies will start bouncing, it looks like they're dancing.
 * In this level if you pause not only does the snow keep on falling but also if you are on one of the bridges you can still see the electricity move in pause too.
 * This is the only level where a Scorpion appears in Halo Combat Evolved.
 * It is possible to get an early Banshee on this level.
 * When you get the Scorpion, Sergeant Johnson will be present and will often ride on the tank, but this is impossible as he is with Keyes in the weapons cache at the time.